Thursday, August 16, 2007

Word count and referencing style

Hi I was just wondering if there were any constraints on the word count and well as if there was a specific referencing style that we needed to use for our reflection.

Thanks.

1 comment:

Stephen said...

Absolute upper limit, 4000 words. Before you all run around screaming, that doesn't mean I expect you all to produce 4000 words on this. I think something closer to 2000 is reasonable, and less than 1000 is unlikely to be long enough for you to reflect in enough detail. Specific examples tend to take up a fair amount of space to describe in enough detail for someone else to understand them, so hence the allowance for longer if necessary.

So long as you are consistent with a referencing style, then I'll be happy. Please do remember to make use of the fact that you are submitting on a blog, and therefore can embed links etc. to refer to what you are writing about.

I deliberately set this up to have a blog article look and feel rather than a paper report, so don't get too hung up about exactly what style you are using. The most important point to remember is that you should reference and acknowledge your sources.

Take a look at Many2Many if you want to see some examples of the kind of style I have in mind. It's less formal than academic research typically appears, but it is still considered, presenting justification of opinions expressed, and referencing background and broader discourse where appropriate.

--Stephen.