SINGARAJA. The department accepts hundreds of proposals at the moment. While submitting, we initially filter the proposals in terms on peer-reviewed publications and referencing system. Many were sent back to be revised at this early stage. Several need to come more than once.
In an academic world, the use of recent publications, published ones, shows that the researcher reads a lot and is able to show the direction and trends on the matter being studied. From an early observation, EED students definitely needs more information about academic writing. Another interesting issue is academic integrity. Ability to think critically is a must in the 21st century and the submitted proposals plus the students argument ability need to be improved.
Referencing system is another important thing to consider. Many of the students are still confused in using the right system. In addition to that, the way to write the reference correctly based on the appropriate system. Undiksha’s Pedoman Penulisan Skripsi/TA (Thesis Writing Guidance) actually has this already (see ‘Cara Menulis Daftar Pustaka, page 34). The problem is reading culture. While the students got the guidance book, they admit that they did not read them. To deal with this, the department created a web system to make them read before coming to the department when they have issues to clarify.
The guidance book has some weaknesses as it tries to cover many areas under the University’s study fields. In Education, particularly English Education, the suggested referencing system is American Psychological Association (APA). Very few of the students know about this. The department directs the students to use APA as it provides more publication opportunities in the International context. However, using APA alone is not adequate. The system must be also acquired. Using technology, this will be easier. The students can start searching (there are a lot!), using an embedded referencing system in the Operating System (like, Word in Windows or Pages in Mac), or internationally accepted system, such as EndNote or RIS. EndNote, for instance, accepts exporting ability – a direct export to the referencing system.
For APA, please go to APA or OWL Purdue as a start. For a sample of APA, see this link. For APA for electronic references, see this link. For Social Media, see this link. If you need to know about Digital Object Identifier (DOI), go here.
All the best wishes!
