McGraw-Hill Public Speaking

• Preparing the speech
• Outlining your speech
• Documenting your speech
• Organizing your material
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Ethical standards require honest representation of the ideas and words of others.   Thorough research methods and careful documentation can prevent plagiarism. Plagiarism consists of usng material created by other people without citing them.

Good habits prevent plagiarism. First, research several sources and take notes from each source.  The more familiar you are with different sources, the more likely you are to assimilate concepts.  You own work will be written from a more informed position without relying too much on the ideas as presented in one or two places.

Record citation information carefully.  This will help you trace information back to its source. Paraphrasing restates or summarizes an idea. Even when you've consulted several sources and internalized the content, the final content may paraphrase your sources.  The sources should still be cited. If an idea is listed in several sources and one of the sources is minor to your speech, include it in your bibliography.

Quotations require a specific citation.  If a quotation is found in several sources, cite the original or primary source (if you used it) rather than a document that cites the original quote.  If you use a quotation cited in another or secondary source, cite the original author or speaker and the secondary source in which the person was quoted.

Use a standard format for documenting sources in footnotes, endnotes, and bibliographies.  Several websites present the MLA (Modern Language Association) and APA (American Psychological Association) formats.  These formats are common, but some technical fields use other formats.

If you are reading a document, try to evaluate how well it documents sources.  If you suspect a document is plagiarized, check the sources in its bibliography.  The web has made a proliferation of papers available to students on many topics.  Using a paper or speech from one of these sources is plagiarism.  Fortunately, catalogs, meta-search engines, and source checks enable legitimate authors and instructors to track this type of plagiarism.