FINAL YEAR PROJECT FOR ENGINEERS 3 rd Seminar

FINAL YEAR PROJECT FOR ENGINEERS 3 rd Seminar Lawrence Cleary

Seminar 2 Citing References Punctuation Spelling Editing and Proofreading 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 2

Citing Sources Whether you quote, paraphrase, or summarize, if you wish to use somebody else’s words, ideas, method of organization, or graphic presentation of information, you must cite the source in your text and reference it at the end of your report. Not doing so constitutes plagiarism, which is an academic offence that carries penalties. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 3

Why Cite Sources Doing so allows the reader to distinguish between the discoveries you have made through research and your own thoughts in response to those discoveries. Your citation provides a link between the information that you have imparted in your text and the original source of that information. Doing so enhances your credibility as a writer. Citing sources and referencing them protects you from charges of plagiarism. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 4

Various Referencing Styles Harvard Style Modern Language Association (MLA) Style Chicago / Turabian Style American Psychological Association (APA) Style Council of Biology Editors (CBE) Style 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 5

Harvard Style Harvard referencing style is favored by UL and your department. The Harvard referencing style is an author-date system. Citations in your text are references to the author of the text from which you retrieved the information that you have presented in your writing and the year of that text’s publication. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 6

Harvard Style: A Problem One thing that distinguishes Harvard Style referencing from other referencing systems is that it does not have a prescriptive approach to how it is punctuated. The only rule is to include particular information and to be consistent in how you format your citations and references. It is for this reason that the syntax and format used in Cite It Right supercedes all other sources. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 7

For Instance: Criminal activities associated with tourism can be divided into three main categories: those attributable to the tourists; those which illegally service demands generated by tourists and those which are directed against tourists (Light and Jones, 1999: 46). (Mary Immaculate College, Language Support Unit n. d. ) Criminal activities associated with tourism can be divided into three main categories: those attributable to the tourists; those which illegally service demands generated by tourists and those which are directed against tourists (Light and Jones 1999, p. 46). 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 8

The Reference Page Sources cited are listed alphabetically according to the last name of the author used in the citation. The references are left-aligned. Neither the first line nor subsequent lines are indented. There is a double space between references. Example: Beardsworth, I. and Keil, T. (1997) Sociology on the Menu: an Invitation to the Study of Food and Society, London: Routledge. University of Limerick FYP for 15 March 2006 Engineers 9

Quotations Quoted information is enclosed by doubleinverted commas (“…”). The text quoted is sacrosanct. n n n Do not change spelling (I. e. American to British) or punctuation. Do not correct spelling and punctuation. Sic enclosed in square brackets, [sic], is inserted into the quote, after the error, to indicate to the reader that the error was not yours. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 10

Quotations The citation is part of the sentence in which you have included a quote, but it is not part of the quote: n In 1944, the Minister for Industry and Commerce stated that “the Great Southern Railway had saved £ 1. 25 million in expenditure and brought a reduction in fares of between 10 and 12 per cent” (Barrett 1982, p. 3). (adapted from Mary Immaculate College, Learner Support Unit n. d. ) 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 11

Abbreviations Be sure to properly format abbreviations used in your citations and references. et al. (Not et. al. —from the Latin, et aliae, “and others”) ed. / eds. (editor, or edition / editors—not Ed. , Edn. , Ed’s) p. / pp. (page / pages—not PP. , pp or P. P. , etc. Abbreviated titles: The first reference to a text should be to its full title. This can be followed by its abbreviation in brackets. Thereafter, the abbreviated title can be used. n. d. / n. p. (no date / no publication) 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 12

Punctuation Good writers keep good resources at hand. Both The Elements of Style, by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White, and… Trevor Young’s Technical Writing A-Z: A Commonsense Guide to Engineering Reports and Theses …are in the library and in the bookshop. Buy one, borrow one, beg one, steal one! 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 13

Rules of Punctuation From Technical Writing A-Z (2005): (1) Define the nature of a sentence (terminal punctuation), using a full stop, exclamation mark, question mark or ellipsis marks. (2) Show the relationship between ideas in a sentence, using a colon, dashes, brackets and/or commas. (3) Join two sentences, using a colon, semicolon or comma. (4) List items within a sentence, using a colon, semicolon or comma. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 14

Rules of Punctuation From Technical Writing A-Z (2005) con’t: (5) Show a possessive relationship by using an appostrophe. (6) Quote something by using inverted commas (quotation marks). (7) Clarify word usage by using a hyphen or inverted commas. (8) Indicate a range or link words by using a dash or slash. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 15

End of Sentence Punctuation End of sentence punctuation: Full stops indicate the end of a declarative statement. Exclamation marks indicate the end of an emphatic or imperative statement. A question mark indicates the end of an interrogative statement. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 16

End of Sentence Punctuation An ellipses (…) indicates that either the speaker’s idea is trailing off, or else (more common in scholarly work) that a long, well-known list continues as the reader would expect it to. Example: “It was convenient to use the radio communication alphabet names: alpha, bravo, charlie…” (Young 2005, p. 153). 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 17

Punctuation to show the relationship between ideas in a sentence To introduce an explanation or elaboration, use a colon (: ). To introduce an explanation or illustration that runs up to the end of the sentence, use a dash or a colon. Distinguish between an en dash (-) and an em dash (—). Either are okay to use, but be consistent. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 18

Punctuation to show the relationship between ideas in a sentence To mark a parenthetical insertion, use brackets (parenthesis), dashes, or a pair of commas on each side of the inserted word, phase or clause. To insert non-restrictive, or nondefining, information, enclose the word, phrase or clause within commas: The woman, who is waving, is my mother. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 19

Punctuation to show the relationship between ideas in a sentence Subsidiary or introductory information is set off with a comma: After the concert, we all met at the pub. However, when this same information trails the main idea, no comma is necessary. We all met at the pub after the concert. No comma is necessary when this same information trails the main idea. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 20

Punctuation to show the relationship between ideas in a sentence Use a colon to join two sentences where the second explains, elaborates or contradicts the first (Young 2005, p. 157). Use a semi-colon to join two main ideas that are closely linked: My older brother is a solicitor; my younger brother is a different kind of thief. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 21

Punctuation to show the relationship between ideas in a sentence A semicolon follows a main idea when it is linked to another main idea by an adverb. The dog barked half the night; as a result, I barely slept a wink. A comma usually follows the adverb (as it introduces the second main idea). 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 22

Punctuation to show the relationship between ideas in a sentence A comma follows a main idea when it is linked to another idea of equal value by a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, for, nor, while, yet, so—while? ): ‘The passengers disembarked, but the pilot stayed onboard and contacted the ground crew’ (Young 2005, p. 158). 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 23

Lists in a Sentence Use a colon to introduce a list: “The operation requires four people: a cook, two waiters and a manager” (Young 2005, p. 159). Use a comma to separate items in a list: “The salad had cheese, croutons, and sunflower seeds” (Young 2005, p. 159). Use a comma to separate adjectives: It was a clear, bright, blue, sunny day. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 24

Lists in a Sentence To separate list items that contain a comma, use a semicolon: “The lesson included cooking the steak, eggs and chips; adding salt, pepper and sauce; tasting the food; and removing, washing and drying the plates” (Young 2005, p. 160). To separate “etc. ” from list items, no punctuation is needed: “The restaurant stocked only New World wines (from Australia, California, Chile, South Africa etc. ), but the selection was excellent” (Young 2005, p. 160). 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 25

To Indicate Possession To indicate a possessive noun, use an apostrophe: …the Earth’s atmosphere… …China’s growing economy… …women’s repression in Angola… To indicate a possessive pronoun: …her inability to speak… …our expectations of ourselves… It’s your life. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 26

Quotations Quotes are enclosed by double-inverted commas: An ellipsis indicates that something was left out of the quote: Square brackets indicate an insertion into the quote. To indicate a quote or emphasised word within a quote, use single inverted commas. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 27

Clarifying Word Usage Use a hyphen when compounding words to form an adjective: …overly-optimistic calculations… Do the same when joining prefixes to proper names or when joining suffixes to numerals or symbols: …anti-Bush… …an I-shaped cross section… …a ten-fold increase… (Young 2005, p. 164) 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 28

Clarifying Word Usage Use inverted commas to indicate that a word or phrase is specialised jargon: “The computer technician ‘daisy-chained’ the drives” (Young 2005, p. 164). “A ‘fudge factor’ of 1. 2 was used as a multiplier to account for the increased component size” (Young 2005, p. 164). “Correlative conjunctions” work only in pairs. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 29

To Indicate a Link or Range Use an en dash to indicate a range of numbers or specify a time period: pp. 180 -89 2005 -06 Use the same punctuation to link two places or people: Edinburgh-Inverness railway (Young 2005, p. 165) To link two associated terms, use an en dash or a slash: Volume-volume ratio Volume/volume ratio (Young 2005, p. 165) University of Limerick FYP for 15 March 2006 Engineers 30

Spelling Before using the spell-check feature on Microsoft Word, set the language. Set your “Options”. Run the “Spelling and Grammar…” check. Do not change the spelling of proper nouns. Spell non-English words precisely as they would be spelled in their native context. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 31

Confusables N. B. Spell check does not catch the correctly spelled misuse of a word. Check confusables. Use the “Find” feature to make corrections. accept / except advice / advise affect / effect cite / sight / site form / from 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 32

Confusables its / it’s quiet / quite / quit straight / strait, straits systematic / systemic that / which their / there / they’re to / too weather / whether who’s / whose 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 33

Proofreading Strategies Proofread systematically. Check one thing at a time. Proof a hard copy, rather than doing it on screen. Ask a friend, relative, or someone else with no knowledge of your field to read your draft. Read it aloud or listen to it being read aloud. Use the “Find” feature to check repeated and cross-referenced of Limerick information. University. Engineers FYP for 15 March 2006 34

Proofreading Strategies Make checklist. Make a global check. Work your way down to localized problems. Include: n A check of figures: w Are they sequentially numbered? w Do they all have the same captions (font, style, size)? w Have they been appropriately referenced? 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 35

Proofreading Strategies Check n n tables for the same issues. references. w Check that citations are listed in the reference page. w Check that the citations and references are arranged and formatted as in Cite It Right. n headings. w Check for consistency. w Check that a heading is not isolated at the bottom of a page. If it is, move it up to the top of the next page. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 36

Proofreading Strategies n Check abbreviated terms. w Check that they accompany the full, unabbreviated term the first time that they are used. n Check numerical values. w “—ensure that an appropriate number of significant figures have been used and that the units have not been omitted” (Young 2005, p. 151). n Check Table of Contents. w Check that all headings correspond to the pages listed in the table of contents. w Do the same for figures and tables. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 37

Proofreading Strategies n Do a final check for spelling errors, stylistic inconsistencies, referencing and numbering. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 38

FYP Drop-in Sessions Drop-in help is provided by Aisling Ross and Holly Powell in the Regional Writing Centre, C 1 -065, Main Bldg. , every Wednesday from 2 -6 pm PURPOSE n n One-on-one help in all areas of report writing Available to those who register (by attending a seminar) TIME & VENUE (subject to confirmation) n n n Aisling Ross is available on Wednesdays from 4 -6 pm Holly Powell is available on Wednesdays from 2 -4 pm Geraldine Exton is available on Tuesdays from 10 -12 pm 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 39

References University of Limerick Library (2007) Guide to Harvard Referencing Style, Cite it Right, University of Limerick’s referencing series, 2 nd ed. , Limerick: Glucksman Library, University of Limerick. Mary Immaculate College, Learner Support Unit (2008) The Harvard Referencing System [online] available: http: //www. mic. ul. ie/lsu/referencing. html [accessed 14 March 2006]. Strunk, W. and White, E. B. (1972) The Elements of Style, 2 nd ed. , New York: Macmillan. Young, T. M. (2005) Technical Writing A-Z: A Commonsense Guide to Engineering Reports and Theses, British English Edition, New York: ASME. 15 March 2006 University of Limerick FYP for Engineers 40