WRIG_C18.qxd
6/22/07
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Page 194
Definition: ellipsis
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The three dots used to substitute for words that have been omitted from a quotation are often used at the beginning of a quote as in the example above, or where some information that is irrelevant to your point has been omitted for brevity. Obviously, you should not omit words that change the sense of the quotation. For example, omitting the word ‘not’ in the following quotation would entirely change its sense: ‘The adoption of the Euro as the common currency of the EU is not universally acceptable’.
Footnotes and endnotes In some disciplines, footnotes and endnotes, generally using superscript numbers, lead readers to the source information. However, in other subjects, footnotes and endnotes are used simply to provide additional information, commentary or points of discussion about the content of the text. Footnotes generally appear at the bottom of the page where the link appears; endnotes are recorded in number order at the end of the body of the work.
‘ How to cite the work in the text There are essentially two ways in which to do this: the informationprominent and author-prominent methods. These depend on the style of referencing you have elected to follow. Four commonly used styles are laid out in Tables 18.2–18.5. The broad principles are outlined below. l
Information-prominent method. Here the statement is regarded as being generally accepted within the field of study. For example: Children express an interest in books and pictures from an early age (Murphy, 1995).
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Author-prominent method. Here the author and date of publication form part of the construction of the sentence. This formulation can be used with appropriate reporting words (see information box above) to reflect a viewpoint. For example: Murphy (1995) claimed that children as young as six months are able to follow a simple story sequence.
194 Plagiarism and referencing