OTHER DETAILS AND

COMMON PITFALLS IN
RESEARCH IN
PRACTICE
ACCRES
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

∙ Write the references, appendices, and executive

summary of the research report.
∙ Articulate the common problems encountered in
research in practice.
Citations and References

▪ Quoting the work of another author, consultant, or practitioner is common in research but

portions quoted must be cited within the manuscript (i.e., in the case of research and

reports) or through footnotes or endnotes (i.e., in the case of books and manuals).

▪ Plagiarism refers to the representation of another author’s language, thoughts, ideas, or

expressions as one’s own original work.

✔ This act is considered a criminal offense, likened to counterfeiting and fraud, in many countries

where copyright infringement is strictly prohibited.

Citations and References

▪ In the Philippines, the Intellectual Property Office (IPOPHL), created by Republic Act

No. 8293 in 1998, is the leading agency responsible for handling the registration and

conflict resolution of intellectual property rights and to enforce the copyright laws.

▪ It covers all literary and artistic works, such as books, writings, musical compositions,

films, paintings, and other works including computer programs.

▪ A copyrights is the legal protection extended to the owner of the rights in an original

work.
Citations and References

▪ A fair use is the act of copying of copyrighted materials done for purposes such as commenting,

criticizing, and parodying a copyrighted work without permission from the copyright owner.

▪ In determining whether the use made is under fair use, the following factors should be considered:

▪ The purpose of the use, including if it is commercial or for nonprofit purposes.

▪ The nature of the copyrighted work

▪ The amount and sustainability of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.

▪ The effect of the use to the value of the copyrighted work,

 Citations and References

American Psychological In-text Citation Reference list

Association (APA)

The most commonly used style of The APA format in-text citations are Full publication details are listed

citing sources and references, included in the sentence where the alphabetically in the bibliography
information is used. These citations which follows immediately the main

The practice of referencing are presented after the quote or text.

acknowledges and gives credit to the paraphrase taken from another work.

sources used by a researcher or The reference list provides all the

consultant in a report. A citation must contain the author’s information that is essential to locate
last name and year of publication. the sources.

It recognizes the work and ideas of This format identifies and helps

other professional practitioners that locate the full source in the

were used in the study, and it bibliography or reference list.

validates and strengthens the

arguments presented in the report..
 APA Format In-text Citations

The APA format requires

inclusion of the last name of

the author or authors and the

year of publication. Articles

with one or two authors

include all names in every

text citation.
 WHEN DIRECTLY QUOTED

When not directly

quoted

When author’s name is

stated in the sentence
When citing two or more authors, one
must separate their last names with an
ampersand (&).

In case there are three or more

authors, one must separate their
last names using commas and the
last two authors’ last names
should be separated by both a
comma and an ampersand (in a
citation) or “and” (in the running
text)
 When citing three to five authors in the APA format, one need not to mention all the
names of the authors in subsequent in-text citations. Use “et al.”, which means “and
others.”

In the APA format, present all the

authors’ last name for the first
in-text citation

Then use “et al.” after the last

name of the first author for
subsequent citations.
When citing six or more authors in the
APA format, simply use only the first
author’s last name followed by “et al.”
and the year of publication for all in-text
citations
When the reference is published by an
organization instead of an individual,
one must cite the institution’s name
as the author. Type out the full
organization name and not merely
the acronym for the reference list
In an APA citation for web pages, the date of
publication is written in this order, in
parentheses: (Year, Month, Day). If the web
page names an individual author, cite his or
her name first: Last name, F.M. (Year, Month
Date). Title of page. Site name. URL.
If an online resource was written by a
group, organization, or company, use the
name of the group, organization, or
company as the author. If the author and
website name are the same, omit the
website name from the citation:
Organization name. (Year, Month Date).
Title of page. Site name. URL.
If the web page’s author is not listed, start
with the title instead. Add a retrieval date
when the page’s content is likely to change
over time: Title of page. (Year, Month Date).
Site name. Retrieved Month Date, Year,
from URL. The website in the reference list
should not be italicized.
If the citation is directly quoted from another
source, one should place it between
quotation marks. To be more precise, page
number(s) can be included in your
citations (preceded by “p.” or “pp.”)
Different or multiple sources can be
cited in one sentence by separating
them using semicolons.

For studies published in the same year

by the same author, add alphabetic
designators to the year of publication
in both the in-text citation and
reference list.

For work published in different years by

the same author, place the years of
publication in a chronological sequence
separated by commas.
APA Format Bibliography or References
The References or Bibliography includes a complete list of references used
in the study, including the authors’ names, publication date, and title, among
other important information. Most modern reports now use the term
“References.”

The References section is written in alphabetical order by the name of the

first author or by the title of the sources with no author. If there are
multiple studies by the same author, these are ordered by the year of
publication; if the studies are in the same year, they are ordered alphabetically
by the title and are allocated a letter (i.e., a, b, c) after the year of publication.
 APA Format Bibliography or References

An APA style reference list must contain all the references used in
the in-text citations. The APA style reference format differs
depending on the type of source.
✔ Article in a journal
✔ Article in a periodical
✔ Book
✔ Book section
✔ Conference proceedings
✔ Report
✔ Website
✔ Document from website
✔ Sound recording
✔ Patent
✔ Case
The general format for books

Author’s Last name, First Initial.

Second Initial. (Year of
Publication). Title of the book.
Place of Publication: Publishing
Company.
Article in a journal (Journal names should be
italicized):

Author’s Last name, First Initial. Second

Initial. (Year of Publication). Title of the
article. Journal name. Volume, Issue, pages

Website (Nothing should be italicized)

Last name, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year,

Month Day). Title of article or page. Retrieved
from URL.
For media, if citing the entire work, use the director for a film,
documentary, or video

Creator’s last name, initials.

(Creator’s contribution). (Year).
Title of work [Medium]. Production
company, museum location or
hosting URL (if online)

Government report

Author’s last name, initials. (Year).

Title of report (Report No. xxx).
Website URL.
Conferences may be cited in the bibliography in many ways as published conference proceedings,
conference paper in published proceedings, online conference, or unpublished conference paper.

Published conference proceedings

Editor (Ed.). (Year). Proceeding

from Title of Conference. Place of
publication: Name of Publisher.

Conference paper in published

proceedings in print

Author. (Year). Title of Paper. In

Editor (Ed.). Paper presented at
Title of Conference (pages). Place
of publication: Publisher.
Conference paper in published proceedings
online

Author. (Year, Month Day). Title of Paper.

Paper presented at Title of Conference.
doi:0000000/000000000000 or
[Link]

Unpublished conference paper

Author. (Year, Month Day). Title of Paper.

Paper presented at Title of Conference, City,
State.
 Appendices
An appendix is a section at the end of ✔ Lists
✔ Maps
an academic research paper where ✔ Detailed statistical data (presented in tables or
figures)
✔ Correspondences
one may include additional vital
✔ Transcripts of interviews
✔ Research instruments (e.g. survey questionnaires,
information that doesn’t fit into the test forms, checklists, etc.)
✔ Formulas and calculations
main text but is a supplement and ✔ Diagrams and frameworks
✔ Reports
provides the reader with a better ✔ Laws, regulations, and circular memos
✔ Manuals
understanding of the document. Thus ✔ Guides
✔ Speeches
if more than one appendix is ✔ Graphs
✔ Anecdotes
featured, the entire section is labeled ✔ Photos or any visual evidence
✔ Brief articles (detailed descriptions of vital
as “Appendices” subtopics
APPENDIX
The researcher should refer to
each appendix at least once in the
main text. If such information from
A report need not always have to an appendix is not mentioned in the
include an appendix. An appendix main text, it should not be included in
should present information that the Appendices section. When such
supplements the readers’ information found in an appendix is
understanding of the report but is not discussed in the main text for the
essential enough to be part of the first time, it may follow the
manuscript. following formats.
The detailed results of the online diagnostic The pointers in presenting an appendix are as
test conducted across 128 accounting schools follows:
✔ The title label and description as an appendix
in the country are shown in Appendix C. heading should be centered, in bold text,
double-spaced, and using Times New Roman
or size 12.
✔ The appendix label
✔ The opening paragraph to describe briefly the
The investment grade status of the 190 appendix should highlight the importance of the
countries has been updated last 2023 (see supplemental information. It is also written
Appendix B for details) double-spaced, in Times New Roman, font size 12,
and the first line of each paragraph is indented by
half an inch with the entire paragraph left-aligned.
Note that if one refers to the same information ✔ The appendices are presented in the appendices
again, it’s not necessary to mention the section in order of citation in the main text.
appendix each time.
 Executive Summary

✔ An executive summary is a section that appears at the

beginning of a business or technical report. It offers the
reader a concise, accurate, and conclusive summary of the
document.
✔ There is no official APA standard for writing an executive
summary. APA is designed to prepare documents for
publication and does not provide requirements on the correct
format or content of an executive summary.
 Executive Summary

✔ The purpose of an executive summary is to present a

condensed narrative version of a report in 1 to 3 pages.
✔ It must written in an interesting style but straightforward
observing brevity, capturing the essence of the report as it is
written for most likely executives who do not have time to read
the complete document.
✔ The headings in an executive may have similarities with the
table of contents of the report but they eliminate the
nonessential sections.
✔ Executive summaries that do not have headings may be written
in one to two pages only, while those with headings may take
one to three pages.
 Executive Summary

✔ When writing the executive summary, acronyms,

symbols, and abbreviations must be written out.
✔ Tables and figures in the report should not be
referred to by number in the executive summary.
✔ It is written in a formal tone using an impersonal
style and eliminating first-person pronouns (I, we,
our, etc.)
 Executive Summary
Use the following guidelines when writing an executive summary:
✔ State the purpose of the report. Being direct to the point, this may be
written clearly and explicitly in one sentence.
✔ Present the major points. These are presented in the same order they are
written in the report.
✔ Summarize the results, conclusions, or recommendations. This is the
highlight of the executive summary and may be written in one to three
paragraphs.
✔ Write headings. One needs to write the headings, as needed, for clarity, but
word headings differ from the headings used in the report.
✔ Limit the discussion. Write each section of the executive summary in five
sentences or less. There is no need for lengthy articulation.
✔ The format should be cohesive and easy to follow. Format the executive
summary the same way as the complete report.
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
 A confidentiality agreement (also
called a “non-disclosure

Confidentiality
agreement” [NDA]) is a legal
contract in which the signatory
agrees to not disclose information
of a Research covered by the agreement.

Project A confidentiality clause can also be

part of the research instruments,
which is used to inform the
participants that the consultants are
committed to keep their identities
and their private information strictly
confidential.
 Breach of a confidentiality
agreement may result in
Confidentiality the removal of the violator
of a Research from the engagement or
project, termination of
Project employment, blacklisting in
future projects, and
possible litigation and
indemnification of
damages.
 Even the most
seasoned practitioners
and consultants may
Common potentially commit
Pitfalls in blunders and mistakes
in their final report if
Research in they are not careful,
diligent, and do not pay
Practice attention to details
 Common
Pitfalls in
Research in
Practice