Technical writing is the presentation of information that helps the reader solve a particular problem. Technical communicators write, design, and/or edit proposals, manuals, web pages, lab reports, newsletters, and many other kinds of professional documents.

1. Lecture 9
References
(Technical Writing CS212)
Abdisalam Issa-Salwe
Taibah University
College of Computer Science & Engineering
Computer Science Department
Topic List
1. Why referencing?
2. Citation
3. References and Bibliography
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2. Why referencing?
Referencing is required to:
1. Avoid plagiarism – don’t present others work without
referencing them.
2. Identify context – place your work in context with
other recognized publications.
3. Support arguments and validate statements.
4. Identify sources – provide readers with a
comprehensive list of related work that they can use to
study your topic in more detail and build upon it.
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Citation
Citation - is the process of embedding an
abbreviated alphanumeric expression or an
order number in the body of an intellectual work
to denote a bibliographic reference.
Purpose of citation – is to acknowledge the
relevance of others’ work to the topic of discussion
at the spot where the citation appears.
Citation Methods
Harvard System Numeric (Vancouver) System
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3. Citation (cont…)
Harvard System – uses the name of the author(s)
and the year of their publication within two opening
and closing round parentheses ( ).
Examples:
1. It is often said that computing is an art not a science (Smith and Jones
1993: 20).
2. Smith and Jones suggested that computing is an art not a science
(1993: 20).
3. Smith and Jones (1993: 20) state that “computing has much more in
common with the finger things in life, like art, than science or
engineering”.
4. Shannon et al. (1995) state that … (here is given the text…)
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Citation (cont…)
Harvard System:
5. Computing is an art not a science (Smith and Jones 1993a,
1993b).
6. Computing is an art not a science (Smith and Jones 1993a)
because it is more common to deal with using fingers (Smith and
Jones 1993b).
7. Computing is an art not a science (Johnson 1992; Peterson et al.
1995; Smith and Jones 1993a, 1993b).
8. Computing is an art not a science (Johnson 1992, cited by
Markos et al. 1996).
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4. Referencing and Citing: Citation (cont…)
Numeric (Vancouver) System – uses a
unique number for each cited reference that
represents the order number of the cited
reference within the list of bibliography.
This number is shown within two opening
and closing square parentheses [ ], or in the
form of superscript font.
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Citation (cont…)
Examples (Numeric/Vancouver System):
1. It is often said that computing is an art not a science [21].
Or 21
2. Smith and Jones suggested that computing is an art not a
science [21].
3. Smith and Jones [21] state that “computing has much more
in common with the finger things in life, like art, than
science or engineering”.
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5. Citation (cont…)
1. Shannon et al. [19] state that,
“Nearly perfect speech recognition was observed
under conditions of greatly reduced spectral
information. Temporal envelopes of speech were
extracted from broad frequency bands and were used
to modulate noises of the same bandwidths. This
manipulation preserved temporal envelope cues in
each band but restricted the listener to severely
degraded information on the distribution of spectral
energy. The identification of consonants, vowels, and
words in simple sentences”.
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Citation (cont…)
5. Computing is an art not a science [21, 22].
6. Computing is an art not a science [21] because
it is more common to deal with using fingers
[22].
7. Computing is an art not a science [13, 17, 21,
22].
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6. References and Bibliography
References – list only those articles that have
been referred to (cited) within the report itself.
Bibliography – list all the articles that have been
used in the project but not necessarily referred
to inside the report.
Reference presentation.
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References and Bibliography
1. Books
[1] Anderson, J., Jones, J.P., and Peterson, K.K.L.
(1982) The Implications of Science, 2nd edition,
Pitman, London, UK.
[2] Benjamin, T. (1956) Computer Science Made
Easy, Arnold, Leeds, UK.
2. Journal articles
[1] Brown, A. and Wesley, C.W. (1995a) “An
investigation of the Hawthorne effect”, Management
Sciences Journal, 42(1), 47-66.
[2] Brown, A. and Wesley, C.W. (1995b) “Adaptation of
genetic algorithms in Hawthorne analysis”,
Management Monthly, 28(2), 21-23.
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7. References and Bibliography
3. Conference articles
[1] Jowitt, J.D. (1995) “Information systems in a progressive society”, in
Applications of Information Systems XI, Eds Cartwright, R.A. and
Laurence, G., Rowntree Publications, Leeds, UK.
[2] ISAIS (1995) International Symposium on Applications of
Information Systems XI, proceedings of an international conference
organized by the Society of IS, London, 12-16 June 199428(2),
Rowntree Publications, Leeds, UK.
4.Web addresses
[1] Gaynor, L. (1993) “Introduction of artificial intelligence”, available
from Internet <http://www.cai.com/ai/1086> (25 July 1999).
[2] International Group on Complex Systems (1999) “Systems
analysis”, Minutes of Second Meeting, 12 June 1999, available from
Internet <http://www.IGCS.com/Min/two.html> (25 July 1999).
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References and Bibliography (cont…)
Reference presentation:
5.Technical reports (institution or company publications)
[1] IAEA (1983) Guidebook on Computer Techniques in Nuclear Plants,
Technical Report Series No. 27, International Atomic Energy Agency,
Russia.
[2] National Environment Research Council (1992) Computers in
Hydrology Report, Technical Report Vol. II, NERC, London, UK.
6.Theses
[1] Alsuraihi, M. (2008) “Multimodal Interface Design: A Software
Engineering Approach”, published PhD thesis, Department of
Computing, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK.
[2] Hampson, J. (1994) “The effectiveness of AI in calcite modeling”,
unpublished PhD thesis, Department of Computing, University of
Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.
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8. References and Bibliography (cont…)
List of References according to the alphabetic order of
authors’ names:
[1] Alsuraihi, M. (2008) “Multimodal Interface Design: A Software
Engineering Approach”, published PhD thesis, Department of
Computing, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK.
[2] Anderson, J., Jones, J.P., and Peterson, K.K.L. (1982) The
Implications of Science, 2nd edition, Pitman, London, UK.
[3] Benjamin, T. (1956) Computer Science Made Easy, Arnold, Leeds,
UK.
[4] Brown, A. and Wesley, C.W. (1995a) “An investigation of the
Hawthorne effect”, Management Sciences Journal, 42(1).
[5] Brown, A. and Wesley, C.W. (1995b) “Adaptation of genetic algorithms
in Hawthorne analysis”, Management Monthly, 28(2), 21-23.
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Reference
- Mohammad Alsuraihi, Technical Writing,
CS212 Course notes, Taibah University,
Madinah, KSA
- Abdisalam Issa-Salwe, Teaching Notes,
College of Computer Science and
Engineering, Taibah University, Madinah,
KSA.
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