Module 3: Citing, Authorship, and Reporting

This is the third of a series of four modules in the Ethics Training series provided by the School of Education

Here, in Module 3, we examine Citing and Authorship and Reporting.

"APA" is commonly used to refer to the APA style, a specific set of guidelines and formatting rules established by the American Psychological Association for academic writing. The Virginia Tech School of Education uses APA style in all written assignments that require citations.

The APA style is widely used in the social sciences, such as psychology, sociology, education, and other related fields. It provides a standardized way of citing sources, organizing research papers, and presenting information in academic writing. The APA style covers various aspects of academic writing, including formatting, in-text citations, reference lists, and the overall structure of papers.

Citations serve as a fundamental pillar of integrity and credibility. Properly using citations is a crucial skill that every college student must master to excel in their studies and contribute to the scholarly community. Whether writing research papers, essays, or other academic assignments, citing sources correctly not only acknowledges the work of others but also strengthens the validity and reliability of one's own arguments. This module will explore the importance of using citations correctly in college and provide essential insights into the various citation styles and best practices to ensure academic success. Understanding and implementing proper citation techniques will not only elevate the quality of your work but also foster a deeper appreciation for the ethical and intellectual foundations of academia.

Additionally, authorship is essential because it credits individuals for their intellectual contributions to a piece of work, ensuring accountability and recognition for their efforts. Properly acknowledging authors also helps uphold academic integrity and facilitates transparent communication in scholarly communities.

Virginia Tech’s Newman Library has 

1. APA style manuals and information: https://guides.lib.vt.edu/find/citation-style-manuals/apa
2. Information on citation ethics and citation managers: https://guides.lib.vt.edu/citationmanagers

Activity: Read the information about citations, authorship, and reporting in this module. Be sure to click any hyperlinks and read linked information.

After completing this module, you should be able to:

• Identify reasons why citations are important
• Identify when citations are required
• Identify authorship and list criteria for authorship
• Identify when to use an authorship agreement
• Differentiate between authorship and contribution

After completing this module, you should be able to:

• Describe three reasons why citations are important
• Identify when citations are required
• Define authorship and list criteria for authorship
• Identify when to use an authorship agreement
• Differentiate between authorship and contribution

Citing Existing Work

Why Use Citations?

Whether you’re new to academic writing and need practice learning to cite other authors or you’re comfortable with using citations appropriately, it’s important to understand why citations are required in your work.

Recall from the definition of Plagiarism in Module 2 that you need to cite all thoughts, ideas, and words that you read from other authors. Furthermore, omitting quotation marks when references are copied directly is plagiarism.

• When you paraphrase another author’s work into your own words, you use an in-text citation with the author/s name/s and date of publication.
• When you use words directly from another author, those words need to be included in quotation marks, followed by an in-text citation including the author/s name/s, data of publication, AND page number.

Example: Consider the following. Both are appropriate:

“But after twenty years of charter school experience, the number of these exemplars remain small. The evidence for vouchers is even weaker. As yet, no entire district has been transformed by private management” (Ravitch. 2013, p. 93).  
These words are included in quotations and include the page number because they are the author’s (Ravitch) words.

Research has not shown that either charter schools or vouchers has transformed a school district (Ravitch. 2013).
These words are a paraphrase, or summary, of Ravitch’s statement while not using her words directly. You need to recognize that the idea came from the author (Ravitch), so paraphrasing the statement and including the in-text citation is appropriate.

When Should I Use Citations?

Any time you include an idea or assertion in your writing that you read somewhere else, you must include a citation to give credit to the person or persons who published the idea first!

Consider the following scenario. Anthony is a graduate student who is working on an assignment for one of his courses. In the process of conducting his research, he reads the following articles:

After reading each of these articles, Anthony notices that each of these authors assert that the design process requires a significant amount of time to structure or frame the design problem. He decides to include the following sentence in his research paper:

Designers spend a significant portion of the design process structuring the problem.

Should Anthony include an in-text citation along with this sentence? Take a moment to reflect on your answer and consider why he should or should not use a citation.

Should Anthony include a citation? The answer is yes, he should! The proper formatting for the revised approach is below.

Designers spend a significant portion of the design process structuring the Problem (Atman et al., 1999; Ball et al., 2004; Chi, Feltovich, & Glaser, 1981; Goel & Pirolli, 1992).

Since Anthony did not make this discovery himself, he must attribute the assertion to those who did. The citation strengthens the credibility of his own work, allows the reader to trace the assertion to its original source (or, in this case, sources), and illustrates that he has done research on the topic about which he is writing. Furthermore, it helps differentiate his ideas from those of others.

Follow these two rules to remember when to use citations:

Rule 1: If it is not your idea, cite it!

Even if you paraphrase an idea (summarize it in your own words), you must use a citation to give the original author credit for their idea. If the idea is expressed in multiple works by different authors, you should cite each of the authors accordingly.

If you include language in your work that you quote directly from somewhere else, you must use quotation marks to indicate that the words are not your own.

Rule 2: Include your source in a Reference list!

For each author that you cite in you writing, you must include a full reference to the author’s work at the end of your document in a reference list or works cited list.

Research on design over the past several decades has revealed that the process of design is a type of complex, ill-structured problem solving (Jonassen, 2000), and the behaviors of good designers can be learned (Cross, 2004).

References

Archer, B. (1979). Design as a Discipline. Design Studies, 1(1), 17-20.

Creswell, J. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.

Cross, N. (2004). Expertise in design : An overview. Design Studies, 25, 427-441.

Glaser, R. (1976). Components of a psychology of instruction: Toward a science of design. Review of Educational Research, 46(1), 1-24.effectively.

Jonassen, D.H. (2000). Toward a design theory of problem solving. Educational Technology Research and Development, 48(4), 63-85.

Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.

Summary of Important Points:

• Proper use of in-text citations not only helps you avoid plaiarism but also gives your work credibility by crediting those whose ideas you use.
• Additionally, it enables others to trace your work to its original source and to differentiate your ideas from those of others.
• For every author whose work is reference in a citation in your text, you must create a reference in a works cited list at the end of your document.
  

Determining Authorship and Reporting Contributions

Authorship is an issue that can cause significant conflict among members of a collaborative work group if the rules are not discussed and agreed upon by all members of the team.

It is important to understand and utilize ethical principles when publishing research conducted by multiple team members.

What is Authorship?

The term authorship refers to the idea that any person who contributed significant work toward the publication of scholarly research is listed as an author of that work. Authorship is a significant and sometimes difficult topic to navigate in the context of graduate research.

Why is Authorship Important?

Throughout your graduate school career and beyond, it is likely that you will collaborate with peers, professors, or other members of your academic community to create scholarly work. It is important to understand the conventions for division of responsibility and recognition for that work.

Using Authorship Agreements

If members of a collaborative group do not decide, at the onset of a project, the agreed upon rules for publishing and disseminating the final work, then disputes can lead to conflict about who has the right to claim ownership of the material - essentially, an intellectual rights tug-of-war. An authorship agreement, which is a document signed by all collaborators that explains the roles of each member, can help you to avoid authorship disputes. It is a good idea to create one for any collaborative project which might result in publication.

Authorship Rules:

• AERA Guidelines
• Faculty Considerations
• Student Consideration
• Other Considerations
• Avoiding Authorship Disputes

AERA Guidelines:

The American Educational Research Association States:

• Education researchers ensure that all who have made a substantive contribution to an intellectual product are listed as authors.
• Education researchers take responsibility and credit, including authorship credit, only for work they have actually performed or to which they have contributed.
• Education researchers ensure that principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits are based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. Education researchers specify the criteria for making these determinations at the outset of the writing process.
• A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student's dissertation or thesis.

Faculty Considerations:

It is generally agreed that in the case of collaborations between students and faculty members it is the responsibility of the faculty member to initiate the discussion about authorship at the onset of the project.

Student Considerations:

• Authorship issues relate not only to research conducted on collaborative projects but also products of coursework and a student's thesis or dissertation.
• Students are sometimes hesitant to stand up for their rights in collaborative research with faculty members for fear that it will negatively impact their relationship with that faculty member in other situations, but it is a student's right to have his or her work acknowledged by way of authorship.

Other Considerations:

• The AERA code of ethics includes concrete guidance as to which contributions earn recognition, specifically, that "creative or intellectual contributions merit authorship and that clerical or administrative tasks do not" (Welfare & Sackett, 2011).
• Authors are generally listed either (a) alphabetically or (b) in order of the level of contribution, with the largest contributor listed first.

Avoiding Authorship Disputes:

To avoid potential authorship disputers, follow these guidelines offered by Albert & Wager (2011):

• Encourage a culture of ethical authorship
• Start discussing authorship when you plan your research
• Decide authorship before you start each article

PhD Comic’s take on authorship:

What Constitutes Authorship?

As you work in collaborative environments in which multiple people contribute to the final product, you should always discuss whether any of the team members plan to publish an article to disseminate the results.

If so, then you’ll need to decide who will be listed as an author.

Three criteria generally constitute authorship. Team members whose names are listed as authors should meet all three of these criteria. They are:

1. Substantial contribution to the concept, design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of data.
2. Drafting or revising the article for the content.
3. Final approval of the version to be published.
   

Common Problems in Authorship

If your contributions to a project meet the criteria, then you should be listed as an author on any publication related to the project. If you worked on the project but did not meet the criteria for significant contribution, then you should instead be acknowledged as a contributor.

According to Albert & Wager (Committee on Publication Ethics), two types of deception are common with regard to authorship: ghost authors and gift authors.

• Authors are excluded who played a significant role in the research – sometimes called ghost authors.
• Authors are included who did not play a significant role in the research – sometimes called gift authors.

Summary of Important Points, Citations and Authorship & Reporting:

• Proper use of in-text citations not only helps you avoid plagiarism but also (1) gives your work credibility by crediting those whose ideas you use. Additionally, it enables others to (2) trace your work to its original source and (3) differentiate your ideas from those of others.
• If it is not your original idea and you read it somewhere else, you must use an in-text citation to reference the work from which the idea originated, no matter whether you’ve quoted, paraphrased, or summarized an idea.
• For every author whose work is referenced in a citation in your text, you must create a reference in a works cited list at the end of your document.

Once you have reviewed this module, please move on to Module 4, using the navigation button below.