Skip to Main Content
library logo

Ask us!

Speech - COMM101 - Kinebrew-Bosa

Why use verbal citations?

  • Adds credibility.
  • Shows your work.
  • Avoids plagiarism by giving credit to others for their work/ideas.
  • Shows timeliness of research and resources.

Speaking a verbal citation

Verbal citations should come at the beginning of the cited idea or quotation. It is a easier for a listening audience to understand that what they hear next is coming from that source. 
Quoting:

Introduce the quote (ex "And I quote" or "As Dr. Smith stated"...) PAUSE. Start quotation. PAUSE at the end of the quotation.

Introduce the quote. Say QUOTE. Start quotation. Say END QUOTE. 

General guidelines.

Be brief, but provide enough information that your audience can track down the source.

Highlight what is most important criteria for that source.

Include who/what and when:

  • Author 
  • Author's credentials
  • Title of Work
  • Title of Publication
  • Date of work/publication/study

Use an introductory phrase for your verbal citation.

According to Professor Jane Smith at Stanford University....(abbreviated verbal citation)

When I interviewed college instructor John Doe and observed his English 101 class...

Jason Hammersmith, a journalist with the Dallas Times, describes in his February 13, 2016 article.... (Full verbal citation)

Full vs. abbreviated verbal citations.

Full verbal citations include all the information about the source thereby allowing the source to be easily found. 
ex. According to Harvard University professors, Dr. Smith and Dr. Jones's research on this topic published in the Summer 2015 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine....

Abbreviated verbal citations include less information about the source, but still includes the most important aspects of that specific source. 
ex. A 2015 study in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that Harvard University professors....

The content on this page was modified from a resource created by Heather Morgan at Spokane Community College and originally appeared on http://libguides.spokanefalls.edu/c.php?g=288749&p=4449154.