6.4 Citing Sources

Most public speaking teachers will require you to turn in either a bibliography or a reference page with your speeches. In this section, we’re going to explore how to properly cite your sources for a Modern Language Association (MLA) list of works cited or an American Psychological Association (APA) reference list. We’re also going to discuss plagiarism and how to avoid it.

Why Citing Is Important

Citing enables readers to see where you found information used within a speech, article, or book. Citing your sources is one way that you demonstrate your credibility and integrity to your audience. When you cite your sources, you are showing your audience that your ideas are based on the most up-to-date ideas and best practices within your subject area as well as differentiating between your own insights and the intellectual property of others. Failing to cite your information properly, or at all, is considered plagiarism, which is representing someone’s words or ideas as your own. Because plagiarism is a type of academic dishonesty, educational institutions have strict prohibitions against it.

APA versus MLA Source Citations

While there are numerous citation styles to choose from, the two most common style choices for public speaking are APA (American Psychological Association) and MLA (Modern Language Association). Scholars in the social sciences (e.g., psychology, human communication, business) tend to use APA style, while scholars in the humanities (e.g., English, philosophy, rhetoric) are more likely to use MLA style. The two styles are quite different from each other, so learning them does take time. Your instructor will tell you which citation style to use for citing your sources.

Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab has a useful chart that explains the differences between APA and MLA Citation Style for different types of sources: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/using_research/documents/20191212CitationChart.pdf.

Citing Sources in a Speech

In this section, we’ll discuss how to incorporate and cite outside sources in a speech. Citing sources within a speech is a three-step process: setting up the citation, incorporating the cited information, and explaining the citation. All three parts of this process are necessary to signal to your audience that you are going to support your claim with ideas or words that are not your own as well as explain how those ideas relate to your claim. Putting source material into your speech without framing it is “drive-by quoting,” a practice that disorients your audience by not giving them everything they need to understand how the source is relevant to your own claims.

Setting up the Citation

First, you want to set up your audience for the citation. The setup is one or two sentences that put your source into context and signal to the audience that you are about to transition from your own ideas to someone else’s.

For example:

Workplace bullying is becoming an increasing problem in the United States, and employers are reluctant to take steps to address this problem.

This statement introduces the basic topic and provides a context for the outside material you will use to support this observation.

Incorporating the Cited Information

The set up is followed by the cited information, which you can directly quote, paraphrase, or summarize. Directly quoting a source is to take a passage from it verbatim and enclose it in quotation marks to indicate that these words are not your own. Paraphrasing and summarizing are ways of restating the source’s ideas in your own words. A paraphrase is approximately the same length as the original passage, while a summary is a shorter version of the original passage. Because paraphrases and summaries are written in your own words, you do not enclose them in quotations.

Important!  While paraphrases and summaries of sources are written in your own words, you must still cite the original author because you are using someone else’s ideas.

Direct Quotation: Workplace bullying is becoming an increasing problem in the United States, and employers are reluctant to take steps to address this problem. In their 2009 report “Bullying: Getting Away with It,” the Workplace Bullying Institute found that “doing nothing to the bully (ensuring impunity) was the most common employer tactic (54%).”

Paraphrase: Workplace bullying is becoming an increasing problem in the United States, and employers are reluctant to take steps to address this problem. According to a 2009 study by the Workplace Bullying Institute entitled “Bullying: Getting Away with It,” 54 percent of employers took no action against bullies after workers reported a problem.

In both of these cases, the source information is first introduced by citing the author—in this case, the Workplace Bullying Institute. We then provided the title of the study. You could also provide the name of the article, book, podcast, movie, or other source.

Let’s look at another example of direct quotations and paraphrases, this time using a person, rather than an institution, as the author.

Direct Quotation: In her book The Elements of Library Research: What Every Student Needs to Know, Mary George, senior reference librarian at Princeton University’s library, defines insight as something that “occurs at an unpredictable point in the research process and leads to the formulation of a thesis statement and argument. Also called an ‘Aha’ moment or focus.”

Paraphrase: In her book The Elements of Library Research: What Every Student Needs to Know, Mary George, senior reference librarian at Princeton University’s library, tells us that insight is likely to come unexpectedly during the research process; it will be an “aha!” moment when we suddenly have a clear vision of the point we want to make.

Notice that the same basic pattern for citing sources was followed in both cases.

Explaining the Citation

One of the biggest mistakes of novice public speakers (and research writers) is incorporating cited material without explaining how it supports their claim, or “hit and run” quoting. The cited material does not speak for itself. It’s your job as writer and speaker to explain how the quotation or paraphrase supports your claim. Don’t force your audience to draw their own conclusions: help them make the connections you want them to make.

In the examples below, the material that explains the significance of the paraphrase or quote is in bold type.

Bullying Example Direct Quote: Workplace bullying is becoming an increasing problem in the United States, and employers are reluctant to take steps to address this problem. In their 2009 report “Bullying: Getting Away with It,” the Workplace Bullying Institute found that “doing nothing to the bully (ensuring impunity) was the most common employer tactic (54%).” Clearly, organizations need to be held accountable for investigating bullying allegations. If organizations will not voluntarily improve their handling of this problem, the legal system may be required to step in and enforce sanctions for bullying, much as it has done with sexual harassment.

Bullying Example Paraphrase: Workplace bullying is becoming an increasing problem in the United States, and employers are reluctant to take steps to address this problem. According to a 2009 study by the Workplace Bullying Institute entitled “Bullying: Getting Away with It,” 54 percent of employers took no action against bullies after workers reported a problem. Clearly, organizations need to be held accountable for investigating bullying allegations. If organizations will not voluntarily improve their handling of this problem, the legal system may be required to step in and enforce sanctions for bullying, much as it has done with sexual harassment.

Aha! Example Direct Quote: In her book The Elements of Library Research: What Every Student Needs to Know, Mary George, senior reference librarian at Princeton University’s library, defines insight as something that “occurs at an unpredictable point in the research process and leads to the formulation of a thesis statement and argument. Also called an ‘Aha’ moment or focus.” As many of us know, reaching that “aha!” moment does not always come quickly, but there are definitely some strategies one can take to help speed up this process.

Aha! Example Paraphrase: In her book The Elements of Library Research: What Every Student Needs to Know, Mary George, senior reference librarian at Princeton University’s library, tells us that insight is likely to come unexpectedly during the research process; it will be an “aha!” moment when we suddenly have a clear vision of the point we want to make. As many of us know, reaching that “aha!” moment does not always come quickly, but there are definitely some strategies one can take to help speed up this process.

Notice how in both of our explanations we took the source’s information and then added to the information to direct it for our specific purpose. In the bullying example, we then propose that businesses should either adopt workplace bullying guidelines or face legal intervention. In the “aha!” example, we turn the quotation into a section on helping people find their thesis or topic. In both cases, we were able to use the information to support our claims.

Using Sources Ethically

The last section of this chapter is about using sources in an ethical manner. Whether you are using primary or secondary research, there are five basic ethical issues you need to consider.

Strategies to Avoid Plagiarism

1. First, and foremost, if the idea isn’t yours, you need to cite where the information came from during your speech. Having the citation listed on a bibliography or reference page is only half of the correct citation. You must provide correct citations for all your sources within the speech as well.
2. Do your own work and use your own words. One of the goals of a public speaking class is to develop skills that you’ll use in the world outside academia. When you are in the workplace and the “real world,” you’ll be expected to think for yourself, so you might as well start learning this skill now.
3. Allow yourself enough time to research the assignment so that you will have enough time to cite your sources. One of the most commonly cited excuses students give for plagiarism is that they didn’t have enough time to do the research. In this chapter, we’ve stressed the necessity of giving yourself plenty of time. The more complete your research strategy is from the very beginning, the more successful your research endeavors will be in the long run. Remember, not having adequate time to prepare is no excuse for plagiarism.
4. Keep track of your sources by taking careful notes while you do your research. A common mistake that people can make is that they forget where information came from when they start creating the speech itself. Chances are you’re going to look at dozens of sources when preparing your speech, and it is very easy to suddenly find yourself believing that a piece of information is “common knowledge” and not citing that information within a speech. This problem can be avoided by taking careful notes as you conduct your research, either with a pen and notebook or a Word document or spreadsheet. Write down the source of the information along with any key ideas or direct quotes that you might want to use. When you keep track of your sources, you’re less likely to inadvertently lose sources and not cite them correctly.
5. Make sure to clearly differentiate your voice in the speech from the voice of specific authors of the sources you quote. The easiest way to do this is to set up a direct quotation or a paraphrase that includes the author and title of the source. Remember, audience members cannot see where the quotation marks are located within your speech text, so you need to clearly articulate with words and vocal tone when you are using someone else’s ideas within your speech.
6. Learn how to cite sources correctly both in the body of your paper and in your List of Works Cited (Reference Page). Most public speaking teachers will require that you turn in either a bibliography or reference page on the day you deliver a speech. Many students make the mistake of thinking that the bibliography or reference page is all they need to cite information, and then they don’t cite any of the material within the speech itself. A bibliography or reference page enables a reader or listener to find those sources after the fact, but you must also correctly cite those sources within the speech itself; otherwise, you are plagiarizing.
7. Quote accurately and sparingly. Paraphrase and summarize whenever possible. A public speech should be based on factual information and references, but it shouldn’t be a string of direct quotations stitched together. Experts recommend that no more than 10 percent of a paper or speech be direct quotations (Menager-Beeley & Paulos, 2009). When selecting direct quotations, always ask yourself if the material could be paraphrased in a manner that would make it clearer for your audience. If the author wrote a sentence in a way that is just perfect, and you don’t want to tamper with it, then by all means directly quote the sentence. But if you’re just quoting because it’s easier than putting the ideas into your own words, this is not a legitimate reason for including direct quotations.
8. Paraphrase carefully. Modifying an author’s words in this way is not simply a matter of replacing some of the words with synonyms. Instead, as Howard and Taggart explain in Research Matters, “paraphrasing force[s] you to understand your sources and to capture their meaning accurately in original words and sentences” (Howard & Taggart, 2010). Incorrect paraphrasing is one of the most common forms of inadvertent plagiarism by students. First and foremost, paraphrasing is putting the author’s argument, intent, or ideas into your own words.
9. Do not patchwrite (patchspeak). Menager-Beeley and Paulos define patchwriting as “mixing several references together and arranging paraphrases and quotations to constitute much of the paper. In essence, the student has assembled others’ work with a bit of embroidery here and there but with little original thinking or expression” (Menager-Beeley & Paulos, 2009). Just as students can patchwrite, they can also engage in patchspeaking. In patchspeaking, students rely completely on taking quotations and paraphrases and weaving them together in a manner that is devoid of the student’s original thinking.
10. Summarize, don’t auto-summarize. Some students have learned that most word-processing programs have an auto-summary function. The auto-summary function will take a ten-page document and summarize the information into a short paragraph. When someone uses the auto-summary function, the words that remain in the summary are still those of the original author, so this is not an ethical form of paraphrasing. Also, auto summaries generated by word processing programs aren’t always accurate summaries. Writing an accurate summary is a complex task best performed by a human brain.
11. Do not represent someone else’s work as your own by reworking another student’s speech or buying or downloading one from a speech mill. Presenting someone else’s work as your own is also plagiarism as well as academic fraud. Penalties for academic fraud can be as severe as suspension or expulsion from your institution.

Don’t Mislead Your Audience

If you know a source is clearly biased, and you don’t spell this out for your audience, then you are purposefully trying to mislead or manipulate your audience. Instead, if the information may be biased, tell your audience that the information may be biased and allow your audience to decide whether to accept or disregard the information.

Give Author Credentials

You should always provide the author’s credentials. In a world where anyone can say anything and have it published on the Internet or even publish it in a book, we have to be skeptical of the information we see and hear. For this reason, it’s very important to provide your audience with background about the credentials of the authors you cite.

Use Primary Research Ethically

Lastly, if you are using primary research within your speech, you need to use it ethically as well. For example, if you tell your survey participants that the research is anonymous or confidential, then you need to make sure that you maintain their anonymity or confidentiality when you present those results. Furthermore, you also need to be respectful if someone says something is “off the record” during an interview. We must always maintain the privacy and confidentiality of participants during primary research, unless we have their express permission to reveal their names or other identifying information.

References

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. See also American Psychological Association. (2010). Concise rules of APA Style: The official pocket style guide from the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

“CRAAP Method.” LSU Libraries. 16 February 2022. https://guides.lib.lsu.edu/ENG1001/CRAAP.

George, M. W. (2008). The elements of library research: What every student needs to know. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, p. 183.

Howard, R. M., & Taggart, A. R. (2010). Research matters. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, p. 131.

Menager-Beeley, R., & Paulos, L. (2009). Understanding plagiarism: A student guide to writing your own work. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, pp. 5–8.

Modern Language Association. (2009). MLA handbook for writers of research papers (7th ed.). New York, NY: Modern Language Association.

Moxley, Joseph M. “Research.” Writing Commons. https://writingcommons.org/section/research/. Retrieved 22 February 2022.

Ochman, B. L. (2007, June 29). The top 10 news stories broken by bloggers. TechNewsWorld. [Web log post]. Retrieved July 14, 2011, from http://www.mpdailyfix.com/technewsworld-the-top-10-news-stories-broken-by-bloggers.

Project Management Institute. (2004). A guide to the project management body of knowledge: PMBOK® guide (3rd ed.). Newton Square, PA: Author, p. 19.

Weiner, M. (2006). Unleashing the power of PR: A contrarian’s guide to marketing and communication. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass and the International Association of Business Communicators.

Workplace Bullying Institute. (2009). Bullying: Getting away with it WBI Labor Day Study—September, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2011, from http://www.workplacebullying.org/res/WBI2009-B-Survey.html.

Wood, J. T. (2002). A critical response to John Gray’s Mars and Venus portrayals of men and women. Southern Communication Journal, 67, 201–210.

Wrench, J. S., Thomas-Maddox, C., Richmond, V. P., & McCroskey, J. C. (2008). Quantitative methods for communication researchers: A hands on approach. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.