Plagiera eller referera vetenskapligt? En studie om vad studenter behöver lära sig för att bli bättre på referathantering

Abstract

This study investigates students’ ability to cite and reference in their higher education coursework, and more particularly what needs to be made visible for students to develop this ability. The data consists of interviews and student texts. The results are based on two types of analyses. Through a phenomenographical analysis, four qualitatively different approaches to referencing were identified. Using the variation theory, an analysis of the differences between the approaches then identified four critical aspects for learning how to reference. Students need to see that a) the content in a text can be separated from its form, b) there are some main ideas present in the whole source text and in longer sections of the text, c) the ideas from the source text have to be relevant to the student’s own text, and d) referencing places a text in an academic context. The critical aspects identified in this study can be used for planning the teaching of academic writing in higher education.