Assignment寫(xiě)作基本要求：Word Count、Reference和Similarity，及非常重要的Reference

字?jǐn)?shù)（Word Count）
你不可能把字?jǐn)?shù)把握的恰到好處，所以幾乎所有的文字性作業(yè)（assignment, essay, Research和Dissertation）的字?jǐn)?shù)要求都可以上下浮動(dòng)的。要求2000字的assignment，實(shí)際字?jǐn)?shù)可以上下浮動(dòng)10%，比如說(shuō)你可以寫(xiě)1800字或者2200字，但不要超出這個(gè)范圍。 3000字以上的assignment只能上下浮動(dòng)5%，就是2850 – 3150。所以你5000字的畢業(yè)論文不可以寫(xiě)4500字。大多數(shù)情況下，盡量往多里寫(xiě)，盡量不要低于標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，理論上你寫(xiě)1800字導(dǎo)師不能因此將你fail，但是導(dǎo)師可能會(huì)講insufficient evidence或者insufficient support。
建議2000字assignment寫(xiě)2050-2080字剛剛好，你可以先寫(xiě)1800字然后拿給導(dǎo)師看下，然后修改下，最后差不多剛好達(dá)到這個(gè)字?jǐn)?shù)。

下面是University of East London對(duì)字?jǐn)?shù)的要求：
You should provide your word count at the end of your report or essay. This should exclude your abstract, contents page, reference list/bibliography and appendices. 
You must not exceed the permitted word count by more than 10%.  
If your work is significantly shorter, you will probably have failed to provide the level of content required.”
Reference
大多數(shù)學(xué)校只接受Harvard Reference Style，少部分學(xué)校接受任何一種Reference Style，但是不允許兩種以上的Reference Style 出現(xiàn)在Reference List里，也就是說(shuō)只能選一種style，但是選擇權(quán)在自己手里。
Reference 非常重要，雖然它看起來(lái)只值5%的分?jǐn)?shù)，但是使用不恰當(dāng)或者References數(shù)量不足會(huì)直接導(dǎo)致Assignment被Fail或低分。
我們來(lái)看看Reference的重要性：
 
University of East London對(duì)reference的要求：
“You will have learnt in your Level 1 skills module that using someone else’s work without acknowledgement (referencing) is plagiarism, even if you express their findings in your own words. 
Some assignments will require you to find published information and use it in your assignment in which case you will gain marks for finding these sources, and you should inform the reader of their origins by providing references: 
a short reference within your report or essay and full details in the reference list and/or bibliography at the end of your work�！�

如果你引用別人的觀點(diǎn)，你必須referencing，即使你是用自己的語(yǔ)言寫(xiě)在assignment里的。換句話說(shuō)，假如你一整句或者一整個(gè)論點(diǎn)都被 Turnitin發(fā)現(xiàn)是抄襲的，同時(shí)你又沒(méi)有referencing，這些內(nèi)容會(huì)被算做抄襲，這一段內(nèi)容不會(huì)被給出任何分?jǐn)?shù)。雖然這只是理論上的事情，基本上沒(méi)人這么較真，但是這種情況會(huì)被有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的導(dǎo)師反感，會(huì)被直接給出整體40分這樣的低分。所以假如你有引用，一定要referencing。
有些部分內(nèi)容需要你引用別人的觀點(diǎn)，作為你assignment的support，所以你必須referencing。這將直接決定你作業(yè)的分?jǐn)?shù)高低。來(lái)看看reference如何影響你的分?jǐn)?shù)。
University of East London對(duì)reference的詳細(xì)要求，看看reference是如何影響你的成績(jī)的。 Level 1 表示大一；Level 2表示大二；Level 表示大三。
假如你達(dá)到了最低的reference要求，大一時(shí)你還不至于被fail，到了大二和大三，如果你assignment里的reference太少或者格式不對(duì)，甚至達(dá)不到要求，assignment會(huì)被直接fail或者低分。想要寫(xiě)好的assignment,你的論點(diǎn)（arguments）需要被學(xué)者support，reference就是你被support證據(jù)。在語(yǔ)法不好的情況下，或者內(nèi)容偏題的情況下，reference就是保證分?jǐn)?shù)的武器，它能保一方平安。
 
General guidelines for standards expected at different levels of study.
Grade
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
(70% or above)
Thorough understanding of relevant ideas.  Clear and well refe-renced argument.  Coherent structure.
Ideas critically analysed.  Argument is clear, succinct and well supported.  Evidence of a wide range of reading and some independent thought.
Critical work evidencing excellent synthesis and application of ideas.  Work is exceptionally well constructed and presented.
(60-69%)
Sound understanding.  Well written and relevant argument.  Appropriately referenced.
Critical consideration of relevant ideas.  Arguments are precisely defined and appropriately referenced.  The work is structurally sound and well written.
Ideas are critically applied and coherently presented.  Evidence of wide reading and some originality.  Well referenced
(50-59%)
Evidence of understanding and independent reading.  Adequate referencing, but some unsubstantiated material.  Weaknesses in spelling, structure & grammar.
Reasonable understanding of the relevant concepts, but some inconsistencies in application.  Arguments are referenced, but disjointed.  Poor structure, spelling or grammar.
Clear grasp of concepts and some critical application.  Appro-priat-ely referenced and relevant argument.  Reasonable structure and syntax.  Well presented
(40-49%)
Indication of some understanding, but poor application of ideas.   Minimal referencing.  Generally  weak structure.
Generally descriptive work with limited evidence of a critical consideration of ideas.  In-adequate referencing.  Weaknesses in structure, spelling and grammar.
Evidence of good understanding of issues, but crudely applied.  Work indicates some critical thinking, but tends towards description.  Argument may be unbalanced.  Poor structure and presentation
(below 40%)
Irrelevant or poorly analysed material.  Indication of weak grasp of concepts.  Inadequate structure.  Poor grammar and spelling.
Uncritical.  Poorly referenced.  Argument indicates little use of relevant literature.  Chaotic structure and generally badly written.
Poorly referenced and suggests inadequate exploration of relevant literature.  Chaotic structure and generally badly written.

關(guān)于Reference有幾點(diǎn)需要強(qiáng)調(diào)
一、Reference數(shù)量要多，這樣才能體驗(yàn)?zāi)愕恼撐氖莄ritical，有support，你的觀點(diǎn)和想法是被認(rèn)可的。所有的知識(shí)都要被referencing，一篇assignment幾乎所有的內(nèi)容都要reference，包括：定義、知識(shí)點(diǎn)、學(xué)者演繹的經(jīng)典知識(shí)、學(xué)者的論點(diǎn)、公司信息。同時(shí)你只要使用任何的圖片和表格，除了你自己制作的以外，你都要標(biāo)清source，特別是數(shù)據(jù)和model類(lèi)的圖片和表格。

二、不要先列好Reference List,然后再寫(xiě)assignment，最后亂標(biāo)in-text reference。這樣會(huì)使你的in-text reference和實(shí)際內(nèi)容驢唇不對(duì)馬嘴。

三、不要驢唇不對(duì)馬嘴。
論點(diǎn)是講sales的，，但是reference標(biāo)的文章是廣告對(duì)兒童消費(fèi)行為的影響，這明顯驢唇不對(duì)馬嘴。導(dǎo)師看后會(huì)直接降低印象分，感覺(jué)你在胡編。所以假如你認(rèn)真在做assignment的話，就認(rèn)真的去找一些真的reference吧。
比如：in-text reference:
Chandok Anil (2005) found appliance sales were most frequent when customer and salesman were similar in their propensity to bargain;
and greater risk was found to be perceived in buying the same good by mail than at a retail store.
Reference List:
Chandok Anil (2005) “Impact of Advertisements on Children’s Buying Behaviour”, Marketing Mastermind,pp. 41-46

四、一些信息不可以做reference
大家習(xí)慣于在網(wǎng)上找資料，但是網(wǎng)上很多信息不可以做reference的。
1）直接引用Wikipedia會(huì)直接被給低分或者零分。但是你可以巧妙利用Wikipedia里的Reference List。Wikipedia是一個(gè)很講究的社區(qū)，所有的引用都會(huì)Referencing。你可以引用Wikipedia里的引用。
比如：
Wikipedia，引用了這段話。你也可以把這句話引用到自己的文章里。
Consumer Behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to
 select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the 
impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society.[1]
然后拉到頁(yè)面最后的Reference list，復(fù)制這個(gè)這條在自己里Reference列表里就好了。這樣你就是引用的Kuester, Sabine這個(gè)學(xué)者的觀點(diǎn)了，合理合法，非常方便。
Kuester, Sabine (2012): MKT 301: Strategic Marketing & Marketing in Specific Industry Contexts, 
University of Mannheim, p. 110.

2）引用網(wǎng)絡(luò)博客等非學(xué)者的觀點(diǎn)作為自己論點(diǎn)的support，這樣做并沒(méi)有用。
比如你文中引用：Kotler (2015) agreed that there is a moderate relationship between price and consume behavior.
Reference List：
Kotler, P. (2015) The Impact of Price on Consumer Behavior, [Online] Available at :XXX

3）不要在Assignment Brief里直接復(fù)制reference。
很多人發(fā)現(xiàn)作業(yè)要求里有閱讀推薦（Suggested Background Reading，Recommended Reading）， 就先自己亂寫(xiě)一氣，然后自作聰明的把里面的Reference List,粘貼一下用作自己的Reference。這種做法是不可取的，會(huì)直接導(dǎo)致低分。因?yàn)閷?dǎo)師早已將這些書(shū)籍和文章翻爛并爛熟于心，哪兒一個(gè)觀點(diǎn)是你亂引用的都會(huì)被發(fā)現(xiàn)，除非你真的讀了這些書(shū)籍，否則不要妄自引用。

Similarity （Turnitin）
1）假如你真的沒(méi)有抄襲，不用擔(dān)心相似度。每篇論文的相似度都有要求，比如20%，10%。有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的導(dǎo)師就不會(huì)直接通過(guò)相似度來(lái)評(píng)價(jià)這篇論文是否算抄襲，他們會(huì)分析相似的內(nèi)容。因此即使你的作業(yè)相似度真的超出了標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，也可以和導(dǎo)師Argue。但是請(qǐng)不要以此為由來(lái)復(fù)制粘貼assignment。假如你被網(wǎng)站視為‘抄襲’的內(nèi)容是定義或其他學(xué)者理論，并且有標(biāo)注Reference，這是可以被接受的。
2）你的論文上傳Turnitin或其他相似度檢測(cè)網(wǎng)站，有的學(xué)校老師直接在網(wǎng)站上批改作業(yè)。上面說(shuō)過(guò)，假如你一整句或者一整個(gè)論點(diǎn)都被 Turnitin發(fā)現(xiàn)是抄襲的，同時(shí)你又沒(méi)有referencing，這些內(nèi)容會(huì)被算做抄襲，這一段內(nèi)容不會(huì)被給出任何分?jǐn)?shù)。
3) 有些學(xué)校老師不在Turnitin上批改作業(yè)，所以有些人自作聰明上傳空白文檔或者只上傳Introduction，這種做法是100%不可取的，會(huì)被立刻發(fā)現(xiàn)然后meeting。