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Mastering the art of including quotes in your essay – a comprehensive guide.
In the realm of academia, the art of seamlessly integrating quotes into your writing often feels like an elusive skill. However, mastering this practice is essential for creating compelling and persuasive essays that showcase your knowledge and analysis. By utilizing a few simple techniques, you can effortlessly incorporate quotes into your work, enhancing the credibility and strength of your arguments.
1. Amplify your point with authoritative quotes
One effective approach to incorporating quotes is to use them as evidence to support your claims or bolster your argument. Including a well-chosen quote from a respected authority in the field can lend credibility to your statements and elevate the overall quality of your essay. By referencing experts, scholars, or renowned authors, you demonstrate a thorough understanding of the subject matter and establish yourself as a well-informed writer.
“As noted by esteemed philosopher John Doe, ‘…'”
2. Add depth and complexity with contrasting quotes
Drawing from a range of perspectives is a powerful way to weave quotes into your essay. By including contrasting quotes that offer differing opinions or interpretations, you showcase your ability to consider multiple viewpoints. This demonstrates your analytical skills and encourages critical thinking among your readers. Plus, incorporating diverse quotes can help you establish a well-rounded argument that takes into account various facets of the topic at hand.
“While some scholars argue that X is true, others contend that Y is a more accurate representation of the situation…”
3. Utilize quotes as literary devices
Using quotes as literary devices can add a layer of sophistication and complexity to your essay. Consider incorporating quotes as metaphors, allusions, or symbols to create a nuanced and thought-provoking narrative. This creative approach not only showcases your mastery of the subject matter but also captivates your readers by infusing the essay with literary flair.
“By likening the situation to ‘a storm brewing on the horizon,’ the author evokes a sense of impending doom and foreshadows the dire consequences that lie ahead.”
By employing these strategies, you can smoothly incorporate quotes into your academic work, elevating the quality and impact of your writing. Remember to be selective with your quotes, choosing only those that best support your arguments or provide unique insights. With practice, you’ll soon master the art of seamlessly integrating quotes, enhancing the strength and persuasiveness of your essays.
Incorporating quotes to support your arguments
Integrating quotes into your essay helps to strengthen your arguments by providing evidence and supporting information from reputable sources. By incorporating quotes from experts in the field or from reliable studies, you can add credibility to your claims and make your essay more persuasive.
Benefits of using quotes | Examples |
---|---|
1. Adding credibility | “According to renowned economist John Smith, ‘the current economic crisis is a result of poor government policies.'” |
2. Providing evidence | “A study conducted by Harvard University found that ‘regular exercise has numerous health benefits, including reducing the risk of heart disease.'” |
3. Strengthening arguments | “In support of this argument, Dr. Jane Doe states that ‘climate change is a pressing issue that requires immediate action.'” |
When incorporating quotes, it is important to properly introduce and contextualize them within your essay. Start by providing the author’s name and credentials, if available, to establish their expertise in the field. Then, clearly state the quote and explain how it supports your argument.
In order to seamlessly integrate quotes into your essay, you should also consider using signal phrases or transitions to introduce the quote. These phrases can help to smoothly transition between your own ideas and the quote, avoiding any abrupt shifts in tone or style.
Additionally, it is crucial to properly cite your sources when using quotes in your essay. This not only gives credit to the original author but also helps to avoid plagiarism. Different citation styles, such as APA or MLA, have specific rules and formats for citing sources, so make sure to familiarize yourself with the guidelines of the style you are using.
Finally, it is important to use quotes sparingly and only when they add value to your arguments. Overusing quotes can make your essay appear disjointed and may undermine the strength of your own analysis and interpretation of the topic.
Incorporating quotes effectively can greatly enhance the strength and persuasiveness of your arguments. By using credible sources and properly introducing and contextualizing the quotes, you can bolster your essay and make it more compelling to your readers.
Blending quotes seamlessly into your writing
Integrating quotes into your writing can be a daunting task, but it is an essential skill for any successful writer. Striking the right balance between your own voice and the words of others requires careful thought and consideration. In this section, we will explore some strategies to help you blend quotes seamlessly into your writing.
1. Provide context: When introducing a quote, it is important to provide context for your reader. This can be achieved by providing a brief explanation or background information before the quote. By setting the stage and giving your reader some context, you ensure that the quote flows smoothly into the rest of your writing.
Example: According to renowned author Jane Austen, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” (Pride and Prejudice). Austen’s famous opening line sets the tone for her novel and establishes the central theme of marriage.
2. Use signal phrases: Signal phrases can help to seamlessly introduce quotes and integrate them into your writing. These phrases can be used to attribute the quote to its author and provide a smooth transition between your own thoughts and the quoted material.
Example: As Shakespeare eloquently stated in Hamlet, “To be, or not to be: that is the question.” The famous soliloquy reflects the existential dilemma faced by the play’s protagonist.
3. Blend quotes into your sentence structure: Rather than dropping a quote into your writing without any connection, try to blend it into your sentence structure. This can be done by incorporating the quote into the flow of your sentence or by paraphrasing parts of it and seamlessly integrating it into your writing.
Example: The renowned physicist Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” This quote highlights the significance of creativity and innovation in the pursuit of scientific discovery.
By following these strategies, you can effectively incorporate quotes into your writing and maintain a seamless flow of ideas. Remember to always give credit to the original author and to use quotes sparingly, choosing only the most impactful and relevant ones for your essay.
Adding context to your quotes for better understanding
Providing context to the quotes you include in your essay is essential for enhancing the reader’s comprehension of your argument. By offering background information and explanations, you can ensure that your quotes are interpreted accurately and effectively contribute to the overall message of your essay.
Instead of presenting quotes in isolation, it is imperative to introduce them with a brief explanation of their significance. By doing so, you can provide a framework for understanding the quote and establish its relevance to the topic or argument you are exploring.
One effective way to add context to your quotes is by introducing the author or speaker and their credentials or expertise in the field you are discussing. This allows the reader to understand the context from which the quote arises and provides credibility to the source. For example, instead of simply stating, “According to a study,” you can provide more context by saying, “Dr. Jane Smith, a renowned psychologist, conducted a comprehensive study that found….”
In addition to introducing the author, it is also important to provide a brief summary of the source or text from which the quote is taken. This can include the title of the book, article, or research paper, as well as any relevant information about the publication or organization. By offering this information, you allow the reader to gauge the reliability and validity of the source and better understand the context in which the quote was made.
Another way to add context to your quotes is by explaining the specific situation or context in which the quote was originally spoken or written. This can help the reader grasp the intended meaning of the quote and understand the motivations or circumstances that led to its creation. For example, if you are quoting a historical figure, you can provide background information about the time period, political climate, or social issues that influenced their perspective.
By providing context to your quotes, you enhance the reader’s understanding and ensure that your argument is supported by accurate and relevant evidence. Remember to always introduce the author, provide a summary of the source, and explain the context in which the quote was made. This will not only strengthen your essay but also demonstrate your ability to critically analyze and interpret the information you include.
Using quotes as evidence for your claims
Utilizing quotes as substantiation can significantly enhance the credibility and persuasiveness of your arguments. When making claims in your essay, supporting them with evidence in the form of quotes helps to establish a solid foundation for your ideas.
By incorporating quotes from reputable sources, such as experts in the field or well-known authors, you are demonstrating that your claims are not simply based on personal opinions but rather on well-researched information. Including quotes adds weight to your arguments and conveys to your readers that you have done thorough research on the topic.
Quotes serve as concrete evidence that can support your claims by providing direct support from primary or secondary sources. These quotes can be used to back up statements, provide examples, or showcase different perspectives on the subject matter. By including quotes, you are letting other voices speak on behalf of your arguments, adding depth and validity to your own ideas.
Benefits of using quotes as evidence: |
---|
1. Credibility: Quotes from trusted sources enhance the credibility of your arguments. |
2. Authority: Quoting experts in the field establishes your authority on the subject matter. |
3. Support: Quotes provide concrete evidence that supports your claims. |
4. Validation: Incorporating quotes demonstrates that your ideas are grounded in research and not just personal opinions. |
However, it is important to use quotes judiciously and effectively. Ideally, quotes should be concise, relevant, and directly related to the point you are making. Avoid using lengthy quotes that detract from your own analysis. Instead, select key excerpts that strengthen your arguments and provide insight.
In conclusion, using quotes as evidence adds credibility and support to your claims in an essay. By incorporating quotes from trusted sources, you can bolster the strength of your arguments and demonstrate your depth of research on the topic. Remember to use quotes selectively and ensure they directly contribute to the points you are making.
Citing quotes properly to avoid plagiarism
Accurate citation of quotes in your essay is crucial for avoiding plagiarism. Plagiarism, the act of using someone else’s work without giving them proper credit, is a serious ethical violation and can result in severe consequences. To ensure that you are citing your quotes properly, it is important to understand the guidelines and conventions of the citation style you are using.
One important aspect of citing quotes properly is to clearly indicate the source of the quote. This can be done by including the author’s name, the title of the work, and the page number where the quote can be found. Depending on the citation style you are using, the format for indicating the source may vary. Some common citation styles include MLA, APA, and Chicago style.
In addition to indicating the source of the quote, it is also important to properly format the quote itself within your essay. This can be done by using quotation marks to enclose the quote and by providing a clear transition between your own words and the quote. It is also important to be mindful of the length of the quote you are using. Long quotes should be indented and formatted differently from shorter quotes.
Another important aspect of citing quotes properly is to include a proper citation in your bibliography or works cited page. This allows your readers to easily locate the original source of the quote if they wish to further explore the topic. The citation in your bibliography should include all the necessary information about the source, such as the author’s name, the title of the work, the publisher, and the year of publication.
Overall, citing quotes properly is not only essential for avoiding plagiarism, but it also demonstrates your respect for the original author’s work and ideas. By following the guidelines and conventions of your chosen citation style, you can ensure that your essay is well-documented and that your ideas are supported by credible sources.
Analyzing quotes to enhance your analysis
Examining and interpreting quotes can greatly enhance the depth and quality of your analysis, bringing a new level of insight to your essay. By carefully analyzing the language and context of a quote, you can uncover deeper meanings, explore different interpretations, and develop a more nuanced understanding of the subject matter.
When analyzing quotes, it is important to look beyond their surface level and delve into their underlying implications. Pay attention to the choice of words, the tone, and the emotions conveyed, as these elements can reveal the author’s intentions and perspective. Consider the context in which the quote is used, including the historical, social, and cultural background, as this can have a significant influence on its meaning.
An effective way to analyze quotes is to examine their relationship to the overall thesis or argument of your essay. Ask yourself how the quote supports or challenges your main ideas and how it contributes to the overall message you are trying to convey. Are there any contradictions or counterarguments present in the quote that can be explored further? By critically engaging with the quote in relation to your argument, you can strengthen your analysis and provide a more comprehensive understanding of the topic.
In addition to considering the author’s perspective, it is also important to analyze the impact of the quote on the reader. How does the quote affect the tone or mood of the essay? Does it evoke any specific emotions or reactions? By examining the rhetorical devices used in the quote, such as metaphors, similes, or imagery, you can gain insights into the intended effect on the audience and further develop your analysis.
Lastly, remember that quotes should not be analyzed in isolation. Instead, they should be integrated seamlessly into your essay and analyzed in relation to the surrounding text. Consider how the quote builds upon or contrasts with the ideas presented before and after it. Does it provide a new perspective or reinforce existing arguments? By analyzing quotes in the broader context of your essay, you can create a more cohesive and cohesive analysis.
1. Look beyond the surface level and explore the underlying implications. |
2. Consider the language, context, and author’s perspective. |
3. Examine the quote’s relationship to your thesis or argument. |
4. Analyze the impact of the quote on the reader. |
5. Integrate quotes seamlessly into your essay and analyze them in relation to the surrounding text. |
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Put a Quote in an Essay
Home / Blog / How To Put A Quote In An Essay (with Examples)
Introduction
When writing an essay , it is essential to incorporate quotes from reputable sources to support your arguments and ideas. However, knowing how to use quotes effectively is crucial in maintaining the flow and clarity of your essay. This blog will discuss the proper ways to put a quote in an essay with examples.
Why Use Quotes in an Essay?
Quotes are used in an essay to support or reinforce the writer's arguments and ideas. They provide evidence for your claims and demonstrate that your argument is backed up by research and authority. Incorporating quotes also helps to provide context and depth to your writing and can add a unique perspective to your essay.
Types of Quotes
There are two types of quotes you can use in your essay: direct quotes and indirect quotes.
Direct Quotes: Direct quotes are the exact words used by the source that you are quoting. When using direct quotes, you need to use quotation marks and indicate the source.
Example: According to John Smith, "The Earth is round."
Indirect Quotes: Indirect quotes are a paraphrase of the original source. When using indirect quotes, you do not need to use quotation marks.
Example: John Smith claims that the Earth is round.
How to Put a Quote in an Essay
When using quotes in an essay, there are several rules that you need to follow to ensure that your writing is clear, accurate, and appropriate. Here are the steps to follow:
Step 1: Choose a Relevant Quote
Before you start writing your essay, identify the quotes that you want to use to support your arguments. Ensure that the quotes you select are relevant, reliable, and add value to your essay.
Step 2: Introduce the Quote
Introduce the quote by providing context and indicating who the source is. This will help the reader understand the significance of the quote and its relevance to your argument.
Example: According to Jane Doe, a renowned climate scientist, "Climate change is the biggest threat facing humanity."
Step 3: Use Quotation Marks
When using a direct quote, use quotation marks to indicate that you are using the exact words of the source.
Example: According to Jane Doe, "Climate change is the biggest threat facing humanity."
Step 4: Provide the Source
Provide the source of the quote, including the author's name, the title of the book or article, and the page number. This will help the reader find the source if they want to read it.
Example: According to Jane Doe, a renowned climate scientist, "Climate change is the biggest threat facing humanity." (Doe, The State of the Climate, p. 25)
Step 5: Punctuate Correctly
Punctuate the quote correctly by placing the comma or period inside the quotation marks, depending on whether it is a part of the quote or your sentence.
Step 6: Explain the Quote
Explain the significance of the quote in your own words. This will help the reader understand how the quote supports your argument.
Example: Jane Doe's quote highlights the urgency of addressing climate change as it poses a significant threat to human survival.
Step 7: Cite Your Sources
Ensure that you cite your sources correctly using the citation style specified by your instructor or the style guide for your discipline.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Using Quotes in an Essay
Using quotes in an essay can be tricky, and many students make mistakes that can impact the quality of their writing. Here are some common mistakes to avoid when using quotes in an essay:
Failing to provide context: It is essentialto provide context when using a quote in an essay. Failure to do so can confuse the reader and make the quote appear out of place. Always introduce the quote and provide some background information about the source and why you are using the quote.
Overusing quotes: While quotes can add value to your essay, it is essential not to overuse them. Use quotes sparingly and only when necessary. Overusing quotes can make your writing appear lazy, and it may give the impression that you are not confident in your own ideas.
Incorrectly citing sources: Always cite your sources correctly using the citation style specified by your instructor or the style guide for your discipline. Failure to do so can lead to accusations of plagiarism , which can have serious consequences.
Misquoting or altering a quote: When using a direct quote, it is essential to use the exact words of the source. Do not alter the quote or misquote the source as this can distort the meaning and accuracy of the quote.
Failing to explain the quote: When using a quote, it is important to explain its significance and how it supports your argument. Failure to do so can make the quote appear irrelevant and disconnected from your essay.
Examples of Quotes in an Essay
Here are some examples of how to use quotes in an essay:
Example 1: Argumentative Essay
Topic: Should students be required to wear school uniforms?
Quote: "School uniforms promote a sense of unity and equality among students, and they help to reduce instances of bullying based on clothing." (Johnson, School Uniforms, p. 10)
Explanation: The quote supports the argument that school uniforms can have a positive impact on student behavior and reduce instances of bullying. It is introduced with the source and provides context for the argument.
Example 2: Persuasive Essay
Topic: The importance of recycling
Quote: "Every ton of paper that is recycled saves 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, and 463 gallons of oil." (Environmental Protection Agency)
Explanation: The quote provides a powerful statistic that supports the importance of recycling. It is introduced with the source, and its significance is explained in the following sentences.
Example 3: Expository Essay
Topic: The history of the American Civil War
Quote: "Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." (Lincoln, Gettysburg Address)
Explanation: The quote is an iconic line from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, which is a significant event in American history. It is introduced with the source, and its significance is explained in the following sentences.
Incorporating quotes in an essay can add depth, context, and authority to your writing. However, it is important to use quotes effectively and appropriately. Always choose relevant and reliable quotes, introduce them with context, use the correct punctuation, explain their significance, and cite your sources correctly. By following these guidelines, you can effectively use quotes in your essay and improve the quality of your writing.
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How to use Quotes in an Essay in 7 Simple Steps
Chris Drew (PhD)
Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]
Learn about our Editorial Process
A quote can be an effective and powerful literary tool in an essay, but it needs to be done well. To use quotes in an essay, you need to make sure your quotes are short, backed up with explanations, and used rarely. The best essays use a maximum of 2 quotes for every 1500 words.
Rules for using quotes in essays:
- Avoid Long Quotes.
- Quotes should be less than 1 sentence long.
- Match Quotes with Explanations and Examples.
- Use Max. 2 Quotes for 1500 words.
- Use page numbers when Citing Quotes.
- Don’t Italicize Quotes.
- Avoid quotes inside quotes.
Once you have mastered these quotation writing rules you’ll be on your way to growing your marks in your next paper.
How to use Quotes in an Essay
1. avoid long quotes.
There’s a simple rule to follow here: don’t use a quote that is longer than one line. In fact, four word quotes are usually best.
Long quotes in essays are red flags for teachers. It doesn’t matter if it is an amazing quote. Many, many teachers don’t like long quotes, so it’s best to avoid them.
Too many students provide quotes that take up half of a paragraph. This will lose you marks – big time.
If you follow my perfect paragraph formula , you know that most paragraphs should be about six sentences long, which comes out to about six or seven typed lines on paper. That means that your quote will be a maximum of one-sixth (1/6) of your paragraph. This leaves plenty of space for discussion in your own words.
One reason teachers don’t like long quotes is that they suck up your word count. It can start to look like you didn’t have enough to say, so you inserted quotes to pad out your essay. Even if this is only your teacher’s perception, it’s something that you need to be aware of.
Here’s an example of over-use of quotes in paragraphs:
Avoid Quotes that are Too Long
Children who grow up in poverty often end up being poor as adults. “Many adult Americans believe that hard work and drive are important factors on economic mobility. When statistics show that roughly 42% of children born into the bottom level of the income distribution will likely stay there (Isaacs, 2007), this Is a consequence of structural and social barriers.” (Mistry et al., 2016, p. 761). Therefore poverty in childhood needs to be addressed by the government.
This student made the fatal mistake of having the quote overtake the paragraph.
Simply put, don’t use a quote that is longer than one line long. Ever. It’s just too risky.
Personally, I like to use a 4-word quote in my essays. Four-word quotes are long enough to constitute an actual quote but short enough that I have to think about how I will fit that quote around my own writing. This forces me to write quotations that both show:
- I have read the original source, but also:
- I know how to paraphrase
2. Do not use a Quote to that takes up a full Sentence, Starts a Sentence, or Ends a Paragraph
These are three common but fatal mistakes.
Essay quotes that start sentences or end paragraphs make you appear passive.
If you use a quotation in an essay to start a sentence or end a paragraph, your teacher automatically thinks that your quote is replacing analysis, rather than supporting it.
You should instead start the sentence that contains the quote with your own writing. This makes it appear that you have an active voice .
Similarly, you should end a paragraph with your own analysis, not a quote.
Let’s look at some examples of quotes that start sentences and end paragraphs. These examples are poor examples of using quotes:
Avoid Quotes that Start Sentences The theorist Louis Malaguzzi was the founder of the Reggio Emilia Approach to Education. “Children have the ability to learn through play and exploration. Play helps children to learn about their surroundings” (Malaguzzi, 1949, p. 10). Play is better than learning through repetition of drills or reading. Play is good for all children.
Avoid Quotes that End Paragraphs Before Judith Butler gender was seen as being a binary linked to sex, men were masculine and women were feminine. Butler came up with this new idea that gender is just something society has made up over time. “Gender is a fluid concept” (Butler, 1990, p. 136).
Both these quotes are from essays that were shared with me by colleagues. My colleagues marked these students down for these quotes because of the quotes:
- took up full sentences;
- started sentences; and
- were used to end paragraphs.
It didn’t appear as if the students were analyzing the quotes. Instead, the quotes were doing the talking for the students.
There are some easy strategies to use in order to make it appear that you are actively discussing and analyzing quotes.
One is that you should make sure the essay sentences with quotes in them don’t start with the quote . Here are some examples of how we can change the quotes:
Example 1: Start Quote Sentences with an Active Voice The theorist Louis Malaguzzi was the founder of the Reggio Emilia Approach to Education. According to Malaguzzi (1949, p. 10), “children have the ability to learn through play and exploration.” Here, Malaguzzi is highlighting how to play is linked to finding things out about the world. Play is important for children to develop. Play is better than learning through repetition of drills or reading. Play is good for all children.
Here, the sentence with the quote was amended so that the student has an active voice. They start the sentence with According to Malaguzzi, ….
Similarly, in the second example, we can also insert an active voice by ensuring that our quote sentence does not start with a quote:
Example 2: Start Quote Sentences with an Active Voice In 1990, Judith Butler revolutionized Feminist understandings of gender by arguing that “gender is a fluid concept” (p. 136). Before Butler’s 1990 book Gender Trouble , gender was seen as being a binary linked to sex. Men were masculine and women were feminine. Butler came up with this new idea that gender is just something society has made up over time.
In this example, the quote is not at the start of a sentence or end of a paragraph – tick!
How to Start Sentences containing Quotes using an Active Voice
- According to Malaguzzi (1949, p. 10), “…”
- Malaguzzi (1949, p. 10) argues that “…”
- In 1949, Malaguzzi (p. 10) highlighted that “…”
- The argument of Malaguzzi (1949, p. 10) that “…” provides compelling insight into the issue.
3. Match Quotes with Explanations and Examples
Earlier on, I stated that one key reason to use quotes in essays is so that you can analyze them.
Quotes shouldn’t stand alone as explanations. Quotes should be there to be analyzed, not to do the analysis.
Let’s look again at the quote used in Point 1:
Example: A Quote that is Too Long Children who grow up in poverty often end up being poor as adults. “Many adult Americans believe that hard work and drive are important factors in economic mobility. When statistics show that roughly 42% of children born into the bottom level of the income distribution will likely stay there (Isaacs, 2007), this Is a consequence of structural and social barriers.” (Mistry et al., 2016, p. 761). Therefore poverty in childhood needs to be addressed by the government.
This student has included the facts, figures, citations and key details in the quote. Essentially, this student has been lazy. They failed to paraphrase.
Instead, this student could have selected the most striking phrase from the quote and kept it. Then, the rest should be paraphrased. The most striking phrase in this quote was “[poverty] is a consequence of structural and social barriers.” (Mistry et al., 2016, p. 761).
So, take that one key phrase, then paraphrase the rest:
Example: Paraphrasing Long Quotes Children who grow up in poverty often end up being poor as adults. In their analysis, Mistry et al. (2016) highlight that there is a misconception in American society that hard work is enough to escape poverty. Instead, they argue, there is evidence that over 40% of people born in poverty remain in poverty. For Mistry et al. (2016, p. 761), this data shows that poverty is not a matter of being lazy alone, but more importantly “a consequence of structural and social barriers.” This implies that poverty in childhood needs to be addressed by the government.
To recap, quotes shouldn’t do the talking for you . Provide a brief quote in your essay, and then show you understand it with surrounding explanation and analysis.
4. Know how many Quotes to use in an Essay
There’s a simple rule for how many quotes should be in an essay.
Here’s a good rule to follow: one quote for every five paragraphs. A paragraph is usually 150 words long, so you’re looking at one quote in every 750 words, maximum .
To extrapolate that out, you’ll want a maximum of about:
- 2 quotes for a 1500-word paper;
- 3 quotes for a 2000-word paper;
- 4 quotes for a 3000-word paper.
That’s the maximum , not a target. There’s no harm in writing a paper that has absolutely zero quotes in it, so long as it’s still clear that you’ve closely read and paraphrased your readings.
The reason you don’t want to use more quotes than this in your essay is that teachers want to see you saying things in your own words. When you over-use quotes, it is a sign to your teacher that you don’t know how to paraphrase well.
5. Always use page numbers when Citing Quotes in Essays
One biggest problem with quotes are that many students don’t know how to cite quotes in essays.
Nearly every referencing format requires you to include a page number in your citation. This includes the three most common referencing formats: Harvard, APA, and MLA. All of them require you to provide page numbers with quotes.
Citing a Quote in Chicago Style – Include Page Numbers
- Incorrect: “Gender is a fluid concept” (Butler 1990).
- Correct: “Gender is a fluid concept” (Butler 1990, 136).
Citing a Quote in APA and Harvard Styles – Include Page Numbers
- Incorrect: “Gender is a fluid concept” (Butler, 1990).
- Correct: “Gender is a fluid concept” (Butler, 1990, p. 136).
Citing a Quote in MLA Style – Include Page Numbers
- Incorrect: “Gender is a fluid concept” (Butler).
- Correct: “Gender is a fluid concept” (Butler 136).
Including a page number in your quotation makes a huge difference when a marker is trying to determine how high your grade should be.
This is especially true when you’re already up in the higher marks range. These little editing points can mean the difference between placing first in the class and third. Don’t underestimate the importance of attention to detail.
6. Don’t Italicize Quotes
For some reason, students love to use italics for quotes. This is wrong in absolutely every major referencing format, yet it happens all the time.
I don’t know where this started, but please don’t do it. It looks sloppy, and teachers notice. A nice, clean, well-formatted essay should not contain these minor but not insignificant errors. If you want to be a top student, you need to pay attention to minor details.
7. Avoid quotes inside quotes
Have you ever found a great quote and thought, “I want to quote that quote!” Quoting a quote is a tempting thing to do, but not worth your while.
I’ll often see students write something like this:
Poor Quotation Example: Quotes Inside Quotes Rousseau “favored a civil religion because it would be more tolerant of diversity than Christianity. Indeed ‘no state has ever been founded without religion as its base’ (Rousseau, 1913: 180).” (Durkheim, 1947, p. 19).
Here, there are quotes on top of quotes. The student has quoted Durkheim quoting Rousseau. This quote has become a complete mess and hard to read. The minute something’s hard to read, it loses marks.
Here are two solutions:
- Cite the original source. If you really want the Rousseau quote, just cite Rousseau. Stop messing around with quotes on top of quotes.
- Learn the ‘as cited in’ method. Frankly, that method’s too complicated to discuss here. But if you google it, you’ll be able to teach yourself.
When Should I use Quotes in Essays?
1. to highlight an important statement.
One main reason to use quotes in essays is to emphasize a famous statement by a top thinker in your field.
The statement must be important. It can’t be just any random comment.
Here are some examples of when to use quotes in essays to emphasize the words of top thinkers:
- The words of Stephen Hawking go a long way in Physics ;
- The words of JK Rowling go a long way in Creative Writing ;
- The words of Michel Foucault go a long way in Cultural Studies ;
- The words of Jean Piaget go a long way in Education Studies .
2. To analyze an Important Statement.
Another reason to use quotes in essays is when you want to analyze a statement by a specific author. This author might not be famous, but they might have said something that requires unpacking and analyzing. You can provide a quote, then unpack it by explaining your interpretation of it in the following sentences.
Quotes usually need an explanation and example. You can unpack the quote by asking:
- What did they mean,
- Why is it relevant, and
- Why did they say this?
You want to always follow up quotes by top thinkers or specific authors with discussion and analysis.
Quotes should be accompanied by:
- Explanations of the quote;
- Analysis of the ideas presented in the quote; or
- Real-world examples that show you understand what the quote means.
Remember: A quote should be a stimulus for a discussion, not a replacement for discussion.
What Bad Quotes Look Like
Many teachers I have worked with don’t like when students use quotes in essays. In fact, some teachers absolutely hate essay quotes. The teachers I have met tend to hate these sorts of quotes:
- When you use too many quotes.
- When you use the wrong citation format.
- When you don’t provide follow-up explanations of quotes.
- When you used quotes because you don’t know how to paraphrase .
Be a minimalist when it comes to using quotes. Here are the seven approaches I recommend for using quotes in essays:
- Avoid Long Quotes in Essays
- Do not use a Quote that takes up a full Sentence, Starts a Sentence, or Ends a Paragraph
- Match Quotes with Explanations and Examples
- Use a Maximum of 2 Quotes for every 1500 words
- Always use page numbers when Citing Quotes in Essays
- Don’t Italicize Quotes
- Avoid quotes inside quotes
- Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 25 Number Games for Kids (Free and Easy)
- Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 25 Word Games for Kids (Free and Easy)
- Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 25 Outdoor Games for Kids
- Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 50 Incentives to Give to Students
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What this handout is about
Used effectively, quotations can provide important pieces of evidence and lend fresh voices and perspectives to your narrative. Used ineffectively, however, quotations can clutter your text and interrupt the flow of your argument. This handout will help you decide when and how to quote like a pro.
When should I quote?
Use quotations at strategically selected moments. You have probably been told by teachers to provide as much evidence as possible in support of your thesis. But packing your paper with quotations will not necessarily strengthen your argument. The majority of your paper should still be your original ideas in your own words (after all, it’s your paper). And quotations are only one type of evidence: well-balanced papers may also make use of paraphrases, data, and statistics. The types of evidence you use will depend in part on the conventions of the discipline or audience for which you are writing. For example, papers analyzing literature may rely heavily on direct quotations of the text, while papers in the social sciences may have more paraphrasing, data, and statistics than quotations.
Discussing specific arguments or ideas
Sometimes, in order to have a clear, accurate discussion of the ideas of others, you need to quote those ideas word for word. Suppose you want to challenge the following statement made by John Doe, a well-known historian:
“At the beginning of World War Two, almost all Americans assumed the war would end quickly.”
If it is especially important that you formulate a counterargument to this claim, then you might wish to quote the part of the statement that you find questionable and establish a dialogue between yourself and John Doe:
Historian John Doe has argued that in 1941 “almost all Americans assumed the war would end quickly” (Doe 223). Yet during the first six months of U.S. involvement, the wives and mothers of soldiers often noted in their diaries their fear that the war would drag on for years.
Giving added emphasis to a particularly authoritative source on your topic.
There will be times when you want to highlight the words of a particularly important and authoritative source on your topic. For example, suppose you were writing an essay about the differences between the lives of male and female slaves in the U.S. South. One of your most provocative sources is a narrative written by a former slave, Harriet Jacobs. It would then be appropriate to quote some of Jacobs’s words:
Harriet Jacobs, a former slave from North Carolina, published an autobiographical slave narrative in 1861. She exposed the hardships of both male and female slaves but ultimately concluded that “slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women.”
In this particular example, Jacobs is providing a crucial first-hand perspective on slavery. Thus, her words deserve more exposure than a paraphrase could provide.
Jacobs is quoted in Harriet A. Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, ed. Jean Fagan Yellin (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1987).
Analyzing how others use language.
This scenario is probably most common in literature and linguistics courses, but you might also find yourself writing about the use of language in history and social science classes. If the use of language is your primary topic, then you will obviously need to quote users of that language.
Examples of topics that might require the frequent use of quotations include:
Southern colloquial expressions in William Faulkner’s Light in August
Ms. and the creation of a language of female empowerment
A comparison of three British poets and their use of rhyme
Spicing up your prose.
In order to lend variety to your prose, you may wish to quote a source with particularly vivid language. All quotations, however, must closely relate to your topic and arguments. Do not insert a quotation solely for its literary merits.
One example of a quotation that adds flair:
President Calvin Coolidge’s tendency to fall asleep became legendary. As H. L. Mencken commented in the American Mercury in 1933, “Nero fiddled, but Coolidge only snored.”
How do I set up and follow up a quotation?
Once you’ve carefully selected the quotations that you want to use, your next job is to weave those quotations into your text. The words that precede and follow a quotation are just as important as the quotation itself. You can think of each quote as the filling in a sandwich: it may be tasty on its own, but it’s messy to eat without some bread on either side of it. Your words can serve as the “bread” that helps readers digest each quote easily. Below are four guidelines for setting up and following up quotations.
In illustrating these four steps, we’ll use as our example, Franklin Roosevelt’s famous quotation, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
1. Provide context for each quotation.
Do not rely on quotations to tell your story for you. It is your responsibility to provide your reader with context for the quotation. The context should set the basic scene for when, possibly where, and under what circumstances the quotation was spoken or written. So, in providing context for our above example, you might write:
When Franklin Roosevelt gave his inaugural speech on March 4, 1933, he addressed a nation weakened and demoralized by economic depression.
2. Attribute each quotation to its source.
Tell your reader who is speaking. Here is a good test: try reading your text aloud. Could your reader determine without looking at your paper where your quotations begin? If not, you need to attribute the quote more noticeably.
Avoid getting into the “they said” attribution rut! There are many other ways to attribute quotes besides this construction. Here are a few alternative verbs, usually followed by “that”:
add | remark | exclaim |
announce | reply | state |
comment | respond | estimate |
write | point out | predict |
argue | suggest | propose |
declare | criticize | proclaim |
note | complain | opine |
observe | think | note |
Different reporting verbs are preferred by different disciplines, so pay special attention to these in your disciplinary reading. If you’re unfamiliar with the meanings of any of these words or others you find in your reading, consult a dictionary before using them.
3. Explain the significance of the quotation.
Once you’ve inserted your quotation, along with its context and attribution, don’t stop! Your reader still needs your assessment of why the quotation holds significance for your paper. Using our Roosevelt example, if you were writing a paper on the first one-hundred days of FDR’s administration, you might follow the quotation by linking it to that topic:
With that message of hope and confidence, the new president set the stage for his next one-hundred days in office and helped restore the faith of the American people in their government.
4. Provide a citation for the quotation.
All quotations, just like all paraphrases, require a formal citation. For more details about particular citation formats, see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . In general, you should remember one rule of thumb: Place the parenthetical reference or footnote/endnote number after—not within—the closed quotation mark.
Roosevelt declared, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” (Roosevelt, Public Papers, 11).
Roosevelt declared, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”1
How do I embed a quotation into a sentence?
In general, avoid leaving quotes as sentences unto themselves. Even if you have provided some context for the quote, a quote standing alone can disrupt your flow. Take a look at this example:
Hamlet denies Rosencrantz’s claim that thwarted ambition caused his depression. “I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space” (Hamlet 2.2).
Standing by itself, the quote’s connection to the preceding sentence is unclear. There are several ways to incorporate a quote more smoothly:
Lead into the quote with a colon.
Hamlet denies Rosencrantz’s claim that thwarted ambition caused his depression: “I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space” (Hamlet 2.2).
The colon announces that a quote will follow to provide evidence for the sentence’s claim.
Introduce or conclude the quote by attributing it to the speaker. If your attribution precedes the quote, you will need to use a comma after the verb.
Hamlet denies Rosencrantz’s claim that thwarted ambition caused his depression. He states, “I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space” (Hamlet 2.2).
When faced with a twelve-foot mountain troll, Ron gathers his courage, shouting, “Wingardium Leviosa!” (Rowling, p. 176).
The Pirate King sees an element of regality in their impoverished and dishonest life. “It is, it is a glorious thing/To be a pirate king,” he declares (Pirates of Penzance, 1983).
Interrupt the quote with an attribution to the speaker. Again, you will need to use a comma after the verb, as well as a comma leading into the attribution.
“There is nothing either good or bad,” Hamlet argues, “but thinking makes it so” (Hamlet 2.2).
“And death shall be no more,” Donne writes, “Death thou shalt die” (“Death, Be Not Proud,” l. 14).
Dividing the quote may highlight a particular nuance of the quote’s meaning. In the first example, the division calls attention to the two parts of Hamlet’s claim. The first phrase states that nothing is inherently good or bad; the second phrase suggests that our perspective causes things to become good or bad. In the second example, the isolation of “Death thou shalt die” at the end of the sentence draws a reader’s attention to that phrase in particular. As you decide whether or not you want to break up a quote, you should consider the shift in emphasis that the division might create.
Use the words of the quote grammatically within your own sentence.
When Hamlet tells Rosencrantz that he “could be bounded in a nutshell and count [him]self a king of infinite space” (Hamlet 2.2), he implies that thwarted ambition did not cause his depression.
Ultimately, death holds no power over Donne since in the afterlife, “death shall be no more” (“Death, Be Not Proud,” l. 14).
Note that when you use “that” after the verb that introduces the quote, you no longer need a comma.
The Pirate King argues that “it is, it is a glorious thing/to be a pirate king” (Pirates of Penzance, 1983).
How much should I quote?
As few words as possible. Remember, your paper should primarily contain your own words, so quote only the most pithy and memorable parts of sources. Here are guidelines for selecting quoted material judiciously:
Excerpt fragments.
Sometimes, you should quote short fragments, rather than whole sentences. Suppose you interviewed Jane Doe about her reaction to John F. Kennedy’s assassination. She commented:
“I couldn’t believe it. It was just unreal and so sad. It was just unbelievable. I had never experienced such denial. I don’t know why I felt so strongly. Perhaps it was because JFK was more to me than a president. He represented the hopes of young people everywhere.”
You could quote all of Jane’s comments, but her first three sentences are fairly redundant. You might instead want to quote Jane when she arrives at the ultimate reason for her strong emotions:
Jane Doe grappled with grief and disbelief. She had viewed JFK, not just as a national figurehead, but as someone who “represented the hopes of young people everywhere.”
Excerpt those fragments carefully!
Quoting the words of others carries a big responsibility. Misquoting misrepresents the ideas of others. Here’s a classic example of a misquote:
John Adams has often been quoted as having said: “This would be the best of all possible worlds if there were no religion in it.”
John Adams did, in fact, write the above words. But if you see those words in context, the meaning changes entirely. Here’s the rest of the quotation:
Twenty times, in the course of my late reading, have I been on the point of breaking out, ‘this would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it!!!!’ But in this exclamation, I should have been as fanatical as Bryant or Cleverly. Without religion, this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in public company—I mean hell.
As you can see from this example, context matters!
This example is from Paul F. Boller, Jr. and John George, They Never Said It: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, and Misleading Attributions (Oxford University Press, 1989).
Use block quotations sparingly.
There may be times when you need to quote long passages. However, you should use block quotations only when you fear that omitting any words will destroy the integrity of the passage. If that passage exceeds four lines (some sources say five), then set it off as a block quotation.
Be sure you are handling block quotes correctly in papers for different academic disciplines–check the index of the citation style guide you are using. Here are a few general tips for setting off your block quotations:
- Set up a block quotation with your own words followed by a colon.
- Indent. You normally indent 4-5 spaces for the start of a paragraph. When setting up a block quotation, indent the entire paragraph once from the left-hand margin.
- Single space or double space within the block quotation, depending on the style guidelines of your discipline (MLA, CSE, APA, Chicago, etc.).
- Do not use quotation marks at the beginning or end of the block quote—the indentation is what indicates that it’s a quote.
- Place parenthetical citation according to your style guide (usually after the period following the last sentence of the quote).
- Follow up a block quotation with your own words.
So, using the above example from John Adams, here’s how you might include a block quotation:
After reading several doctrinally rigid tracts, John Adams recalled the zealous ranting of his former teacher, Joseph Cleverly, and minister, Lemuel Bryant. He expressed his ambivalence toward religion in an 1817 letter to Thomas Jefferson:
Adams clearly appreciated religion, even if he often questioned its promotion.
How do I combine quotation marks with other punctuation marks?
It can be confusing when you start combining quotation marks with other punctuation marks. You should consult a style manual for complicated situations, but the following two rules apply to most cases:
Keep periods and commas within quotation marks.
So, for example:
According to Professor Poe, werewolves “represent anxiety about the separation between human and animal,” and werewolf movies often “interrogate those boundaries.”
In the above example, both the comma and period were enclosed in the quotation marks. The main exception to this rule involves the use of internal citations, which always precede the last period of the sentence. For example:
According to Professor Poe, werewolves “represent anxiety about the separation between human and animal,” and werewolf movies often “interrogate those boundaries” (Poe 167).
Note, however, that the period remains inside the quotation marks when your citation style involves superscript footnotes or endnotes. For example:
According to Professor Poe, werewolves “represent anxiety about the separation between human and animal,” and werewolf movies often “interrogate those boundaries.” 2
Place all other punctuation marks (colons, semicolons, exclamation marks, question marks) outside the quotation marks, except when they were part of the original quotation.
Take a look at the following examples:
I couldn’t believe it when my friend passed me a note in the cafe saying the management “started charging $15 per hour for parking”!
The coach yelled, “Run!”
In the first example, the author placed the exclamation point outside the quotation mark because she added it herself to emphasize the outrageous nature of the parking price change. The original note had not included an exclamation mark. In the second example, the exclamation mark remains within the quotation mark because it is indicating the excited tone in which the coach yelled the command. Thus, the exclamation mark is considered to be part of the original quotation.
How do I indicate quotations within quotations?
If you are quoting a passage that contains a quotation, then you use single quotation marks for the internal quotation. Quite rarely, you quote a passage that has a quotation within a quotation. In that rare instance, you would use double quotation marks for the second internal quotation.
Here’s an example of a quotation within a quotation:
In “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” Hans Christian Andersen wrote, “‘But the Emperor has nothing on at all!’ cried a little child.”
Remember to consult your style guide to determine how to properly cite a quote within a quote.
When do I use those three dots ( . . . )?
Whenever you want to leave out material from within a quotation, you need to use an ellipsis, which is a series of three periods, each of which should be preceded and followed by a space. So, an ellipsis in this sentence would look like . . . this. There are a few rules to follow when using ellipses:
Be sure that you don’t fundamentally change the meaning of the quotation by omitting material.
Take a look at the following example:
“The Writing Center is located on the UNC campus and serves the entire UNC community.”
“The Writing Center . . . serves the entire UNC community.”
The reader’s understanding of the Writing Center’s mission to serve the UNC community is not affected by omitting the information about its location.
Do not use ellipses at the beginning or ending of quotations, unless it’s important for the reader to know that the quotation was truncated.
For example, using the above example, you would NOT need an ellipsis in either of these situations:
“The Writing Center is located on the UNC campus . . .”
The Writing Center ” . . . serves the entire UNC community.”
Use punctuation marks in combination with ellipses when removing material from the end of sentences or clauses.
For example, if you take material from the end of a sentence, keep the period in as usual.
“The boys ran to school, forgetting their lunches and books. Even though they were out of breath, they made it on time.”
“The boys ran to school. . . . Even though they were out of breath, they made it on time.”
Likewise, if you excerpt material at the end of clause that ends in a comma, retain the comma.
“The red car came to a screeching halt that was heard by nearby pedestrians, but no one was hurt.”
“The red car came to a screeching halt . . . , but no one was hurt.”
Is it ever okay to insert my own words or change words in a quotation?
Sometimes it is necessary for clarity and flow to alter a word or words within a quotation. You should make such changes rarely. In order to alert your reader to the changes you’ve made, you should always bracket the altered words. Here are a few examples of situations when you might need brackets:
Changing verb tense or pronouns in order to be consistent with the rest of the sentence.
Suppose you were quoting a woman who, when asked about her experiences immigrating to the United States, commented “nobody understood me.” You might write:
Esther Hansen felt that when she came to the United States “nobody understood [her].”
In the above example, you’ve changed “me” to “her” in order to keep the entire passage in third person. However, you could avoid the need for this change by simply rephrasing:
“Nobody understood me,” recalled Danish immigrant Esther Hansen.
Including supplemental information that your reader needs in order to understand the quotation.
For example, if you were quoting someone’s nickname, you might want to let your reader know the full name of that person in brackets.
“The principal of the school told Billy [William Smith] that his contract would be terminated.”
Similarly, if a quotation referenced an event with which the reader might be unfamiliar, you could identify that event in brackets.
“We completely revised our political strategies after the strike [of 1934].”
Indicating the use of nonstandard grammar or spelling.
In rare situations, you may quote from a text that has nonstandard grammar, spelling, or word choice. In such cases, you may want to insert [sic], which means “thus” or “so” in Latin. Using [sic] alerts your reader to the fact that this nonstandard language is not the result of a typo on your part. Always italicize “sic” and enclose it in brackets. There is no need to put a period at the end. Here’s an example of when you might use [sic]:
Twelve-year-old Betsy Smith wrote in her diary, “Father is afraid that he will be guilty of beach [sic] of contract.”
Here [sic] indicates that the original author wrote “beach of contract,” not breach of contract, which is the accepted terminology.
Do not overuse brackets!
For example, it is not necessary to bracket capitalization changes that you make at the beginning of sentences. For example, suppose you were going to use part of this quotation:
“The colors scintillated curiously over a hard carapace, and the beetle’s tiny antennae made gentle waving motions as though saying hello.”
If you wanted to begin a sentence with an excerpt from the middle of this quotation, there would be no need to bracket your capitalization changes.
“The beetle’s tiny antennae made gentle waving motions as though saying hello,” said Dr. Grace Farley, remembering a defining moment on her journey to becoming an entomologist.
Not: “[T]he beetle’s tiny antennae made gentle waving motions as though saying hello,” said Dr. Grace Farley, remembering a defining moment on her journey to becoming an entomologist.
Works consulted
We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.
Barzun, Jacques, and Henry F. Graff. 2012. The Modern Researcher , 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, Joseph Bizup, and William T. FitzGerald. 2016. The Craft of Research , 4th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Gibaldi, Joseph. 2009. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers , 7th ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America.
Turabian, Kate. 2018. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, Dissertations , 9th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Suggested Ways to Introduce Quotations
When you quote another writer's words, it's best to introduce or contextualize the quote.
How To Quote In An Essay?
To introduce a quote in an essay, don't forget to include author's last name and page number (MLA) or author, date, and page number (APA) in your citation. Shown below are some possible ways to introduce quotations. The examples use MLA format.
Use A Full Sentence Followed by A Colon To Introduce A Quotation
- The setting emphasizes deception: "Nothing is as it appears" (Smith 1).
- Piercy ends the poem on an ironic note: "To every woman a happy ending" (25).
Begin A Sentence with Your Own Words, Then Complete It with Quoted Words
Note that in the second example below, a slash with a space on either side ( / ) marks a line break in the original poem.
- Hamlet's task is to avenge a "foul and most unnatural murder" (Shakespeare 925).
- The speaker is mystified by her sleeping baby, whose "moth-breath / flickers among the flat pink roses" (Plath 17).
Use An Introductory Phrase Naming The Source, Followed By A Comma to Quote A Critic or Researcher
Note that the first letter after the quotation marks should be upper case. According to MLA guidelines, if you change the case of a letter from the original, you must indicate this with brackets. APA format doesn't require brackets.
- According to Smith, "[W]riting is fun" (215).
- In Smith's words, " . . .
- In Smith's view, " . . .
Use A Descriptive Verb, Followed by A Comma To Introduce A Critic's Words
Avoid using says unless the words were originally spoken aloud, for instance, during an interview.
- Smith states, "This book is terrific" (102).
- Smith remarks, " . . .
- Smith writes, " . . .
- Smith notes, " . . .
- Smith comments, " . . .
- Smith observes, " . . .
- Smith concludes, " . . .
- Smith reports, " . . .
- Smith maintains, " . . .
- Smith adds, " . . .
Don't Follow It with A Comma If Your Lead into The Quotation Ends in That or As
The first letter of the quotation should be lower case.
- Smith points out that "millions of students would like to burn this book" (53).
- Smith emphasizes that " . . .
- Smith interprets the hand washing in MacBeth as "an attempt at absolution" (106).
- Smith describes the novel as "a celebration of human experience" (233).
Other Writing Resources
Enhance your academic writing skills by exploring our additional writing resources that will help you craft compelling essays, research papers, and more.
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A Guide to Using Quotations in Essays
Quotations Add Credibility to a Persuasive Essay
- Love Quotes
- Great Lines from Movies and Television
- Quotations For Holidays
- Best Sellers
- Classic Literature
- Plays & Drama
- Shakespeare
- Short Stories
- Children's Books
- M.B.A, Human Resource Development and Management, Narsee Monjee Institution of Management Studies
- B.S., University of Mumbai, Commerce, Accounting, and Finance
If you want to make an impact on your reader, you can draw on the potency of quotations. The effective use of quotations augments the power of your arguments and makes your essays more interesting.
But there is a need for caution! Are you convinced that the quotation you have chosen is helping your essay and not hurting it? Here are some factors to consider to ensure that you are doing the right thing.
What Is This Quotation Doing in This Essay?
Let us begin at the beginning. You have a chosen a quotation for your essay. But, why that specific quotation?
A good quotation should do one or more of the following:
- Make an opening impact on the reader
- Build credibility for your essay
- Make the essay more interesting
- Close the essay with a point to ponder upon
If the quotation does not meet a few of these objectives, then it is of little value. Merely stuffing a quotation into your essay can do more harm than good.
Your Essay Is Your Mouthpiece
Should the quotation speak for the essay or should the essay speak for the quotation? Quotations should add impact to the essay and not steal the show. If your quotation has more punch than your essay, then something is seriously wrong. Your essay should be able to stand on its own legs; the quotation should merely make this stand stronger.
How Many Quotations Should You Use in Your Essay?
Using too many quotations is like having several people shouting on your behalf. This will drown out your voice. Refrain from overcrowding your essay with words of wisdom from famous people. You own the essay, so make sure that you are heard.
Don't Make It Look Like You Plagiarized
There are some rules and standards when using quotations in an essay. The most important one is that you should not give the impression of being the author of the quotation. That would amount to plagiarism . Here are a set of rules to clearly distinguish your writing from the quotation:
- You may describe the quotation in your own words before using it. In this case, you should use a colon (:) to indicate the beginning of the quotation. Then begin the quotation with a quotation mark ("). After you have completed the quotation, close it with a quotation mark ("). Here is an example: Sir Winston Churchill made a witty remark on the attitude of a pessimist: "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- The sentence in which the quotation is embedded might not explicitly describe the quotation, but merely introduce it. In such a case, do away with the colon. Simply use the quotation marks . Here is an example: Sir Winston Churchill once said, "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- As far as possible, you should mention the author and the source of the quotation. For instance: In Shakespeare ’s play "As You Like It," Touchstone says to Audrey in the Forest of Arden, "The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool." (Act V, Scene I).
- Ensure that the source of your quotation is authentic. Also, verify the author of your quotation. You can do so by looking up the quotation on authoritative websites. For formal writing, do not rely on just one website.
Blend Quotations In
An essay can seem quite jarring if the quotation does not blend in. The quotation should naturally fit into your essay. No one is interested in reading quotation-stuffed essays.
Here are some good tips on blending in your quotations:
- You can begin your essay with a quotation that sets off the basic idea of the essay. This can have a lasting impact on your reader. In the introductory paragraph of your essay, you can comment on the quotation if you like. In any case, do ensure that the relevance of the quotation is communicated well.
- Your choice of phrases and adjectives can significantly boost the impact of the quotation in your essay. Do not use monotonous phrases like: "George Washington once said...." If your essay is written for the appropriate context, consider using emphatic expressions like: "George Washington rocked the nation by saying...."
Using Long Quotations
It is usually better to have short and crisp quotations in your essay. Generally, long quotations must be used sparingly as they tend to weigh down the reader. However, there are times when your essay has more impact with a longer quotation.
If you have decided to use a long quotation, consider paraphrasing , as it usually works better. But, there is a downside to paraphrasing too. Instead of paraphrasing, if you use a direct quotation , you will avoid misrepresentation. The decision to use a long quotation is not trivial. It is your judgment call.
If you are convinced that a particular long quotation is more effective, be sure to format and punctuate it correctly. Long quotations should be set off as block quotations . The format of block quotations should follow the guidelines that you might have been provided. If there are no specific guidelines, you can follow the usual standard—if a quotation is more than three lines long, you set it off as a block quote. Blocking implies indenting it about half an inch on the left.
Usually, a brief introduction to a long quotation is warranted. In other cases, you might need to provide a complete analysis of the quotation. In this case, it is best to begin with the quotation and follow it with the analysis, rather than the other way around.
Using Cute Quotes or Poetry
Some students choose a cute quotation first and then try to plug it into their essay. As a consequence, such quotations usually drag the reader away from the essay.
Quoting a verse from a poem, however, can add a lot of charm to your essay. I have come across writing that acquires a romantic edge merely by including a poetic quotation. If you are quoting from poetry, keep in mind that a small extract of a poem, say about two lines long, requires the use of slash marks (/) to indicate line breaks. Here is an example:
Charles Lamb has aptly described a child as "A child's a plaything for an hour;/ Its pretty tricks we try / For that or for a longer space; / Then tire, and lay it by." (1-4)
If you use a single line extract of a poem, punctuate it like any other short quotation without the slashes. Quotation marks are required at the beginning and at the end of the extract. However, if your quotation is more than three lines of poetry, I would suggest that you treat it like you would have treated a long quotation from prose. In this case, you should use the block quote format.
Does Your Reader Understand the Quotation?
Perhaps the most important question you must ask yourself when using a quotation is: "Do readers understand the quotation and its relevance to my essay ?"
If the reader is re-reading a quotation, just to understand it, then you are in trouble. So when you choose a quotation for your essay, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is this too convoluted for my reader?
- Does this match the tastes of my audience ?
- Is the grammar and vocabulary in this quotation understandable?
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- Writing Tips
How to Introduce Quotes in Academic Writing
- 3-minute read
- 17th October 2019
It would be hard to write a good essay without quoting sources. And as well as using quote marks , this means working quotations into your own writing. But how can you do this? In this post, we provide a few helpful tips on how to introduce quotes (short and long) in academic writing.
Introducing Short Quotations
The easiest way to quote a source is to work a short passage (sometimes just a single word) into your own sentence. For example:
The tomb was one of archaeology’s “most intriguing discoveries” (Andronicus, 1978, p. 55) and has fascinated researchers ever since.
Here, the only requirements placing the quoted text within quotation marks and making sure the quote follows grammatically from the surrounding text.
Quoting After a Colon
If you need to quote a source after a full sentence, introduce it with a colon:
On the basis of Philip II’s estimated date of death, Andronicus (1978) draws a conclusion : “This, in all probability, must be his tomb” (p. 76).
When using a colon to introduce a quotation, the text before the colon must be a full sentence. The text after the colon, however, can be just a few words.
Quoting After a Comma
Alternatively, you can use a comma to introduce a quote. When doing this, the quoted text should follow from the preceding sentence (usually after a word like “says” or “argues”):
Andronicus (1978) says , “The weapons bore witness that the tomb could not have belonged to a commoner” (p. 73).
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However, when a quote follows the word “that,” no comma is needed:
Andronicus (1978) says that “The weapons bore witness that the tomb could not have belonged to a commoner” (p. 73).
Block Quotes
Finally, for longer quotations, use a block quote . These are also introduced with a colon, but they don’t have to follow a full sentence. Furthermore, quoted text should be indented and the block quote should begin on a new line. For example, we could introduce a block quote as follows:
Andronicus (1978) describes the fresco in the following terms:
The barely visible painting depicts three hunters with spears and five horsemen with dogs pursuing their prey, wild boars and lions. This and three other paintings discovered in the adjacent tomb are among the few extant examples of fourth-century BC Greek frescoes. (p. 72)
This emphasizes how important the discovery was for understanding…
Usually, you’ll only need block quotes for passages with more than 40 words (or four lines). The exact rules depend on the reference system you’re using, though, so be sure to check your style guide. And, when in doubt, you can always submit a document for proofreading . We can help make sure your quotations are fully integrated into the rest of your text.
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- Essay Writing Guides
Quote in an Essay: Do It Properly Following the Standards
When proving your viewpoint, disputing, or just presenting information, it is advisable to back your words with solid arguments or citations. When you have a live discussion or speech, you may turn to other people’s words without considering proper punctuation or formatting style. However, when quoting in an essay, you need to be aware of the principal academic writing rules. This post is devoted to the pivotal peculiarities of quoting.
Quote in an Essay: What Is It?
Before we start discovering how to quote in an essay, we need to find out what a quotation is. A quote in an essay refers to a short excerpt or passage taken directly from a text, speech, or another source that is included within the body of the essay to support or illustrate a point being made by the author.
Quotes in an essay are commonly used to lend credibility, provide evidence, or add depth to an argument or analysis presented in a paper. By incorporating someone else’s words, properly cited and attributed, an author can reinforce their ideas and strengthen the overall impact of their writing. It is important to use quotes sparingly, ensuring they are relevant and effectively incorporated into the essay’s narrative to maintain a coherent flow of ideas.
How to Put a Quote into an Essay
When dealing with essay writing and finding a suitable phrase or words to refer to, it is obligatory to know how to put a quote into an essay. Improper or incorrect citations may play a nasty trick on you and spoil your GPA. Perhaps, in general, you know how to quote, but it must be mentioned that punctuation always depends on the required formatting style.
However, there are some commonly accepted standards.
Choose a relevant quote
Use quotes in an essay that support or enhance your argument, emphasize a point, or provide evidence from a credible source. Ensure that the quote aligns with the topic and purpose of your essay.
Introducing the quote
Begin by introducing the quote with context, attribution, and the source. It can be done by briefly explaining who said or wrote the quote and why it is significant in relation to your essay’s topic.
Punctuate correctly
Use quotation marks to enclose the quote in an essay and indicate that it is someone else’s words. Place any punctuation marks (like commas or periods) that belong to the quote inside the quotation marks, while those that pertain to the overall sentence are placed outside.
Provide citation
After the quote, you need to include an in-text citation to indicate the source. It typically includes the author’s name (or the name of the organization if it’s a corporate source) and the page number (if applicable). Additionally, make sure to follow the appropriate citation format required by your academic institution or professor (e.g., MLA, APA, Chicago style).
Analyze and explain
After using a quote in an essay and providing the necessary citation, it’s crucial to analyze and explain its relevance to your argument. It helps connect the quote to your overall essay and demonstrates your understanding of its implications.
Remember, quotes can add credibility, depth, and support to your essay, but they should be used sparingly and always be integrated smoothly into your writing. Avoid excessively long quotes that may overshadow your original ideas, and make sure to balance them with your analysis and interpretation.
Why You Need to Identify the Quotation Source
It is crucial to identify your sources in quotes in an essay because they strengthen the credibility and reliability of your statements. By providing clear attribution to the original authors or creators of the information you are quoting, you give proper acknowledgement and respect to their intellectual property. What is more:
- Identifying sources also allows readers or listeners to verify the accuracy and validity of the information presented.
- It demonstrates your commitment to ethical writing, honest research, and responsible information sharing.
- Properly identifying sources in quotations also helps in avoiding plagiarism.
An essay with quotes is often highly valued and graded since it is a sign of profound and well-thought investigation that requires an indication of the primary source.
Short Quotations in an Essay
If you need to quote in a paragraph and choose a short quotation, you should seamlessly integrate it into your writing following the next steps:
- Provide some context to your readers regarding the topic or the source of the quotation. It helps set the stage and insert a quote in an essay. For instance, you could mention the name of the author, the work they have written, or the primary subject being discussed.
- Next, use a signal phrase or an introductory phrase to introduce a quote in an essay. It can involve using phrases like “According to,” “As mentioned by,” or “In the words of.” Make sure to attribute the quote to its rightful owner, providing their name or relevant credentials.
- After the introductory phrase, insert the short quotation itself. Enclose it within quotation marks (“”) to clearly indicate that you use someone else’s words.
Ensure that quotations in an essay are accurate and word-for-word from a credible source. If you need to omit or modify any part of the quotation for better clarity or conciseness, use ellipses (…) or brackets ([ ]) respectively to convey those changes.
Quote In an Essay: MLA, APA, Chicago
When citing a quote in APA, MLA, and Chicago styles, there are specific guidelines to follow. Here’s how you can quote in an essay in each of these formats:
When you quote in an essay MLA, you need to include the author’s last name and page number in parentheses. For example:
“Quote here” (Author’s Last Name Page Number).
In APA style, you should indicate the author’s last name, the year of publication, and the page number. For example:
“Quote here” (Author’s Last Name, Year, p. Page Number).
- Chicago Style
In Chicago style, there are two quotation essay methods: notes and bibliography or author-date.
- Notes and Bibliography: In this method, you should use footnotes or endnotes and a bibliography. The first citation includes the author’s full name, the title of the source, and the publication information. For subsequent citations, use the author’s last name and a shortened title.
Footnote example:
1st citation: Author’s Full Name, Title of Source (Place of Publication: Publisher, Year), Page Number.
Subsequent citation: Author’s Last Name, Shortened Title of Source, Page Number.
- Author-Date: In this method, you should indicate the author’s last name, year of publication, and page number in parentheses within the text.
“Quote here” (Author’s Last Name Year, Page Number).
Remember, when citing quotes, it is crucial to properly attribute a reliable source to avoid plagiarism and provide a clear reference for readers to locate the cited material in your essay with quotes.
Quoting Articles: Introduction in Different Formatting Styles
Quoting an article in an essay in different formatting styles can add variety and visual appeal to your writing. Here are a few ways to do so:
- In accordance with MLA formatting guidelines, you can introduce a quote by providing the author’s name and cited page number in parentheses after the quote. For example:
According to John Doe, “citation text” (25).
- In APA formatting, you can introduce a quote by mentioning the author’s name, publication year, and page number in parentheses. Here’s an example:
Smith (2019) stated, “citation text” (p. 42).
- In Chicago style, you have the option to use footnotes or endnotes to introduce a quote. For footnotes, you can indicate the author’s name, article title, publication date, and page number. Here’s how it can be done:
As stated by Jane Smith in her article “Wild Life,” published on April 1, 2020, “citation text”
- In Harvard referencing, you can introduce a quote by including the author’s name, publication year, and page number, all within parentheses. Such an introduction would look like this:
According to Williams (2018, p. 10), “citation text”
Remember, it’s important to follow the specific formatting guidelines required by your academic institution or publication. These examples serve as a starting point, but always consult the appropriate style guide for accurate referencing.
Example Quotes in an Essay
The best way to cite correctly is to follow the example quotes in an essay. Here are some samples of the main formatting styles.
MLA formatting style:
- “Innovation is the pushing force of progress in our rapidly changing world” (Smith 23).
- As Smith states, “Innovation is the pushing force of progress in our rapidly changing world” (23)
APA formatting style:
- “Innovation is the pushing force of progress in our rapidly changing world” (Smith, 2023, p. 23).
- According to Smith (2023), “Innovation is the pushing force of progress in our rapidly changing world” (p. 23)
Chicago formatting style:
- “Innovation is the pushing force of progress in our rapidly changing world” (Smith, 2023, 23).
Now, everything is clear on how to quote in an essay and why it is important to cite properly for the sake of credibility and academic integrity.
- Academic Writing Guides
- Research Paper Writing Guides
Quote integration
Quote integration is arguably one of the most difficult parts of essay writing; however, it does not need to be. Here are some tips to make quote integration easier.
First things first, the most basic way to integrate quotes into any piece of writing is with the following format
Signal phrase + Quote + Citations
- Signal phrase: A short phrase or verb that indicates to the reader that you are going to introduce a quote.
- Quote: Short quotes are less than four lines and can be integrated into the actual body of your essay. Quotes over four lines typically should be formatted as block quotes (based on the citation style you are using).
- Citations in MLA 8th edition
- Citations in APA 7 th
- Citations in Chicago
- Citations in AMA
The following example follows the pattern of signal phrase , quote, and citation (in MLA style)
- Exercise has many benefits for not only an individual’s present health but in the long term as well : “exercise is known to reduce a number of inflammatory markers…which are linked to a number of diseases” (Walton 1).
Another way to introduce a quote into a source is to use the author’s name as your signal phrase with a subsequent verb that is used to introduce the quote. For citation styles such as MLA or APA, when you start with the author’s name to introduce the source, the end of text citation only needs to have the page number/year.
- Alice Walton writes that “exercise is one of the best-illustrated things we can do for our hearts, and this includes markers like blood pressure and cholesterol, in addition to the physical structure of the heart itself, and blood vessel function” (3).
Verbs to use to signal the beginning of a quotation
- Demonstrates
- Illustrates
Other methods to integrate a quote into a sentence
Introduce a quotation and have subsequent sentences that expand on the relevance.
- This is the best way to integrate quotes into a paper. It is crucial that anytime you use from an outside source, you explain the relevance of the quote to the rest of your paper .
- Dr. Carrie Fisher details some of the most pressing ethical concerns that arise in the field of public health: “the primary ethical concern of public health officials is creating a balance between the common good and the right of the individual, when we undermine autonomy we create distrust among the general public, destabilizing the governing principles of public health” (2). Dr. Fisher’s concerns surrounding the field of public health echoes the main dilemma that has plagued the field since its conception. Her argument that undermining autonomy betrays public trust demonstrates that as public health officials it is crucial to understand that if individual autonomy is restricted, it can only be in the direst of circumstances.
Make the quotation part of a complete sentence
- Current research indicates that exercise is beneficial for long-term health as it “can help control blood lipid abnormalities, diabetes, and obesity” (Fletcher et al., 1996).
Utilize brackets and ellipses to help improve clarity of a sentence
Brackets are used to add words to improve understanding. Ellipses are used to remove words to shorten a phrase.
- According to physical therapist Dr. Smith, developing a consistent and sustainable workout foundation is the key to long term success: “[Workout programs] must be enjoyable, you cannot expect an individual to adhere to a regimen where they dread each day they must go. I recommend that individuals find a workout routine that both challenges them but also excites them, where it does not feel like a chore to workout” (2).
Here is an example sentence that utilizes all of these tactics to integrate a quote into a sentence
- In the field of medicine, exercise recommendations remain hotly contested, “although a consensus is growing on the importance of the relation between physical activity and health and wellness, the specific dose of physical activity necessary for good health remains unclear… some of the inconsistency among physical activity recommendations is due simply to the inherent uncertainties of biomedical science” (Blair 2). It is crucial that the differing ideologies be addressed as they have the potential to impact the dissemination of information to the general public. The average American already struggles to meet the weekly exercise recommendations and conflicting information regarding these recommendations will only further exacerbate the issue.
Paraphrasing
- You may be thinking “isn’t this supposed to be about integrating quotes into an essay?” You are correct; however, there are many times (and citation styles) where it is best to paraphrase a source instead of integrating a whole quote into the paper. Quote integration is crucial when the exact wording of the primary source is critical to the point being made, whereas paraphrasing is sufficient when restating the general idea is all that is required.
- Despite continual recommendations put forth by the CDC regarding exercise and physical activity “80% of the population is not meeting the guidelines. Each year in the US, an estimated 10% of premature deaths and $117 billion in healthcare costs are associated with inadequate physical activity” (Smith, 2017).
Paraphrased
- The CDC estimates that 80% of the United States population is not adhering to the guidelines regarding weekly physical activity recommendations (Smith 3). Inactive adults cost the U.S health care system an estimated $117 billion per year; estimates suggest 10% of premature deaths are due to inactivity (Smith, 2017).
*Remember that when paraphrasing a quote from a source an in-text citation is still included.
Common mistakes to avoid
Drop quotes.
This is when you “drop” a quote into your essay without any form of introduction; the most common mistake is making the quote its own sentence.
This is what you don’t want to do
- There are numerous health benefits to working out. “Adults should move more and sit less throughout the day. Some physical activity is better than none. Adults who sit less and do any amount of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity gain some health benefits” (CDC).
A better way to approach this is
- There are numerous health benefits to working. According to the CDC, “adults should move more and sit less throughout the day. Some physical activity is better than none. Adults who sit less and do any amount of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity gain some health benefits” (2019).
Not using brackets
Using brackets when integrating a quote actually helps improve clarity while writing. Otherwise, if you integrate a quote directly without adjusting it through the use of brackets, the sentence can be confusing to readers.
- Dr. Smith, talks to patients candidly about the importance of physical activity while they are young, “it is important that you start working out when you are younger as it helps you build up bone density, which can decrease the risk of developing arthritis as you get older” (Horton 3).
- Dr. Smith talks to patients candidly about the importance of physical activity while they are young: “it is important that [individuals] start working out when [they] are younger as it helps [them] build up bone density, which can decrease the risk of developing arthritis as they get older” (Horton 3).
Quoting and integrating sources into your paper
In any study of a subject, people engage in a “conversation” of sorts, where they read or listen to others’ ideas, consider them with their own viewpoints, and then develop their own stance. It is important in this “conversation” to acknowledge when we use someone else’s words or ideas. If we didn’t come up with it ourselves, we need to tell our readers who did come up with it.
It is important to draw on the work of experts to formulate your own ideas. Quoting and paraphrasing the work of authors engaged in writing about your topic adds expert support to your argument and thesis statement. You are contributing to a scholarly conversation with scholars who are experts on your topic with your writing. This is the difference between a scholarly research paper and any other paper: you must include your own voice in your analysis and ideas alongside scholars or experts.
All your sources must relate to your thesis, or central argument, whether they are in agreement or not. It is a good idea to address all sides of the argument or thesis to make your stance stronger. There are two main ways to incorporate sources into your research paper.
Quoting is when you use the exact words from a source. You will need to put quotation marks around the words that are not your own and cite where they came from. For example:
“It wasn’t really a tune, but from the first note the beast’s eyes began to droop . . . Slowly the dog’s growls ceased – it tottered on its paws and fell to its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast asleep” (Rowling 275).
Follow these guidelines when opting to cite a passage:
- Choose to quote passages that seem especially well phrased or are unique to the author or subject matter.
- Be selective in your quotations. Avoid over-quoting. You also don’t have to quote an entire passage. Use ellipses (. . .) to indicate omitted words. Check with your professor for their ideal length of quotations – some professors place word limits on how much of a sentence or paragraph you should quote.
- Before or after quoting a passage, include an explanation in which you interpret the significance of the quote for the reader. Avoid “hanging quotes” that have no context or introduction. It is better to err on the side of your reader not understanding your point until you spell it out for them, rather than assume readers will follow your thought process exactly.
- If you are having trouble paraphrasing (putting something into your own words), that may be a sign that you should quote it.
- Shorter quotes are generally incorporated into the flow of a sentence while longer quotes may be set off in “blocks.” Check your citation handbook for quoting guidelines.
Paraphrasing is when you state the ideas from another source in your own words . Even when you use your own words, if the ideas or facts came from another source, you need to cite where they came from. Quotation marks are not used. For example:
With the simple music of the flute, Harry lulled the dog to sleep (Rowling 275).
Follow these guidelines when opting to paraphrase a passage:
- Don’t take a passage and change a word here or there. You must write out the idea in your own words. Simply changing a few words from the original source or restating the information exactly using different words is considered plagiarism .
- Read the passage, reflect upon it, and restate it in a way that is meaningful to you within the context of your paper . You are using this to back up a point you are making, so your paraphrased content should be tailored to that point specifically.
- After reading the passage that you want to paraphrase, look away from it, and imagine explaining the main point to another person.
- After paraphrasing the passage, go back and compare it to the original. Are there any phrases that have come directly from the original source? If so, you should rephrase it or put the original in quotation marks. If you cannot state an idea in your own words, you should use the direct quotation.
A summary is similar to paraphrasing, but used in cases where you are trying to give an overview of many ideas. As in paraphrasing, quotation marks are not used, but a citation is still necessary. For example:
Through a combination of skill and their invisibility cloak, Harry, Ron, and Hermione slipped through Hogwarts to the dog’s room and down through the trapdoor within (Rowling 271-77).
Important guidelines
When integrating a source into your paper, remember to use these three important components:
- Introductory phrase to the source material : mention the author, date, or any other relevant information when introducing a quote or paraphrase.
- Source material : a direct quote, paraphrase, or summary with proper citation.
- Analysis of source material : your response, interpretations, or arguments regarding the source material should introduce or follow it. When incorporating source material into your paper, relate your source and analysis back to your original thesis.
Ideally, papers will contain a good balance of direct quotations, paraphrasing and your own thoughts. Too much reliance on quotations and paraphrasing can make it seem like you are only using the work of others and have no original thoughts on the topic.
Always properly cite an author’s original idea, whether you have directly quoted or paraphrased it. If you have questions about how to cite properly in your chosen citation style, browse these citation guides . You can also review our guide to understanding plagiarism .
University Writing Center
The University of Nevada, Reno Writing Center provides helpful guidance on quoting and paraphrasing and explains how to make sure your paraphrasing does not veer into plagiarism. If you have any questions about quoting or paraphrasing, or need help at any point in the writing process, schedule an appointment with the Writing Center.
Works Cited
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. A.A. Levine Books, 1998.
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- How to Quote | Citing Quotes in Harvard & APA
How to Quote | Citing Quotes in Harvard & APA
Published on 15 April 2022 by Shona McCombes and Jack Caulfield. Revised on 3 September 2022.
Quoting means copying a passage of someone else’s words and crediting the source. To quote a source, you must ensure:
- The quoted text is enclosed in quotation marks (usually single quotation marks in UK English, though double is acceptable as long as you’re consistent) or formatted as a block quote
- The original author is correctly cited
- The text is identical to the original
The exact format of a quote depends on its length and on which citation style you are using. Quoting and citing correctly is essential to avoid plagiarism , which is easy to detect with a good plagiarism checker .
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Table of contents
How to cite a quote in harvard and apa style, introducing quotes, quotes within quotes, shortening or altering a quote, block quotes, when should i use quotes, frequently asked questions about quoting sources.
Every time you quote, you must cite the source correctly . This looks slightly different depending on the citation style you’re using.
Citing a quote in Harvard style
When you include a quote in Harvard style, you must add a Harvard in-text citation giving the author’s last name, the year of publication, and a page number if available. Any full stop or comma appears after the citation, not within the quotation marks.
Citations can be parenthetical or narrative. In a parenthetical citation , you place all the information in brackets after the quote. In a narrative citation , you name the author in your sentence (followed by the year), and place the page number after the quote.
- Evolution is a gradual process that ‘can act only by very short and slow steps’ (Darwin, 1859, p. 510) . Darwin (1859) explains that evolution ‘can act only by very short and slow steps’ (p. 510) .
Complete guide to Harvard style
Citing a quote in APA Style
To cite a direct quote in APA , you must include the author’s last name, the year, and a page number, all separated by commas. If the quote appears on a single page, use ‘p.’; if it spans a page range, use ‘pp.’
An APA in-text citation can be parenthetical or narrative. In a parenthetical citation , you place all the information in parentheses after the quote. In a narrative citation , you name the author in your sentence (followed by the year), and place the page number after the quote.
Punctuation marks such as full stops and commas are placed after the citation, not within the quotation marks.
- Evolution is a gradual process that ‘can act only by very short and slow steps’ (Darwin, 1859, p. 510) .
- Darwin (1859) explains that evolution ‘can act only by very short and slow steps’ (p. 510) .
Complete guide to APA
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Make sure you integrate quotes properly into your text by introducing them in your own words, showing the reader why you’re including the quote and providing any context necessary to understand it. Don’t present quotations as stand-alone sentences.
There are three main strategies you can use to introduce quotes in a grammatically correct way:
- Add an introductory sentence
- Use an introductory signal phrase
- Integrate the quote into your own sentence
The following examples use APA Style citations, but these strategies can be used in all styles.
Introductory sentence
Introduce the quote with a full sentence ending in a colon . Don’t use a colon if the text before the quote isn’t a full sentence.
If you name the author in your sentence, you may use present-tense verbs, such as “states’, ‘argues’, ‘explains’, ‘writes’, or ‘reports’, to describe the content of the quote.
- In Denmark, a recent poll shows that: ‘A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters’ (Levring, 2018, p. 3).
- In Denmark, a recent poll shows that support for the EU has grown since the Brexit vote: ‘A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters’ (Levring, 2018, p. 3).
- Levring (2018) reports that support for the EU has grown since the Brexit vote: ‘A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters’ (p. 3).
Introductory signal phrase
You can also use a signal phrase that mentions the author or source but doesn’t form a full sentence. In this case, you follow the phrase with a comma instead of a colon.
- According to a recent poll, ‘A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters’ (Levring, 2018, p. 3).
- As Levring (2018) explains, ‘A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters’ (p. 3).
Integrated into your own sentence
To quote a phrase that doesn’t form a full sentence, you can also integrate it as part of your sentence, without any extra punctuation.
- A recent poll suggests that EU membership ‘would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters’ in a referendum (Levring, 2018, p. 3).
- Levring (2018) reports that EU membership ‘would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters’ in a referendum (p. 3).
When you quote text that itself contains another quote, this is called a nested quotation or a quote within a quote. It may occur, for example, when quoting dialogue from a novel.
To distinguish this quote from the surrounding quote, you enclose it in double (instead of single) quotation marks (even if this involves changing the punctuation from the original text). Make sure to close both sets of quotation marks at the appropriate moments.
Note that if you only quote the nested quotation itself, and not the surrounding text, you can just use single quotation marks.
- Carraway introduces his narrative by quoting his father: ‘ ‘ Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, ‘ he told me, ‘ just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had ‘ ‘ (Fitzgerald 1).
- Carraway introduces his narrative by quoting his father: ‘”Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had “ (Fitzgerald 1).
- Carraway introduces his narrative by quoting his father: ‘“Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had”’ (Fitzgerald 1).
- Carraway begins by quoting his father’s invocation to ‘remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had’ (Fitzgerald 1).
Note: When the quoted text in the source comes from another source, it’s best to just find that original source in order to quote it directly. If you can’t find the original source, you can instead cite it indirectly .
Often, incorporating a quote smoothly into your text requires you to make some changes to the original text. It’s fine to do this, as long as you clearly mark the changes you’ve made to the quote.
Shortening a quote
If some parts of a passage are redundant or irrelevant, you can shorten the quote by removing words, phrases, or sentences and replacing them with an ellipsis (…). Put a space before and after the ellipsis.
Be careful that removing the words doesn’t change the meaning. The ellipsis indicates that some text has been removed, but the shortened quote should still accurately represent the author’s point.
Altering a quote
You can add or replace words in a quote when necessary. This might be because the original text doesn’t fit grammatically with your sentence (e.g., it’s in a different tense), or because extra information is needed to clarify the quote’s meaning.
Use brackets to distinguish words that you have added from words that were present in the original text.
The Latin term ‘ sic ‘ is used to indicate a (factual or grammatical) mistake in a quotation. It shows the reader that the mistake is from the quoted material, not a typo of your own.
In some cases, it can be useful to italicise part of a quotation to add emphasis, showing the reader that this is the key part to pay attention to. Use the phrase ’emphasis added’ to show that the italics were not part of the original text.
You usually don’t need to use brackets to indicate minor changes to punctuation or capitalisation made to ensure the quote fits the style of your text.
If you quote more than a few lines from a source, you must format it as a block quote . Instead of using quotation marks, you set the quote on a new line and indent it so that it forms a separate block of text.
Block quotes are cited just like regular quotes, except that if the quote ends with a full stop, the citation appears after the full stop.
To the end of his days Bilbo could never remember how he found himself outside, without a hat, a walking-stick or any money, or anything that he usually took when he went out; leaving his second breakfast half-finished and quite unwashed-up, pushing his keys into Gandalf’s hands, and running as fast as his furry feet could carry him down the lane, past the great Mill, across The Water, and then on for a mile or more. (16)
Avoid relying too heavily on quotes in academic writing . To integrate a source , it’s often best to paraphrase , which means putting the passage into your own words. This helps you integrate information smoothly and keeps your own voice dominant.
However, there are some situations in which quotes are more appropriate.
When focusing on language
If you want to comment on how the author uses language (for example, in literary analysis ), it’s necessary to quote so that the reader can see the exact passage you are referring to.
When giving evidence
To convince the reader of your argument, interpretation or position on a topic, it’s often helpful to include quotes that support your point. Quotes from primary sources (for example, interview transcripts or historical documents) are especially credible as evidence.
When presenting an author’s position or definition
When you’re referring to secondary sources such as scholarly books and journal articles, try to put others’ ideas in your own words when possible.
But if a passage does a great job at expressing, explaining, or defining something, and it would be very difficult to paraphrase without changing the meaning or losing the weakening the idea’s impact, it’s worth quoting directly.
A quote is an exact copy of someone else’s words, usually enclosed in quotation marks and credited to the original author or speaker.
To present information from other sources in academic writing , it’s best to paraphrase in most cases. This shows that you’ve understood the ideas you’re discussing and incorporates them into your text smoothly.
It’s appropriate to quote when:
- Changing the phrasing would distort the meaning of the original text
- You want to discuss the author’s language choices (e.g., in literary analysis )
- You’re presenting a precise definition
- You’re looking in depth at a specific claim
Every time you quote a source , you must include a correctly formatted in-text citation . This looks slightly different depending on the citation style .
For example, a direct quote in APA is cited like this: ‘This is a quote’ (Streefkerk, 2020, p. 5).
Every in-text citation should also correspond to a full reference at the end of your paper.
In scientific subjects, the information itself is more important than how it was expressed, so quoting should generally be kept to a minimum. In the arts and humanities, however, well-chosen quotes are often essential to a good paper.
In social sciences, it varies. If your research is mainly quantitative , you won’t include many quotes, but if it’s more qualitative , you may need to quote from the data you collected .
As a general guideline, quotes should take up no more than 5–10% of your paper. If in doubt, check with your instructor or supervisor how much quoting is appropriate in your field.
If you’re quoting from a text that paraphrases or summarises other sources and cites them in parentheses , APA recommends retaining the citations as part of the quote:
- Smith states that ‘the literature on this topic (Jones, 2015; Sill, 2019; Paulson, 2020) shows no clear consensus’ (Smith, 2019, p. 4).
Footnote or endnote numbers that appear within quoted text should be omitted.
If you want to cite an indirect source (one you’ve only seen quoted in another source), either locate the original source or use the phrase ‘as cited in’ in your citation.
A block quote is a long quote formatted as a separate ‘block’ of text. Instead of using quotation marks , you place the quote on a new line, and indent the entire quote to mark it apart from your own words.
APA uses block quotes for quotes that are 40 words or longer.
Cite this Scribbr article
If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.
McCombes, S. & Caulfield, J. (2022, September 03). How to Quote | Citing Quotes in Harvard & APA. Scribbr. Retrieved 12 August 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/working-sources/quoting/
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How to Quote in a Research Paper
Last Updated: September 30, 2022 Fact Checked
This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. There are 16 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 910,562 times.
A research paper can be made stronger through the use of quotations. You may use quotes when you need to cite a key piece of primary source material, strengthen your argument through another writer's work, or highlight a term of art. It is important to both use quotations effectively and cite them properly to write an effective paper and avoid plagiarizing.
Using Different Types of Quotes
- Use a complete sentence to incorporate a dropped quote. Ex: As Rembrandt’s skill developed, he began painting landscapes that are “romantic and visionary” (Wallace 96).
- Use a short phrase to incorporate a dropped quote: Rembrandt’s landscapes are “romantic and visionary” (Wallace 96).
- Use a complete sentence to introduce a full sentence quote. Ex: Over the course of time Rembrandt’s work began to change and focus on different themes, but as Wallace points out: "Rembrandt’s great gift as an etcher lay in preserving a sense of spontaneity while scrupulously attending to close detail” (142).
- Use a signal phrase to introduce your full sentence quote. Ex: As Wallace states, “Rembrandt’s great gift as an etcher lay in preserving a sense of spontaneity while scrupulously attending to close detail” (142).
- Introduce your block quote with a colon. Ex: According to Wallace: (add a line break here, and then indent the entire quote).
- Block quotes do not use quotation marks. You have already stated who the author is/what is being referred to in the introduction sentence. Add the in-text parenthetical citation after the period at the end of the quote, though.
- If your block quote is inside a paragraph, you don’t have to start a new paragraph at the end of it. Simply add another line break and begin writing along the left margin (with no indent). [4] X Research source However, you will need to indent the second paragraph by an extra 0.25 in (0.64 cm) if you are citing more than 1 paragraph. [5] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source
- Change the structure of the sentence by moving clauses around. Aim to change at least half of the sentence into a new structure, but also make sure that the grammar is correct and the meaning of the sentence is still clear. You can use a thesaurus to exchange words with synonyms.
- Paraphrasing should only be done if you are certain that you understand the content you are copying. If you are unclear as to the meaning of the quote, you won’t be able to put it adequately into your own words.
- When you write your paraphrase, don’t look at the quote. Keep the meaning in your head and create a new sentence to match. [7] X Research source
Formatting Your Quotes
- To use a comma, you might structure the quote with in sentence like this: “Yogurt provides beneficial bacteria to your gut,” so it is good to include 1 serving per day in your diet.
- To use a period, you might structure the quote like this: “Carrots are a valuable source of vitamin A.”
- Example of a quotation that comes with a question mark: Alice said “but where will I go?” (24).
- Example of asking a question about a quotation: With so much contention, will literary scholars ever agree on “the dream-like quality of Alice’s adventure” (39)?
- Example of a question about a quoted question: At this point in the story, readers communally ask “but where will I go?” (24).
- Ellipses can be used in the center of a quote to leave out words that you feel add unnecessary length to the statement without adding value. For example: As the man stated, “reading the book was...enlightening and life-changing.” This is done rather than: As the man stated, “reading the book over the last few weeks was not only incredibly enjoyable, but also enlightening and life-changing.”
- Ellipses should be used only before or after a quote, not both. If you are only use a part of a quote from the center of a selection, it is just a partial or dropped quote. However, keep in mind that ellipses rarely come at the beginning of a quotation. [11] X Research source
- For example: As scholars have noted, “Rembrandt’s portrait of her [Henrickje, his mistress] was both accurate and emotion-filled” (Wallace 49).
- Ex: As Dormer has noted, “his work is much more valuable now then [sic] it was at the time of its creation.”
Quoting in Different Styles
- Ex: We can therefore ascertain that “Rembrandt’s decline in popularity may have been his dedication to Biblical painting” (Wallace 112).
- Ex: According to some, “another reason for Rembrandt’s decline in popularity may have been his dedication to Biblical painting” (Wallace 112), but not everyone agree on this matter.
- Ex: Wallace states that “another reason for Rembrandt’s decline in popularity may have been his dedication to Biblical painting” (112). [15] X Research source
- Ex: As Billy’s character is described, we learn “Billy wasn’t a Catholic, even though he grew up with a ghastly crucifix on his wall” (Vonnegut 1969).
- Ex: Vonnegut gives a factual statement with a clear opinion thrown in when he says “Billy wasn’t a Catholic, even though he grew up with a ghastly crucifix on his wall” (1969).
- Ex: With the knowledge that “Billy wasn’t a Catholic, even though he grew up with a ghastly crucifix on his wall” (Vonnegut 1969), we begin to understand his philosophical standings.
Quoting Successfully
Community Q&A
- Keep a list of quotations as you take research notes, and star your favorites to return later. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
- Watch for quotations that are quoted by other researchers again and again. Often secondary material will give you hints to finding the best parts of the primary sources. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
- Quote the opposition so that you can directly pick apart their argument. It's easier to argue against someone if you're using exactly what they said and pointing out its flaws. Otherwise, the opposition can claim that you simply twisted their meaning. Rely on their words and attack directly. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
- Don't let a research paper become a sea of he-said, she-said. While you want to set up the arguments that have been made on both sides in the past, you also want to make a compelling argument for yourself. Rephrasing, re-organizing an argument, and synthesizing different arguments in your own words makes it clear that you understand what you've researched and makes the paper interesting to read. The reader is searching for a new way to understand the research or a new idea. Too many quotes tend to bury the lead. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
- Don't rely too heavily on one source. It's easy to fall in love with a single book when doing research, particularly if there aren't a lot of books on the subject and one author particularly agrees with you. Try to limit how much you quote that author, particularly if a lot of your argument is relying on his or her groundwork already. Look for quotations that complement or challenge that person, and provide your own analysis. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
- Don't be a sloppy note-taker. Unfortunately, accidental plagiarism is all too common, and it has serious consequences. You may not have meant to plagiarize, but if you write someone else's words down without indicating that you are using a direct quotation, you are plagiarizing whether it was intentional or not (after all, merely relying on lecture notes and not on your own research is lazy and not acknowledging direct quotes as you take notes from texts reflects poor organization). Always indicate quotations in your notes. It's also better to write down a lot of quotations and then paraphrase them later than to write down a paraphrased version. The danger here, particularly if you don't alter the quote much, is that you'll unwittingly change it back to the quotation later, in revision. It's better to have the original right in front of you. If you find yourself unable to choose better language, just quote it properly. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
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- ↑ https://midway.libguides.com/c.php?g=1100261&p=8025172
- ↑ https://facultyweb.ivcc.edu/rrambo/eng1001/quotes.htm
- ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_quotations.html
- ↑ http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl402/cited.htm
- ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/quotation_marks/index.html
- ↑ http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_paraphrase2.html
- ↑ http://www.thepunctuationguide.com/ellipses.html
- ↑ https://www.unr.edu/writing-speaking-center/student-resources/writing-speaking-resources/mla-quotation-punctuation
- ↑ https://guides.libraries.psu.edu/mlacitation/intext
- ↑ http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/03/
- ↑ https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/quotations
- ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/cmos_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html
- ↑ https://writingcenter.uagc.edu/quoting-paraphrasing-summarizing
- ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/quotations/
- ↑ https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/evidence/quotation
About This Article
To quote in a research paper in APA style, use in-text parenthetical citations at the end of quotes that have the author's last name and the year the text was published. If you mention the author's name in the sentence with the quote, just include the year the text was published in the citation. If you're citing a quote in MLA style, do the same thing you would for APA style, but use the page number instead of the year the text was published. To learn how to quote a research paper in Chicago style, scroll down! Did this summary help you? Yes No
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Writing with artificial intelligence, inserting or altering words in a direct quotation.
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 by Nancy Lewis
What punctuation should be used when words are inserted or altered in a direct quotation?
When writers insert or alter words in a direct quotation, square brackets—[ ]—are placed around the change. The brackets, always used in pairs, enclose words intended to clarify meaning, provide a brief explanation, or to help integrate the quote into the writer’s sentence. A common error writers make is to use parentheses in place of brackets.
How are square brackets used around clarifying or explanatory words?
Let’s look at an example:
Quotation with brackets used correctly around a clarifying word:
“It [driving] imposes a heavy procedural workload on cognition that . . . leaves little processing capacity available for other tasks” (Salvucci and Taatgen 107). [1]
Note : Brackets are placed around the inserted word in this example to let the reader know that ‘driving’ clarifies the meaning of the pronoun ‘it.’
Quotation with parentheses incorrectly used in place of brackets:
“It (driving) imposes a heavy procedural workload on cognition that . . . leaves little processing capacity available for other tasks” (Salvucci and Taatgen 107).
Note : Parentheses are used incorrectly in place of brackets in this example, making the inserted word look like it could be part of the original text.
Let’s look at another example:
Quotation with brackets used correctly around an explanatory insert:
“[D]riving is not as automatic as one might think; in fact, it imposes a heavy procedural workload [visual and motor demands] on cognition that . . . leaves little processing capacity available for other tasks” (Salvucci and Taatgen 107).
Note : Brackets are placed around the inserted words in this example to provide further explanation of the “procedural workload” discussed in the original text.
“[D]riving is not as automatic as one might think; in fact, it imposes a heavy procedural workload (visual and motor demands) on cognition that . . . leaves little processing capacity available for other tasks” (Salvucci and Taatgen 107).
Note : Parentheses are used incorrectly in place of brackets in this example, making the inserted words look like they are part of the original text.
How are square brackets used to help integrate a quote properly?
Original direct quotation beginning with an upper case letter:
“The heavy cognitive workload of driving suggests that any secondary task has the potential to affect driver behavior” (Salvucci and Taatgen 108).
Integrated quotation with brackets used correctly to indicate a change in letter case:
Salvucci and Taatgen propose that “[t]he heavy cognitive workload of driving suggests that any secondary task has the potential to affect driver behavior” (108).
Note : Brackets are placed around the lower-case letter ‘t’ to indicate that the letter case has been changed. The quotation is introduced by a signal phrase, which makes the quote an integral part of the writer’s sentence; as a result of this syntactical change, the upper case ‘T’ in the original is changed to a lower case letter.
Original direct quotation written in the past tense:
“Not coincidentally, drivers have been increasingly engaging in secondary tasks while driving” (Salvucci and Taatgen 68).
Note : The authors’ words appear in the past tense in the original text.
Quotation with brackets used correctly to indicate a change in verb tense:
“Not coincidentally, drivers [are] increasingly engaging in secondary tasks while driving” (Salvucci and Taatgen 68).
Note : Brackets are placed around the word ‘are’ to indicate that the verb has been changed to the present tense, which is the preferred tense for most writing in MLA style. The past tense is preferred for APA style writing.
A word of caution : Bracketed insertions may not be used to alter or add to the quotation in a way that inaccurately or unfairly represents the original text. Quite simply, do not use bracketed material in a way that twists the author’s meaning.
Bracket Use: Quick Summary
Use brackets to enclose inserted words intended to clarify meaning within a quotation. | Use parentheses when inserting words into a quotation. |
Use brackets to enclose inserted words intended to provide a brief explanation within a quotation. | Use parentheses to enclose a change in letter case or verb tense when integrating a quote into your paper. |
Use brackets to enclose a change in letter case or verb tense when integrating a quote into your paper. | Use bracketed material in a way that twists the author’s meaning. |
[1] Salvucci, Dario D., and Niels A. Taatgen. Multitasking Minds . Oxford: Oxford UP, 2011. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) . Web. 20 Feb. 2012.
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How to Cite Sources | Citation Generator & Quick Guide
Citing your sources is essential in academic writing . Whenever you quote or paraphrase a source (such as a book, article, or webpage), you have to include a citation crediting the original author.
Failing to properly cite your sources counts as plagiarism , since you’re presenting someone else’s ideas as if they were your own.
The most commonly used citation styles are APA and MLA. The free Scribbr Citation Generator is the quickest way to cite sources in these styles. Simply enter the URL, DOI, or title, and we’ll generate an accurate, correctly formatted citation.
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Table of contents
When do you need to cite sources, which citation style should you use, in-text citations, reference lists and bibliographies.
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Citation examples and full guides, frequently asked questions about citing sources.
Citations are required in all types of academic texts. They are needed for several reasons:
- To avoid plagiarism by indicating when you’re taking information from another source
- To give proper credit to the author of that source
- To allow the reader to consult your sources for themselves
A citation is needed whenever you integrate a source into your writing. This usually means quoting or paraphrasing:
- To quote a source , copy a short piece of text word for word and put it inside quotation marks .
- To paraphrase a source , put the text into your own words. It’s important that the paraphrase is not too close to the original wording. You can use the paraphrasing tool if you don’t want to do this manually.
Citations are needed whether you quote or paraphrase, and whatever type of source you use. As well as citing scholarly sources like books and journal articles, don’t forget to include citations for any other sources you use for ideas, examples, or evidence. That includes websites, YouTube videos , and lectures .
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The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:
- Missing commas and periods
- Incorrect usage of “et al.”
- Ampersands (&) in narrative citations
- Missing reference entries
Usually, your institution (or the journal you’re submitting to) will require you to follow a specific citation style, so check your guidelines or ask your instructor.
In some cases, you may have to choose a citation style for yourself. Make sure to pick one style and use it consistently:
- APA Style is widely used in the social sciences and beyond.
- MLA style is common in the humanities.
- Chicago notes and bibliography , common in the humanities
- Chicago author-date , used in the (social) sciences
- There are many other citation styles for different disciplines.
If in doubt, check with your instructor or read other papers from your field of study to see what style they follow.
In most styles, your citations consist of:
- Brief in-text citations at the relevant points in the text
- A reference list or bibliography containing full information on all the sources you’ve cited
In-text citations most commonly take the form of parenthetical citations featuring the last name of the source’s author and its year of publication (aka author-date citations).
An alternative to this type of in-text citation is the system used in numerical citation styles , where a number is inserted into the text, corresponding to an entry in a numbered reference list.
There are also note citation styles , where you place your citations in either footnotes or endnotes . Since they’re not embedded in the text itself, these citations can provide more detail and sometimes aren’t accompanied by a full reference list or bibliography.
(London: John Murray, 1859), 510. |
A reference list (aka “Bibliography” or “Works Cited,” depending on the style) is where you provide full information on each of the sources you’ve cited in the text. It appears at the end of your paper, usually with a hanging indent applied to each entry.
The information included in reference entries is broadly similar, whatever citation style you’re using. For each source, you’ll typically include the:
- Author name
- Publication date
- Container (e.g., the book an essay was published in, the journal an article appeared in)
- Location (e.g., a URL or DOI , or sometimes a physical location)
The exact information included varies depending on the source type and the citation style. The order in which the information appears, and how you format it (e.g., capitalization, use of italics) also varies.
Most commonly, the entries in your reference list are alphabetized by author name. This allows the reader to easily find the relevant entry based on the author name in your in-text citation.
In numerical citation styles, the entries in your reference list are numbered, usually based on the order in which you cite them. The reader finds the right entry based on the number that appears in the text.
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Because each style has many small differences regarding things like italicization, capitalization , and punctuation , it can be difficult to get every detail right. Using a citation generator can save you a lot of time and effort.
Scribbr offers citation generators for both APA and MLA style. Both are quick, easy to use, and 100% free, with no ads and no registration required.
Just input a URL or DOI or add the source details manually, and the generator will automatically produce an in-text citation and reference entry in the correct format. You can save your reference list as you go and download it when you’re done, and even add annotations for an annotated bibliography .
Once you’ve prepared your citations, you might still be unsure if they’re correct and if you’ve used them appropriately in your text. This is where Scribbr’s other citation tools and services may come in handy:
Plagiarism Checker
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Citation Editing
Plagiarism means passing off someone else’s words or ideas as your own. It’s a serious offense in academia. Universities use plagiarism checking software to scan your paper and identify any similarities to other texts.
When you’re dealing with a lot of sources, it’s easy to make mistakes that could constitute accidental plagiarism. For example, you might forget to add a citation after a quote, or paraphrase a source in a way that’s too close to the original text.
Using a plagiarism checker yourself before you submit your work can help you spot these mistakes before they get you in trouble. Based on the results, you can add any missing citations and rephrase your text where necessary.
Try out the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker for free, or check out our detailed comparison of the best plagiarism checkers available online.
Scribbr Plagiarism Checker
Scribbr’s Citation Checker is a unique AI-powered tool that automatically detects stylistic errors and inconsistencies in your in-text citations. It also suggests a correction for every mistake.
Currently available for APA Style, this is the fastest and easiest way to make sure you’ve formatted your citations correctly. You can try out the tool for free below.
If you need extra help with your reference list, we also offer a more in-depth Citation Editing Service.
Our experts cross-check your in-text citations and reference entries, make sure you’ve included the correct information for each source, and improve the formatting of your reference page.
If you want to handle your citations yourself, Scribbr’s free Knowledge Base provides clear, accurate guidance on every aspect of citation. You can see citation examples for a variety of common source types below:
And you can check out our comprehensive guides to the most popular citation styles:
At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).
Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.
The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .
The abbreviation “ et al. ” (Latin for “and others”) is used to shorten citations of sources with multiple authors.
“Et al.” is used in APA in-text citations of sources with 3+ authors, e.g. (Smith et al., 2019). It is not used in APA reference entries .
Use “et al.” for 3+ authors in MLA in-text citations and Works Cited entries.
Use “et al.” for 4+ authors in a Chicago in-text citation , and for 10+ authors in a Chicago bibliography entry.
The Scribbr Citation Generator is developed using the open-source Citation Style Language (CSL) project and Frank Bennett’s citeproc-js . It’s the same technology used by dozens of other popular citation tools, including Mendeley and Zotero.
You can find all the citation styles and locales used in the Scribbr Citation Generator in our publicly accessible repository on Github .
APA format is widely used by professionals, researchers, and students in the social and behavioral sciences, including fields like education, psychology, and business.
Be sure to check the guidelines of your university or the journal you want to be published in to double-check which style you should be using.
MLA Style is the second most used citation style (after APA ). It is mainly used by students and researchers in humanities fields such as literature, languages, and philosophy.
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1. Cite the author's last name and page number in parentheses to cite in MLA. Write out the author's last name, then list the numerical page number. You don't need to separate them with a comma, and you don't need to put "p." or "page" before the page number.
By incorporating quotes from experts in the field or from reliable studies, you can add credibility to your claims and make your essay more persuasive. 1. Adding credibility. "According to renowned economist John Smith, 'the current economic crisis is a result of poor government policies.'". 2. Providing evidence.
Step 6: Explain the Quote. Explain the significance of the quote in your own words. This will help the reader understand how the quote supports your argument. Example: Jane Doe's quote highlights the urgency of addressing climate change as it poses a significant threat to human survival.
Citing a quote in APA Style. To cite a direct quote in APA, you must include the author's last name, the year, and a page number, all separated by commas. If the quote appears on a single page, use "p."; if it spans a page range, use "pp.". An APA in-text citation can be parenthetical or narrative.
Required fields are marked *. How to use quotes in an essay: (1) Avoid Long Quotes, (2) Quotes should be less than 1 sentence long, (3) Match Quotes with Explanations and Examples, (4) Use Max. 2 Quotes for 1500 words, (5) Use page numbers when Citing Quotes, (6) Don't Italicize Quotes, (7) Avoid quotes inside quotes.
Below are four guidelines for setting up and following up quotations. In illustrating these four steps, we'll use as our example, Franklin Roosevelt's famous quotation, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.". 1. Provide context for each quotation. Do not rely on quotations to tell your story for you.
Quotes help support your argument, thesis or the point you are making in your essay. They also help you express an expert's point of view. They can come from your class readings or articles you find outside of class. They should only be used when absolutely necessary. As little as possible.
With individualized attention and ongoing support, we help you write a new story for the future where you play the starring role. When you quote another writer's words, it's best to introduce or contextualize the quote. Don't forget to include author's last name and page number (MLA) or author, date, and page number (APA) in your citation.
5. Hook your reader. Think of a quotation as a "hook" that will get your reader's attention and make her want to read more of your paper. The well-executed quotation is one way to draw your reader in to your essay. [2] 6. Ensure that the quotation contributes to your essay.
A good quotation should do one or more of the following: Make an opening impact on the reader. Build credibility for your essay. Add humor. Make the essay more interesting. Close the essay with a point to ponder upon. If the quotation does not meet a few of these objectives, then it is of little value.
Quoting After a Comma. Alternatively, you can use a comma to introduce a quote. When doing this, the quoted text should follow from the preceding sentence (usually after a word like "says" or "argues"): Andronicus (1978) says, "The weapons bore witness that the tomb could not have belonged to a commoner" (p. 73).
Short Quotations in an Essay. If you need to quote in a paragraph and choose a short quotation, you should seamlessly integrate it into your writing following the next steps: Provide some context to your readers regarding the topic or the source of the quotation. It helps set the stage and insert a quote in an essay.
1664 N. Virginia Street, Reno, NV 89557. William N. Pennington Student Achievement Center, Mailstop: 0213. [email protected]. (775) 784-6030. Learn how to integrate quotes into your writing in a fluid way, with tips from the Writing & Speaking Center at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Important guidelines. When integrating a source into your paper, remember to use these three important components: Introductory phrase to the source material: mention the author, date, or any other relevant information when introducing a quote or paraphrase. Source material: a direct quote, paraphrase, or summary with proper citation.
Citing a quote in APA Style. To cite a direct quote in APA, you must include the author's last name, the year, and a page number, all separated by commas. If the quote appears on a single page, use 'p.'; if it spans a page range, use 'pp.'. An APA in-text citation can be parenthetical or narrative.
uotation into an essay.Step 1: Introduce the Author of the QuotationBecause you are. sing someone else's words, make sure you let your reader know this. The first time you use a quotation from a source in an essay, introduce the author and the work that the quotat.
Tip #3: Seamlessly integrate quotes. Another strategy you might consider when adding quotes in your paper is to seamlessly integrate them in the middle of a sentence, much like you would a paraphrase. In this case, the quote isn't introduced by a signal phrase but is part of the sentence. Here's an example from a paper about mandatory ...
Format quotations of 40 words or more as block quotations: Do not use quotation marks to enclose a block quotation. Start a block quotation on a new line and indent the whole block 0.5 in. from the left margin. Double-space the entire block quotation. Do not add extra space before or after it.
1. Know where to place commas and periods. When you're placing a quote inside your essay, you'll likely have to use a comma or period at the end. If you're quoting without giving a citation (because your entire essay is about a single work, for example) commas and periods go inside the quotations marks.
The quotation is introduced by a signal phrase, which makes the quote an integral part of the writer's sentence; as a result of this syntactical change, the upper case 'T' in the original is changed to a lower case letter. ... Bracketed insertions may not be used to alter or add to the quotation in a way that inaccurately or unfairly ...
A block quote is a long quotation, set on a new line and indented to create a separate block of text. No quotation marks are used. You have to use a block quote when quoting more than around 40 words from a source. In APA and MLA styles, you indent block quotes 0.5 inches from the left, and add an in-text citation after the period. Some other ...
At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays, research papers, and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises). Add a citation whenever you quote, paraphrase, or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.
For literature reviews or other types of essays or response or reaction papers, you might describe how you used the tool in your introduction. ... it may be better to read those original sources to learn from that research and paraphrase or quote from those articles, as applicable, than to use the model's interpretation of them.
At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays, research papers, and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises). Add a citation whenever you quote, paraphrase, or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.