Research Pointers and Examples
As you begin your writing, there are a few important factors to keep in mind. I have
summarized below some of the main points from the reading, and I have also given some
examples of a works cited entry and how to both quote and paraphrase properly from a
source without plagiarizing. The sample source comes from the Debatabase website and
the topic is voluntary euthanasia. Useful pages are 100-118 in your Pocket Manual.
Sample MLA Works Cited Entry
Webster, Bobby. “Assisted Suicide/Voluntary Euthanasia.” IDEA Debatabase. 1 Nov.
2000. 10. Jan. 2003. <http://www.debatabase.org/>
Remember that this is the basic format to use for listing a short article from a website in
your list of Works Cited.
Quoting and paraphrasing from a source
Keep in mind that plagiarism, which is the intentional or unintentional borrowing of
the ideas or words of another without proper documentation is a serious academic offense
and a violation of the GDS honor code. To help you to avoid this problem, I have given
you some examples of how to quote and paraphrase properly.
Original Source:
Every human being has a right to life, perhaps the most
basic and fundamental of all our rights. However, with
every right comes a choice. The right to speech does
not remove the option to remain silent; the right to vote
brings with it the right to abstain. In the same way, the
right to choose to die is implicit in the right to life.
There is no comparison between the right to life and
other rights. When you choose to remain silent, you
may change your mind at a later date; when you
choose to die, you have no such second chance.
Participating in someone’s death is also to participate
in depriving them of all choices they might make in the
future, and is therefore immoral.
Quoting and citing a source: Let’s say that you are writing an essay defending the right
to assisted suicide/voluntary euthanasia. Any time you copy the exact words of someone
else, they should be enclosed in quotation marks and cited.
Example: One of the main arguments for euthanasia is that humans should be able to
control their deaths as well as their lives. As Bobby Webster writes, “the right to choose
to die is implicit in the right to life (Webster).
Paraphrasing: A general rule of thumb is that your essay should not contain more than
10-15% quoted material. This is where paraphrasing, or putting a source’s ideas into
your own words, comes into play. As you will see, it is still vitally important that you
give credit to the source, but learning to paraphrase along with learning to think about the
issue on your own is what will make your essay yours, and not someone else’s.
How to paraphrase: The best suggestion that I have heard for learning to paraphrase
correctly is as follows.
1. Read the source carefully, taking notes and highlighting.
2. Close the source.
3. Use your notes and memory to put what you have learned into your own words.
4. After you have finished writing, you may look back at the source to check your
facts for accuracy, but do not change your wording to make it sound more like the
source.
Sample paraphrase of the argument against euthanasia printed above:
Bobby Webster describes an argument against euthanasia by talking about how life is
different from other rights. He explains that the right to life is so different from others
that it cannot be compared. To compare it with freedom of speech by saying that the
right to life gives us the right to death just like the right to speech gives us the right to be
silent is wrong because after death there is no second chance. Also, if you help someone
choose death, you are taking away their future right to choose anything (Webster).
Plagiarism: Unacceptable borrowing of words.
Bobby Webster describes an argument against euthanasia by talking about how life is
different from other rights. He explains that there is no comparison between the right to
life and other rights. When you choose to remain silent, you may change your mind at a
later date; when you choose to die, you have no such second chance. Participating in
someone’s death is also to participate in depriving them of all choices they might make in
the future, and is therefore immoral. (Webster)
Here is a more subtle yet also more prevalent example of plagiarism:
Bobby Webster describes an argument against euthanasia by talking about how life is
different from other rights. He explains that no comparison exists between the right to
life and other rights. When one chooses to remain silent, one may change his or her mind
at a later date; when one chooses to die, one has no such second chance. Participating in
someone’s death also participates in depriving them of all choices they might make in the
future, and is thus immoral. (Webster)
What does NOT need to be cited?
At this point, you may be exasperated. My whole essay is going to be nothing but
citations!! Well, hopefully not. Remember, however, that research means going out and
seeing what others have to say on a topic, or what they have found out. Consequently,
yes, a lot of your information needs to be cited. However, there are two main exceptions:
1. Original ideas: It is a good idea to sit down before you get too far into your
writing and to put down some ideas you have on the topic into your own words—
your pro-con list was a start in this direction.
2. Common knowledge: If there is information that you run across that keeps
coming up in multiple sources, it does not need to be cited. For example, the fact
that George Washington was our first president, or even George Washington’s
birthday, are facts that do not need to be cited. As the Pocket Manual
recommends, however, if you are unsure—cite the source.