Academic Study Skills - Essay Example

Academic Study SkillsIs it possible to use the Internet for academic research? And, if so, how might you do this successfully?Using the Internet for academic research is possible. The Internet contains a lot of information that is useful for academic studies. However, it is necessary for students to get a grasp as to how the information on the Internet can be selectively used to maximize the efficiency of research in academia.To use the Internet effectively, one needs to know what they are looking for and then narrow down using the exact keywords (Cottrell, 2013, p.159). Knowing what one is looking for and then narrowing down to the exact keywords ensures that one can sift through the junk of information offered by the countless websites and then get useful information.

Online tools are also critical to the efficient use of the Internet. One of these tools is Google scholar that assists one to narrow down to academically relevant sites. Other tools include online libraries and reputable journal sites which are peer-reviewed such as the American Psychology Association.Why and when do you need references in your academic work?Most academic work involves building on work that has been done by others. The provision of new insights about the specific area of research contributes to the building on what others in the field have done.

To build on someone’s work might involve having to use their ideas to come up with your line of argument to support your new idea. It is in this instant of using someone’s ideas to come up with your point of view that it is important to use references. The use of references ensures that people who have contributed work to a particular field get good credit for their work. Besides, one learns to foster intellectual honesty by giving others credit for their work hence avoiding the vice of plagiarism.

What is plagiarism and how can you avoid it?Plagiarism refers to the practice of stealing another person’s ideas or writings and passing them off as your own (Clabaugh & Rozycki, 2001, p. vii). Plagiarism is a fraudulent practice as it involves stealing someone's work and then lying about it. Based on the severe nature of plagiarism, it is necessary to avoid it at all costs.One of the ways to avoid plagiarism is to learn the art of crediting the sources one uses. Whenever one uses phrases, data and other information that they did not come up with themselves, then one should give his sources the credit.

To get better at crediting sources, one should analyse their sources critically to know exactly which author did what (Clabaugh & Rozycki, 2001, p. 56).Another skill that comes in handy when mitigating plagiarism is paraphrasing. Paraphrasing encompasses the restatement of someone’s ideas in ones on words. Additionally, the ‘duplication’ or ‘copying’ of the exact words of someone are avoided through paraphrasing of sentences (Clabaugh & Rozycki, 2001, p. 58). Also, someone may avoid plagiarism by citing their sources at the end of statements that do not belong to them (Clabaugh & Rozycki, 2001, p. 52). When one cites a source in his work, one acknowledges that he has used someone else’s work.

ReferencesBedford, D & Wilson, E 2013, Study Skills for Foundation Degrees, Routledge, New York.Clabaugh, GK & Rozycki, EG 2001, The plagiarism book: a student's manual, New Foundations Press, Oreland, PA. Cottrell, S 2013, The Study Skills Handbook, Palgrave Macmillan, UK. Dillon, AG 2008, Get Connected: Study Skills, Reading, And Writing, Cengage Learning, Boston.Rijlaarsdam, G, Bergh, HVD & Couzijn, M 2005, Effective Learning and Teaching of Writing a Handbook Of Writing In Education, Kluwer Academic Publishers, New York.