In this article, a student writer discusses how mastering various study skills – referencing and paraphrasing in particular – can contribute towards your academic success.
The following article will discuss how study skills can be applied to achieve academic success. It will focus on two key skills activities related to the main topic of discussion and their importance, which is the purpose of the article. Study skills is a structured plan that individuals use around their learning journey. This includes time management, managing stress, analysing, being organised, reading, preparing for exams, evaluating, planning, consistency and note taking (Godfrey, J., 2014).
Study skills is not a subject, but it is simply a skill that you practise and develop. Study skills are essential because they contribute to expansion of an individual’s academic work, through effective absorption of new information, organisation of the information and retention of information. Study skills are not only useful for students, they are also transferable to education, workplace and everyday life. Good studies strategies enable deeper learning development in the long term for an individual (Cottrell, S., 2019).
The main body will explain the two chosen study skills which are Referencing and Paraphrasing. It will elaborate on how paraphrasing and referencing can achieve intertwined academic writing. It will cover how they help to impact and enhance academics studies, as well as providing references to support the information provided. The findings will then be summarised via the conclusion.
Referencing
The first study skill activity to be discussed is Referencing. References consist of a list of sources that are cited within the primary content of an assignment to form citations or in-text citations and mentioned at the end of an assignment in the form of a reference list (Manchester Metropolitan U.2019).
There are four main reference styles, they are known as Harvard System, Modern Humanities Research Association System, American Psychological Association and Modern Languages (Williams, K., 2017).
Most organisation and schools are using Harvard reference style, which is mostly used to cite university courses such as health and social care, nursing and social work. People should always check with their organisation or school, to confirm which reference style that they will need to use (Neville, C., 2010).
Composing researched work, there must be acknowledgment towards the source that has originally written the content (Kent U.2012).
The importance of referencing is to avoid any plagiarism, any allegations of copyright, to show proof of sources and to help readers find the original text of a written piece of work easily. Individuals need to learn how to use different reference styles and apply it to their written content correctly (Study moose 2016).
The impact that referencing has on learning is that it shows that someone can independently research and show evidence of where they got the information, as well as , showing that the individual has explored widely for the chosen subject , thus making the information more valid (Richard Pears & Graham Shields 2019). Providing references show that the source is reliable, it also shows that you understand the nature, strengths and limitations of the source which is a transferable skill for the individual to obtain. It also shows authority and sincerity of the students work, as well as, showing that you have explored widely on the chosen topic, thus making the information more valid (Kate & Mary, 2017).
Referencing is essential for academic writing as individuals are able to demonstrate the depth of their essay and ultimately put their work into context. Students and other individuals should always show academic integrity when doing their essays. Hard work and honesty are very important in academic writing (Sussex U.2020). This study skill is a good way to share knowledge and to give the writer support in their written text. People can reference books, journal, pictures, articles or websites. Here is an example of how to reference a book: Author surname, initials. (Year) Title Edition Place of publication and Publisher (Pellegrini & Mbeteh 2017). To get the best out of referencing, students should follow the right referencing guidelines.
The second study skill activity to be discussed is paraphrasing. This is when an individual expresses another person’s written work into their own words but will keep the definition the same. Students and people who are rewording a text should keep it simple and straight to the point (Staffordshire U.2019).
This skill shows that a person has a clear understanding of the topic they are studying (Richard & Graham, 2017).
Paraphrasing is an art which ambitiously aims to writing, speaking, reading and listening skills which are essential tools for academic writing, as well as being transferable to an individual’s employability skills (Mohamed Alajmi, 2019, P.275).
Paraphrasing helps with academic writing by ensuring an individual work does not contain any plagiarism. Plagiarism is when someone copies another person’s work or art directly and claim it to be their own work. Anybody who use information from a different source, must remember to reference and cite their work correctly, even if it was re-phrased into their own words (Chuong, H., 2017).
There are other ways people can use to express an author’s work and that is summarizing and quoting; however, paraphrasing is one of the many and preferred skills used in academic writing. This skill impacts learning by thinking, enabling and expressing researched information on a higher stage (Gimenez, J., 2018).
Paraphrasing can be accomplished through a complete paragraph or sentence. There are advantages and disadvantages when paraphrasing. Individuals need to be careful as they can easily copy the original text of another writer’s directly, without reference or they can change the definition of the original text. The advantage of paraphrasing is a faster way to remember researched information and develop the knowledge of an individual. Paraphrasing is similar to critiques, because it is regularly used to check understanding of an assignment. People paraphrase because their re-wording is easier to remember than the original writer, they are showing their academic skills or the quotation from a text might be too long. To begin a paraphrase , individuals must read the text of someone else works several times for their understanding and then proceed with writing it out in their own words, keeping in mind to citing and reference that information and not changing the meaning of that content (The Open U . 2016).
Good paraphrasing includes similar ideas of the original text, re-phrasing or re-wording, minimising lengthy wording, keeping the definition of an original and the way the sentence is formed. This will show proof that the person has the skill to research and use informative work independently (Godfrey, J., 2014, p.20). Student should always show honesty in the work they present, as academic integrity is important.
Based on the points discussed, both referencing and paraphrasing are two essential tools to have during a students’ journey to academic success. The two skills are interlinked and therefore do not contradict one another as one exists on the other. However, the individual’s work can be affected if they have misinterpreted the writing from the original source. The benefits of using paraphrasing go beyond an Academic sett, (Nelson, T., 1879).
Paraphrasing can be used in a professional sett as a tool to encourage new developments of research for topics, which means that once a student masters how to use paraphrasing efficiently and correctly , this shows success academically because it has been brought onto the next stage of the student’s life (Nieuwerburgh, C., 2017) .
To be able to have a successful essay or assignment, student’s need both paraphrasing and referencing skills, as it shows their techniques, effort and understanding of academic writing. Individuals confidence builds up and provide a good written text for the reader. The two skills help individuals that are in education become much more effective in their academic studies a (The Open U.2020).
When writing an essay, referencing and paraphrasing forms together as one, creating a strong tool for individuals to use. Both study skill are well known at Universities and within organizations. If paraphrasing and referencing both existed without each other, academic writing would not be as successful as it is now. People would be quoting directly from other sources stating that it is their own work, it would be hard for the original source to claim their own ideas, there would be no proof of where people got the information on, individuals would not have the confidence to write an assignment, furthermore, people would not be able to show their understanding of a researched text. When people paraphrase, they need to reference, when there is a reference, there should be a backup passage to support the reference. This is where the two are joined to form a perfect assignment or essay writing. By combining the skills of paraphrasing and reference within academic writing, this makes an informative and impressive essay. These combined skills can determine what an individual’s level of academic understanding is within the topic studied. People should never write unnecessary information or repeat the same information word for word when paraphrasing, this would be direct quoting from the original source and it would be plagiarism (Fergusson, K., 2016).
Individuals are expected to use different words from the main content of someone else writing. Study strategies, reference and paraphrasing are all link together to create a successful academic study. Over time, these skills will become easier, as they are often used in the study world.
To conclude this article, the combination of paraphrasing and referencing works together to ensure the best outcome for achieving academic success, a higher grade and excelled understanding of the topic discussed. Paraphrasing and referencing are important tools for students to have during their journey of studies. Study skills will help individuals have a deeper learning development. Study skills are not only useful for students, they are also transferable to education, workplace and everyday life. Individuals must reference and cite there work correctly and accordingly or else this will be looked at as plagiarism. When people paraphrase, they need to reference, when there is a reference, there should be a backup passage to support the reference. Readers are expecting their writers to be honest, which means they will need the right and correct information about their writers ‘ source. Academic integrity is really good practice, especially at university. Referencing is essential for academic writing as individuals are able to demonstrate the depth of their essay and ultimately put their work into context. Good paraphrasing practise is when an individual gets an idea off of another person written work and re-word it into their own, keeping the meaning of the text the same. It has been explained that paraphrasing is one of the many skills that’s been used in academic writing. There is different referencing style, but Individuals must ask their organization or university which type they need to use. Referencing will help people to write and present a well written assignment. Study skills is not a subject, it is a skill that you practise and develop. It includes panning, time management, analysing, being organised, consistency, reading, exam preparation and managing stress. The importance of referencing is to avoid any plagiarism, any allegations of copyright. The impact that reference has on learning is that it shows that someone can independently research and show evidence of where they got the information. This study skill is a good way to share knowledge and to give the writer support in their written text. People can reference books, journal and pictures.
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