Other People’s Ideas - Chapter 6 - How to cite and acknowledge borrowed information

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Eliana

Guidance on citing borrowed information in academic writing, focusing on four core practices: maintaining academic integrity, using the appropriate documentation style, acknowledging sources properly, and using software resources. Chapter 6 explains academic integrity as the honest disclosure of language and ideas from others, outlines plagiarism vs. ethical borrowing with in-text citations, footnotes, and references, and describes how to select and consistently apply discipline-appropriate documentation styles. It also introduces methods for properly acknowledging sources of borrowed information.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

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6.1 Practise Academic Integrity

Table 1: Text borrowing practices

6.2 Use the Appropriate Documentation Style

Commonly preferred documentation styles (Table 2)

6.3 Acknowledge Sources of Borrowed Information Properly

Other People’s Ideas During your university study, you will have to write various kinds of texts. One challenging aspect of writing these texts is writing in a form that is acceptable to your readers, who are primarily your lecturers. Many of these texts require the use of information derived from other sources, which must always be acknowledged. This chapter will advise you on appropriate ways of citing borrowed information in your texts, using commonly used documentation styles. There are four important things to remember when you use other people’s ideas in your writing: ● Practise academic integrity ● Use the appropriate documentation style ● Acknowledge sources of borrowed information properly ● Use software resources 6.1 Practise Academic Integrity Professional and student writers are expected to practise academic integrity, which is the honest disclosure of borrowed information and its sources. This information may be language (e.g. words or phrases) and content (e.g. ideas or research ﬁndings) produced or owned by others. As academic writers, you are responsible for properly acknowledging every source from which you have borrowed information. Any intentional or unintentional omission of a source in your written work will be considered to be misrepresenting others’ original work or plagiarising somebody else’s work. In other words, the most important thing to know is that you must give sources to everything you use. 43 44 Using Other People’s Ideas Table 1 shows borrowing practices that demonstrate academic integrity and those considered plagiarism. Table 1: Text borrowing practices Practices that demonstrate academic integrity Citing sources of borrowed text, diagrams or equations inside the text (use of in-text citation) or below the text on a particular page (use of footnotes) Citing sources of borrowed text, diagrams or equations at the end of the text (use of references) Providing a sufﬁcient paraphrase of borrowed information and acknowledging sources inside the text and at the end of the text (more on paraphrasing in Example 3 below) Practices that demonstrate plagiarism Doing cut-and-paste of text, diagrams or equations without attribution inside the text Taking text, diagrams or equations from sources without referencing those sources at the end of the text Closely paraphrasing texts using the same elements (e.g. key words, sentence structure and/or sequence of ideas), even if the source has been acknowledged 6.2 Use the Appropriate Documentation Style ● A documentation style is a prescribed approach to presenting different kinds of information and their sources in a format acceptable to a particular discipline or professional organisation. ● There are different styles according to different disciplines. A few common styles are shown in Table 2. You should use the style appropriate for your discipline. ● Each style has a set of distinct features; some common features are presented in section 6.3 of this chapter. Before you embark on any signiﬁcant writing task, such as a report or research paper, familiarise yourself with the appropriate style. ● You must be consistent in your use of a particular documentation style. You cannot create your own style or combine existing styles. A comprehensive list of documentation styles used in various disciplines is available at the NUS Library Instruction Online (LION) Citation Styles site, [http://www.lib.nus](http://www.lib.nus). [edu.sg/lion/slb/citeacs.html](edu.sg/lion/slb/citeacs.html). You can also use the referencing tools from the Word 2007 References function, which can help you manage and prepare your citations using the APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian and other styles. Professional and student writers are expected to practise academic integrity, which is the honest disclosure of borrowed information and its sources . | Table 2: Commonly preferred documentation styles | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Disc

FAQs

What does practising academic integrity mean in academic writing?

It means the honest disclosure of borrowed information and its sources, including language and content produced or owned by others.

What practices count as plagiarism according to the chapter?

Cut-and-paste without attribution, taking material without referencing it at the end, and closely paraphrasing using the same elements even if the source is acknowledged.

How should you choose and apply a documentation style?

Select the style that fits your discipline, use its distinct features, and remain consistent without creating your own combined style.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Eliana