FAQ - Keele University

Criminology

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. How can I make sure that I'm not plagiarising? 
  2. How many ways are there to reference and how do I know which one to use? 
  3. What does a Bibliography Look Like? 
  4. What happens if I don't pass a module? 

How can I make sure that I'm not plagiarising ?

Plagiarising is when you take someone else's work and pass it off as your own. Copying word for word is an extreme example of this but also using someone else's ideas and changing them into your own words is also just as inappropriate. As a rule, if you are using someone else's views, words or theories then pay homage and reference them!

How many ways are there to reference and how do I know which one to use?

In your writing, you need to be able to reference in different ways. One way that changes how we reference is the type of source used. Below shows examples of how it could look in your text:

From a book:    

1). This is a direct quote and the brackets show who said it, what year the book was published and the page number from the book.

It has been suggested that "humorous stories are a recurring device for conveying symbolic messages" (Thompson 1978: 243)

2). You could also reference this without using a quote. That would look something like this:

Thompson, 1978, has detailed the value of story telling as an oral history.

3). It is also possible to refer in a broader sense as shown below:

The role of story telling has shown to be used as a discursive form of documentation (Thompson 1978).

From an edited book or Periodical:

Always use the name of the writer (as opposed to the editors). This will be clarified in your bibliography at the end - see next question for an example.

If you are 'quoting a quote' then set it out as shown:

"Although human behavior is determined to some extent by outside forces, there still exists an element of free will or individual responsibility" (Matza 1964, quoted in Hagan 2002: 164).

From this example, it will be the Hagan book that appears in the bibliography at the end.

What does a bibliography look like?

Below shows different sources referenced in a bibliography:

A Book:
    Thompson, P. (1978) The Voice of the Past: Oral History Oxford: Oxford University Press

A chapter from an edited book:

May, M. (2002) 'Innocence and Experience: The evolution of the concept of Juvenile Delinquency in the Mid-nineteenth Century' in Muncie, J., Hughes, G & McLaughlin, E. (eds) Youth Justice: Critical Readings London: SAGE

An article from a periodical or journal:

Davies, A. (1999) '"These Viragoes are no less Cruel than the lads": Young Women, Gangs and Violence in Late Victorian Manchester and Salford'  in British Journal of Criminology Vol. 39, No. 1 Special Issue

A Report or Study:

Amnesty International Report (2003) United States of America: Death by Discrimination - The Continuing Role of race in Capital Cases

A Web Page:

Critique of Death Penalty Information Center's 'Innocence List' (Accessed 05/02/05) http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/DPIC.htm

What happens if I don't pass a module?

In the event of not passing a particular module, you will be contacted and given instructions for re-assessment. If you are in this situation, it is an opportunity to find out where you went wrong so you can use this information to progress and develop.

Copyright © 1999  [Criminology, Keele]. All rights reserved.
Revised: Jan 2008 .