Citing paraphrased cases

I often use cases that I have written for student assessments (especially since my Masters looked at the effectiveness of teaching leadership via cases: cases provide very sticky learning). I am always gratified when students ask whether they should cite the case as a source document.

To which I reply that yes, we should cite the case, and - when paraphrasing the case in an introduction, and if written as one paragraph - we could just cite the case once at the end of the introduction, which would look like this - using fake Latin as an example:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Maecenas porttitor congue massa. Fusce posuere, magna sed pulvinar ultricies, purus lectus malesuada libero, sit amet commodo magna eros quis urna. Nunc viverra imperdiet enim. Fusce est. Vivamus a tellus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Proin pharetra nonummy pede. Mauris et orci. Aenean nec lorem. In porttitor. Donec laoreet nonummy augue. Suspendisse dui purus, scelerisque at, vulputate vitae, pretium mattis, nunc. Mauris eget neque at sem venenatis eleifend. Ut nonummy. Fusce aliquet pede non pede. Suspendisse dapibus lorem pellentesque magna. Integer nulla. Donec blandit feugiat ligula. Donec hendrerit, felis et imperdiet euismod, purus ipsum pretium metus, in lacinia nulla nisl eget sapien (Young, 2020).

However, if we have written more than one paragraph, then we would cite each paragraph at the end (just as shown above). While APA rules require us to cite each sentence, it seems a bit OTT if only one source is used... and that is the case when summarising, in an introduction, the case issues to be discussed.

Additionally, if we are quoting directly from the case, then we need to include a page number, just as we do with any numbered source. Further, if we have brought anything else in as evidence, such as demographic data, or cultural concerns - we need to cite all those resources as well, while adding in additional sentence citations to ensure that their sources are clear and transparent for our intended audience:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Maecenas porttitor congue massa (Young, 2020). Fusce posuere, magna sed pulvinar ultricies, purus lectus malesuada libero, sit amet commodo magna eros quis urna (Author1, date). Nunc viverra imperdiet enim. Fusce est. Vivamus a tellus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas (Young, 2020). Proin pharetra nonummy pede. Mauris et orci. Aenean nec lorem (Author2, date). In porttitor. Donec laoreet nonummy augue. Suspendisse dui purus, scelerisque at, vulputate vitae, pretium mattis, nunc. Mauris eget neque at sem venenatis eleifend. Ut nonummy (Author1, date; Young, 2020). Fusce aliquet pede non pede. Suspendisse dapibus lorem pellentesque magna. Integer nulla. Donec blandit feugiat ligula. Donec hendrerit, felis et imperdiet euismod, purus ipsum pretium metus, in lacinia nulla nisl eget sapien (Young, 2020).

Lastly, we need to ensure that anywhere we will touch on something that would not be 'common' knowledge, we need to cite. A simple example of what is common knowledge is that Donald Trump is the President of the USA. However, the date he was inaugurated - on 20 January 2016 - is not common knowledge, so needs to be cited (Whitehouse, 2016).

It is very good practice to get undergraduates into good citation habits early. It smooths the rest of their education path!

Sam

References:

• Whitehouse (20 January 2016). The Inaugural Address. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/the-inaugural-address/
• Young, S. (2014). Making leadership cases impactful: a comparison of teaching methods. Master's Thesis: University of Auckland. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/A49CV