tip to students # 1

When you're grading papers, you see many students doing the same mistakes. Here's one common, well, not mistake, let's call it a blunder, as it tends to annoy the examiner. You don't want to annoy the person grading your work.

At the end of the research paper comes the reference list, and in media studies, we reference all kinds of material. Most students separate the list in categories: books, research papers, films, TV programs, Internet sites.

Don't!

It looks nice and tidy, but doesn't work. When I see a reference on page 3 to (Jensen, 2001), how do I know if Jensen wrote a book, a paper, a newspaper article, or a blog? I have to check in three or four different lists. I get annoyed.

Smart students write all the references in one alphabetized list.

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tip to students # 2