Writing Resources

Writing Resources

APA Style Guides

AMA Style Guides

Writing Resources

  • Purdue OWL (Purdue Online Writing Lab)- links to over 200 online writing resources and instructional material resources put together by the English Department at Purdue University to support student's and faculty writing and teaching of writing efforts.
  • Washington College Writing Center- links to resources available on the Web. Includes “Practical Advice,” “Grammar and Mechanics,” “Documentation and Research,” and a source for classic reference texts.
  • University of Richmond Writers Web - Writing advice by discipline, stages in writing process, and numerous other topics.
  • Hemingway Editor App - Free Online Writing Tool helps with Plain Language Accessibility. Helps to make your writing bold and clear, without technical confusion for the lay-person. It highlights lengthy, complex sentences, checks spelling, grammar, and common errors. It helps simplify the language so that your reader will focus on your message. Providing Clear Communication.
  • BibGuru - A website that provides Citation Guides for AMA, APA, Chicago, and more, showing how to cite any book, database, website, magazine, etc., in any style.
  • CiteThisForMe - Free online Citation Generator for most any citation style.

NLM Style Guides

  • Sample AMA References - from the NIH, examples of how to create references like PubMed.
  • International Committee of Medical Journal Editors - Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly work in Medical Journals.
  • Citing Medicine - Citing Medicine, 2nd edition, available for FREE on the NCBI bookshelf; each chapter a downloadable PDF. Provides assistance to authors in compiling lists of references for their publications, to editors in revising such lists, to publishers in setting reference standards for their authors and editors, and to librarians and others in formatting bibliographic citations.

Citations

About Citations

A citation reflects all of the information a person would need to locate a particular source. For example, basic citation information for a book consists of name(s) of author(s) or editor(s), title of book, name of publisher, place of publication, and most recent copyright date.

A citation style dictates the information necessary for a citation and how the information is ordered, as well as punctuation and other formatting.

A bibliography lists citations for all of the relevant resources a person consulted during his or her research. In an annotated bibliography, each citation is followed by a brief note or annotation that describes and/or evaluates the source and the information found in it. A works cited list presents citations for those sources referenced in a particular paper, presentation, or other composition.

An in-text citation consists of just enough information to correspond to a source's full citation in a Works Cited list. In-text citations often require a page number (or numbers) showing exactly where relevant information was found in the original source.

 
 
Why and When Citations Matter

When referencing information from another's work be sure to provide appropriate credit by citing the source to avoid plagiarism. Your professors expect you to read about the research of others, and to bring together their ideas in such a way that makes sense to you and will make sense to your readers. However, it's essential for you to cite your sources whenever you are using other peoples ideas or work in any research paper you write. Also, there are serious academic consequences for plagiarism at Sonoran University (e.g. receiving a failing grade on an assignment or course and/or dismissal from the program). 

 
Why cite
  • To give credit to those who have done the original research, written the article or book, and to allow readers (and your professors) to look at them if needed to find out if you have properly understood what the author was trying to say.
  • To demonstrate that you have done your research and/or show that you've done the assignment.
    • If your paper contains no citations, the impression is that you have done a piece of original research. If you used pieces of others ideas in your paper it should contain citations. Citations (along with the bibliography) show that you have consulted a variety of resources and from what resources you are borrowing work. They are also an acknowledgement of your indebtedness to those authors.
  • To support your arguments.
  • It is okay to draw from others work, as long as you give credit where credit is due! 

When to cite

  • If you borrow an idea, opinion or finding
  • Examples:
    • Direct quotes
    • Paraphrasing or summarizing
    • Statistical data
    • Images
    • Other work
  • When in doubt, cite it!

 

Citation Resources

Citation Generation Sites

  • Citation Machine - an interactive web tool designed to assist high school, college, and university students, properly cite intellectual content pulled from other sources.
  • BibGuru - A website that provides Citation Guides for AMA, APA, Chicago, and more, showing how to cite any book, database, website, magazine, etc., in any style.
  • CiteThisForMe - Free online Citation Generator for most any citation style.
  • KnightCite - an interactive web tool to assist students format paper citations to properly cite intellectual content pulled from other sources.
  • BibMe - a free automatic citation creator that supports MLA, APA, Chicago, and Turabian formatting. BibMe leverages external databases to quickly fill citation information for you. BibMe will then format the citation information and compile a bibliography according to the guidelines of the style manuals. If you prefer, you can enter your citation information manually. BibMe also features a citation guide that provides students with the style manuals' guidelines for citing references.

 

Attribution Builders

Attribution Builders help faculty easily determine and add the appropriate Creative Commons license to Open Educational Materials (OER). The Creative Commons license defines how the material can be used, and is required for the material to be considered OER. Use of another's work requires attribution.

  • Open Attribution Builder - This is a tool to help you build attributions. Click the About box to learn more. As you fill out the form, the app automatically generates the attribution for you.
  • Creative Commons Attribution - A Creative Commons license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work". A CC license is used when an author wants to give other people the right to share, use, and build upon a work that they have created.

Reference Management Software

Several versions of reference management software are listed below. Some have free basic versions, some require payment to use, and some are completely free.

  • EndNote - EndNote is a reference management software that allows you to search databases for citations, import citations, store and organize your citations, create bibliographies and share with up to 14 others (all users must pay for the software).  There is a free, basic version of EndNote available that has limited storage and does not allow sharing files with colleagues.
  • RefWorks - a reference management software that is designed to help researchers gather, manage, store and share all types of information, as well as generate citations and bibliographies.   All users must pay for access to the software.  There does not appear to be a free version of this software.
  • Mendeley - a largely free reference management software that allows notations in PDF files.  Captures, stores, imports, exports and organizes citations. One free collaborating group of 3 allowed, more with paid subscription.
  • Zotero - a completely free, (up to 300 MB) open-source reference management software developed and owned by George Mason University.  Collects, organizes, cites and shares research sources.  Allows unlimited collaboration.
  • Further Information on Citation Management Software - Wikipedia has a nice table comparing numerous citation/reference manager software programs

Plagiarism

Definition

Plagiarism includes but is not limited to the following: presenting someone else's ideas as yours, copying verbatim all or part of another's written work; using phrases, charts, figures, illustrations, or mathematical or scientific solutions without citing the source; paraphrasing ideas, conclusions or research without citing the source in the text and in reference lists; inaccurate citations; using your own previously completed work and not citing yourself

Source: University of Oxford (2019). Plagiarism. Retrieved from https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/guidance/skills/plagiarism?wssl=1

Plagiarism is just one of many topics included under integrity and academic honesty outlined in the Sonoran University Student Handbook, which defines plagiarism as:

“Plagiarism occurs when one reproduces another’s words, ideas, or work without proper acknowledgement; when one paraphrases another’s ideas or arguments in a way that leads the reader to believe they originated with the paraphraser; or when someone signs the name of another individual on an academic/administrative report or document.”

 

Self-Plagiarism

Self-plagiarism can be described as a student submitting work that is the same or significantly the same as work that student previously submitted without approval from the course faculty. If a student would like to build upon a previous paper, project, or idea that they previously submitted they must secure prior approval from the course faculty before beginning the work.  Students must also cite themselves if they do use their previous work. use of one's own If using previous work in another context students must also themselves (referencing that the work was used previously).

 

Citing Sources

When using portions of someone else’s work you must give credit to the creator of that work. This includes, but is not limited to, using findings or ideas from hard copy or electronic publications, whether copyrighted or not, verbal or visual communication. (See the Citations section to the left for more information).

 

Available Online Resources

A Guide to Plagiarism and Paraphrasing This guide highlights and emphasizes the importance of understanding plagiarism by identifying several forms of it. The guide also discusses the concerns of AI-generated content and the need to verify policies. It concludes by offering plagiarism checkers, citation managers, and writing tools as resources to prevent plagiarism and improve writing skills.

 

 

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

University Info & Guidelines

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming more and more ubiquitous and there is no doubt it will disrupt and transform many fields including higher education. Sonoran University embraces innovation and aspires to harness this emerging technology to enhance student learning and institutional operations while also addressing the limitations and challenges these technologies impose.   

 

We recognize that today, many students, staff, administrators, and faculty are already experimenting with novel generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT.  We appreciate these tools provide innovative applications that may be helpful to enhance student learning; we also recognize that these tools may be used in a way that can evade key course objectives consistent with other forms of plagiarism and academic dishonesty.   

 

This statement serves to inform our academic community of Sonoran University's stance on AI use in the classroom and clinical environment. Unless previously approved by faculty, the use of AI for the completion of course assignments, quizzes, examinations, and/or for completing clinical chart notes will be considered analogous to plagiarism and/or using another person to complete an assignment intended for individual completion.  When a student is unsure, the student should ask their faculty in advance and/or default to disclosing use of AI. (Guide to citing text generated from AI) 

 

Sonoran University has implemented an AI detection software (Turnitin) that helps faculty identify when a student has integrated content from an AI text generator, such as ChatGPT, in their assignments.    

  

Specific to the clinical environment, students and SPE candidates must be aware that generative AI tools are NOT HIPAA compliant.  Students and SPE candidates are therefore strictly prohibited from placing any confidential and protected patient/client information onto these platforms for any reason including but not limited to helping inform clinical decisions.  Such actions will be deemed a violation of both HIPAA and standards of academic integrity. In recognition of the value AI may offer to learning, AI use in the learning environment (classroom or clinic) is not always prohibited.  However, any use of AI:  

1.       must be done with prior approval by course faculty/clinical supervisor, and 

2.       must be disclosed as a source in references and using quotation marks in cases where any text from a generative AI tool is used within the body of an assignment. (Guide to citing text generated from AI)  

 

In recognition that this technology is still emerging, Sonoran University will continue to monitor ongoing developments related to AI and may revise this statement as appropriate.  In the meantime, we welcome input from the university community to help inform our approach.

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Statement adapted from the following sources:  

1.        (n.d.). Generative AI Policy Guidance. Stanford University. Retrieved June 5, 2023, from https://communitystandards.stanford.edu/generative-ai-policy-guidance    

2.        (n.d.). Guidance for the Use of Generative AI. UCLA. Retrieved June 5, 2023, from https://teaching.ucla.edu/resources/ai_guidance/  

3.        (n.d.). Generative AI: FAQs. Arizona State University. Retrieved June 5, 2023, from https://provost.asu.edu/generative-ai-faqs  

(2023). Guidelines for Using Generative Artificial Intelligence at the George Washington University. George Washington University. https://doi.org/ April 4, 2023  

Additional references:  

1.        Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Teaching and Learning: https://www2.ed.gov/documents/ai-report/ai-report.pdf  U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Future of Teaching and Learning: Insights and Recommendations, Washington, DC, 2023.  

2.        European Commission, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, Ethical guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and data in teaching and learning for educators Publications Office of the European Union, 2022, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2766/153756   

3.        Framework of Artificial Intelligence Learning Platform for Education: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1331125.pdf    

4.        A Comprehensive AI Policy Education Framework for University Teaching and Learning: https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2305/2305.00280.pdf   

5.        Dalhousie University https://dal.ca.libguides.com/CitationStyleGuide/citing-ai#:~:text=Currently%2C%20APA%20recommends%20that%20text,entry%20on%20the%20References%20list.&text=Examples%3A,%2C%20January%2016%2C%202023).