"There is much difference between imitating
a man and counterfeiting him".
Benjamin Franklin
| Exercise 1. Add your ideas to the list below answering why it is important to reference the sources you use when writing a scientific article. |
1. To show where your ideas originated, i. e. acknowledging the source
2. …
3. …
4. …
5. …
| Exercise 2. Read the text below. Use dictionary if necessary. |
Do you know everything there is to know about marsupials (сумчатые)? What about fauvism (фовизм) in art? Do you know how to take a computer apart and put it back together again?
Even if you were an expert in any of these fields, you wouldn't know everything about them. Who could? In the information age, every subject area contains more information than any one person can learn in ten lifetimes.
How much information can you keep in your head? When experts write a paper, they cite the original works they used as sources. Citing the sources demonstrates that they are familiar with, or even building on, the works that others have done.
Demonstrating that you have read what the experts have to say gives weight to your work. It also allows your instructor to look at the sources you used to further their understanding of the topic, as well as to evaluate your understanding of it.
When you see someone's work in a book or on the Internet that captures exactly what you want to say in your research paper, is it right or wrong to use
it without documenting its origin?
There are two reasons why you should bother citing your sources:
1) It is illegal. You could be caught and be expected to pay the price.
If an instructor finds out, it could mean more than just a zero or an F grade on a paper. Institutions impose penalties ranging from a failing grade on
the assignment or for the course itself, to suspension, expulsion, and transcript annotations so that future schools or employers viewing your transcript will see a note indicating that you cheated.
In the "real" world, if the originator finds out, he or she could sue you.
2) If you wrote a best-selling novel or invented a special fork for eating pasta, wouldn't you want to receive what is due to you based on its success?
Let's say you are a best-selling writer and you found a copy of your book of short stories on the Internet, available to anyone who wants to download it. That means people are getting your work for free and you aren't getting paid in royalties from its distribution.
Or, let's say that you are an inventor. Someone copies your pasta fork, calls it something else, and puts it up for sale before you do. They make all the money, and you are left penniless.
Fortunately, this doesn't happen because copyright law protects you.
| Exercise 3. Compare your ideas with the reasons for referencing from the text and discuss them with your partner. |
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| Exercise 4. Skim the text and say if there are some more reasons for referencing the sources that you didn't mention of. |