Why we need to reference

Earlier this year I completed a MOOC on the FutureLearn platform, and got to a week which was focused on referencing. Such a great topic.

But what surprised me was that this week's work did not start with the reasons to reference - which I am quite passionate about - but rather with what can happen to us if we try to cut corners. I felt that this somewhat put the cart before the horse, so to speak.

If we follow Simon Sinek's advice, selling people the 'why' (Sinek, 2010) is a key to effective action.

I see the five main reasons for showing the bones of our thinking via citations and references as:

1. Integrity. Integrity is about using other's work as intended by the original author and citing their words, images, and IP when touched or in passing, when expanded or alluded to within our own work. If I use other's words verbatim, I quote, using double quotation marks and including a page number if it is from a numbered document, so that others can see where I "Stand on the shoulders of giants (GoogleScholar, 2023; after Newton, 1686, citing Bernard of Chartres, 1189; Wikiquote, 2023).
   
2. Honour. When we honour another's effort and ideas, we can then add our bit on top of theirs. It enables each of us to "Stand on the shoulders of giants" (GoogleScholar, 2023; after Newton, 1686, citing Bernard of Chartres, 1189; Wikiquote, 2023).
3. Honesty. The practice above shows that we are honest. We don't claim others’ work as ours, therefore any unreferenced work is our own.
4. Understanding. Referencing and citing shows that we understand our own field; we know who the experts are, and can draw upon them. It also shows our work is robust and can be relied upon, because we have our finger so on the pulse on what is new and emerging in our field. Being clear about what is coming is also an indicator that our work is robust, scholarly, and reliable.
5. Challenge. By being transparent in sharing my sources with my reader, I can be further challenged in my ideas, and so become academically stronger. I don't hide who I am reading: I share it openly, and show that I am open to challenge, discourse, and development. This enables me to 'see further' - a little further, anyway - from those giants who have gone before me.

Five darned good reasons for referencing. 

Sam

References:

GoogleScholar (2023). Home. https://scholar.google.co.nz/

Newton, I. (1686). Standing on the shoulders of giants in a Letter from Sir Isaac Newton to Robert Hooke. http://digitallibrary.hsp.org/index.php/Detail/Object/Show/object_id/9285

Sinek, S. (4 May 2010). TED: How great leaders inspire action [video]. https://youtu.be/qp0HIF3SfI4

Wikiquote (2023). Isaac Newton. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton