When we acknowledge the use of materials or ideas that are not ours, the reader must be able to clearly distinguish between our own words, illustrations, findings and ideas and the words and work of other creators.
In written work there are clear rules to be followed, but things are less clear with other formats and mediums. Nevertheless, we can be honest and we can be helpful to our audience(s)—for assessment purposes, this is an expectation.
In written work, we should cite in the text where we have used an external source. The inclusion of a reference in a bibliography (works cited/list of references) at the end of the paper is not enough. However, for pieces of “creative” written work such as writing in the style of an author or genre, for which in-text citation is not usually expected, creative ways of acknowledging the use of other people’s work may be permissible. A bibliography or list of references is also expected.
In other forms of work (music, video, artistic pieces), we are expected to acknowledge use of external sources appropriately.
In presentations we can provide our audience with a handout of our references, or list our sources on the final slide(s).
During an oral presentation, we can acknowledge the sources we are using by the use of phrases, for example, “As Gandhi put it …” or “According to …”. We can show a direct quotation by saying “Quote … Unquote” or by signalling with “rabbit’s ears” or “air quotes”. In a presentation supported by posters or slides, we can include short or full references on the slides; if short references are made on the slides, then we should again provide a full list of references on a handout or on the final slide(s).
We can include references or acknowledgments of other people’s work in the final credits of a film. A piece of music can be accompanied by programme notes indicating influences and direct sources. Art on display can be labelled or captioned.