'According to...': Toward Standards for the Ethical Use of Evidence in Individual Events.

Guidelines for citing sources in forensic competition are needed for use by students, as well as by coaches and judges. The first step toward developing standardized guidelines could be an adaptation of the Modern Language Association's American Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, which provides clear-cut definitions of plagiarism, fabrication, and distorted evidence and includes examples of incorrect as well as acceptable ways of citing and using sources. The next step would be for the profession to create its own standardized publication which speakers, coaches, and judges would use. This publication should have individual events-oriented and debate-oriented authors, to allow for all essential information needed by the forensic community to be placed in one reference. (Detailed examples of direct plagiarism, fabrication, and distorted evidence most likely to be found in speeches are included.) (KEH)