Conclusion
As mentioned before, students often have not been trained to use source material correctly and plagiarize unintentionally. But like the old saying goes, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” You will still be held accountable whether you understand or not, so now, in your early college career, is the time you should learn to cite source material correctly in oral and written communication.
Something to Think About
In Appendix B you will find more information about plagiarism.
After reading about ethics in communication, what do you think is the most important consideration in ethical speaking? What is the second? The third? Could the first, second, and third ever come into conflict?
Why do you think it is so hard for students to learn to cite sources appropriately?
The following exercise might be helpful for you to develop an understand- ing of orally citing your sources.
Choose one of your sources for an upcoming speech for this exercise. On a sheet of paper, answer these 9 questions.
- Is this information you found in a unique source, or information that was repeated in all or most of your sources? (This may bear upon whether you need to cite the information or not.)
- Who is the original author or “speaker” of this quotation or material?
- What is the title of source?
- Is it a primary or secondary source? Is the writer quoting someone else (secondary) or is the author the one who discovered the knowledge/information? If the source is secondary, who is being quoted or cited originally?
- What do you know about the source of the citation? Is she/he an expert, such as a scientist, doctor, government official, college professor, etc?
- Where did you find the article? In what journal or magazine, on what website, in what book?
- If a website, who sponsors the website (what organization, government, company)?
- When was this information published? What is the date on it?
- Are you repeating the source’s words exactly or just abstracting (summarizing) what was said? Which would be better, in this case?
If you had to pick 5 of the 7 above to put in your speech, which would you use, based on the three criteria of 1. Audience can find it 2. It makes you look more credible, and 3. It is ethical? Put a star by them.
If you had to pick 4 of the 7, which one would you take out from the previous question? (Cross it out)
It is not necessary to say all of this information, but most of it should be included in the citation. This is how a speech citation is different from a paper. The audience does not have access to this information unless you say it.
Now, write how you would cite this source in the speech. Some stem phrases would be “According to . . .” “In the article. . .” “On a webpage entitled . . .” “On the website for the . . . . organization. . .” “In my interview with Dr. Sam Smith, who is ”
Compare with classmates.
Case Study
Jennifer has an informative speech due for Dr. MacKenzie’s class. It is about why the gold standard is no longer used in American currency. She chose the subject because she had to write a paper about it in American history class. What should Jennifer consider in how she uses sources?
Jennifer’s friend Beth approaches her about having to give an informative speech for Professor Daniels’ class. Beth confesses she has been having personal problems and needs help, and she asks Jennifer to let her use some of her outline for Dr. MacKenzie’s class. What would be the best course of action for Jennifer?
