how to use a quote in a research paper

• PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
• EDIT Edit this Article
• EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
• Browse Articles
• Learn Something New
• Quizzes Hot
• This Or That Game New
• Train Your Brain
• Explore More
• Support wikiHow
• About wikiHow
• Log in / Sign up
• Education and Communications
• College University and Postgraduate
• Academic Writing
• Research Papers

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 904,429 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

You Might Also Like

• ↑ 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

• Send fan mail to authors

Reader Success Stories

Dec 27, 2021

Did this article help you?

Mar 5, 2018

Apr 10, 2018

Dec 10, 2017

Featured Articles

Trending Articles

Watch Articles

• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Do Not Sell or Share My Info
• Not Selling Info

wikiHow Tech Help Pro:

Level up your tech skills and stay ahead of the curve

Have a thesis expert improve your writing

Check your thesis for plagiarism in 10 minutes, generate your apa citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Working with sources
• 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 .

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Be assured that you'll submit flawless writing. Upload your document to correct all your mistakes.

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

The only proofreading tool specialized in correcting academic writing.

The academic proofreading tool has been trained on 1000s of academic texts and by native English editors. Making it the most accurate and reliable proofreading tool for students.

Correct my document today

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 25 March 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/working-sources/quoting/

Is this article helpful?

Shona McCombes

Other students also liked, how to paraphrase | step-by-step guide & examples, how to avoid plagiarism | tips on citing sources, the 5 types of plagiarism | explanations & examples.

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.

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”:

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

Make a Gift

BibGuru Blog

Be more productive in school

• Citation Styles

7 Tips for integrating quotes into a research paper [Updated 2023]

What are the best strategies for integrating quotes into your research paper? This post offers 7 tips for using evidence effectively.

1. Decide on the best quotes

As you're reading through the research that you've gathered for your paper, take note of the quotes that you might like to integrate into your work.

From there, you'll want to decide which are the best and most useful, since you'll likely have more material than you ultimately need. Some information can be paraphrased or left out entirely.

The best quotes express an idea or point in a way that perfectly captures the situation, concept, or thought. Keep this in mind as you decide which quotes to integrate into your paper.

2. Create quote sandwiches

How do you integrate a quote? You need to "sandwich" your quote within your own words. Never simply plop a quote into your work and assume that your reader will understand its significance. Instead, lead into the quote with your own words and then close it by providing analysis.

Here's an example of a quote sandwich:

In their 2016 study on transportation planning and quality of life, Lee and Sener argue that "efforts to incorporate health [into transportation planning] have primarily been framed from a physical health perspective rather than considering broader QOL [quality of life] impacts." Although planners have consistently addressed physical health and well-being in transportation plans, they have not necessarily factored in how mental and social health contributes to quality of life. Put differently, transportation planning has traditionally utilized a limited definition of quality of life and this has necessarily impacted data on the relationship between public transit and quality of life.

4. Use block quotes sparingly

Unless you're writing a literary analysis in which you need to closely read large sections of texts, you should use block quotes sparingly.

Typically, for every quote that you use, you need to supply analysis that is at least as long as the quote itself. So, if you use a block quote, you'll need to provide enough substantive analysis to justify the use of a longer quote.

3. Segment longer quotes

To avoid using too many block quotes, you can segment longer quotes into shorter snippets or sentences. Excise the key words or phrases from the quote and then sandwich those within your own words.

Alternately, you can skip parts of longer quotes by removing material and substituting an ellipsis [...]. Here's an example of both quote segments and ellipsis:

“The blank spaces of Renaissance books,” Sherman explains, “were used to record not just comments on the text but penmanship exercises, prayers, recipes, popular poetry, [...] and other glimpses of the world in which they circulated” (15).

5. Provide adequate analysis

Every quote that you use needs to be accompanied by thorough analysis. If you're writing a literature paper , you'll need to provide a close reading of the quotes that you've included from literary texts.

For other types of papers, you might provide an analysis of what the quote said, but you'll also want to consider how that quote fits into your broader argument.

6. Make your quotes talk to each other

The point of utilizing quotes in your research is not simply to provide evidence in support of your main points. Quotes also represent significant instances of an ongoing scholarly conversation. As a result, you should make your quotes talk to each other.

You might do this in a formal way through a literature review or state-of-the-field, but you can also consider throughout your paper how different pieces of evidence reflect patterns, points of comparison, or divergences in the research landscape. Here's an example:

Elizabeth Patton, in her research on Catholic women’s “bookscapes,” contends that the staunchest Catholic families maintained textual networks in which they circulated books that were banned in Protestant England, including copies of medieval devotional manuscripts. Likewise, Jenna Lay claims that “Catholic women resisted any easy demarcation between a Catholic medieval past and a Protestant, reformed present in both their religious practices and their print and manuscript books,” an argument that can be extended to include entire Catholic families, as I will explore below (16). However, despite the fact that scholars such as Patton, Lay, and Jennifer Summit have argued that “we stand to learn much when we determine […] whether the early modern collector of a medieval devotional book was a Catholic or Protestant,” few studies have explored in any depth how Catholics used their books in the post-Reformation period.

7. Include correct in-text citations

If you are integrating direct quotes into your research paper, you'll need to include in-text citations that give proper credit for the borrowed material.

You can use BibGuru's citation generator to create your in-text citations and copy them to your document. Be sure to consult your assignment guidelines , or your instructor, to find out what citation style is required.

The bottom line

Integrating quotes into your paper can be overwhelming, especially if you are writing a longer paper. However, if you plan ahead and follow the above tips, you'll be able to incorporate evidence effectively.

Frequently Asked Questions about class presentations

To integrate quotes into your essay, create a quote sandwich. That is, always lead into a quote with your own words and then provide analysis after the quote.

You can integrate a long quote into your paper in one of two ways: through block quotes or by breaking quotes up into smaller segments.

To skip part of a quote, simply remove the unwanted text and substitute an ellipsis like this: [...]. Be sure that the statement retains its meaning and logic.

If you want to end a quote before its formal punctuation, you can simply provide a full stop or other ending punctuation where you would like to quote to end. However, make sure that the statement still makes sense in relation to the sentences and/or phrases that occur before and after it.

All borrowed quotes need accompanying in-text citations. You should consult your assignment guidelines, class syllabus, or instructor to find out which citation style is required. Use BibGuru's citation generator to create in-text citations and copy them to your document.

Make your life easier with our productivity and writing resources.

For students and teachers.

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Citing sources
• The Basics of In-Text Citation | APA & MLA Examples

The Basics of In-Text Citation | APA & MLA Examples

Published on March 14, 2022 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on February 28, 2024.

An in-text citation is a short acknowledgement you include whenever you quote or take information from a source in academic writing. It points the reader to the source so they can see where you got your information.

In-text citations most commonly take the form of short parenthetical statements indicating the author and publication year of the source, as well as the page number if relevant.

We also offer a free citation generator and in-depth guides to the main citation styles.

Generate accurate citations with Scribbr

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text.

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

Table of contents

What are in-text citations for, when do you need an in-text citation, types of in-text citation, frequently asked questions about in-text citations.

The point of an in-text citation is to show your reader where your information comes from. Including citations:

• Avoids plagiarism by acknowledging the original author’s contribution
• Allows readers to verify your claims and do follow-up research
• Shows you are engaging with the literature of your field

Academic writing is seen as an ongoing conversation among scholars, both within and between fields of study. Showing exactly how your own research draws on and interacts with existing sources is essential to keeping this conversation going.

Scribbr Citation Checker New

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

An in-text citation should be included whenever you quote or paraphrase a source in your text.

Quoting means including the original author’s words directly in your text, usually introduced by a signal phrase . Quotes should always be cited (and indicated with quotation marks), and you should include a page number indicating where in the source the quote can be found.

Paraphrasing means putting information from a source into your own words. In-text citations are just as important here as with quotes, to avoid the impression you’re taking credit for someone else’s ideas. Include page numbers where possible, to show where the information can be found.

However, to avoid over-citation, bear in mind that some information is considered common knowledge and doesn’t need to be cited. For example, you don’t need a citation to prove that Paris is the capital city of France, and including one would be distracting.

Different types of in-text citation are used in different citation styles . They always direct the reader to a reference list giving more complete information on each source.

Author-date citations (used in APA , Harvard , and Chicago author-date ) include the author’s last name, the year of publication, and a page number when available. Author-page citations (used in MLA ) are the same except that the year is not included.

Both types are divided into parenthetical and narrative citations. In a parenthetical citation , the author’s name appears in parentheses along with the rest of the information. In a narrative citation , the author’s name appears as part of your sentence, not in parentheses.

Note: Footnote citations like those used in Chicago notes and bibliography are sometimes also referred to as in-text citations, but the citation itself appears in a note separate from the text.

An in-text citation is an acknowledgement you include in your text whenever you quote or paraphrase a source. It usually gives the author’s last name, the year of publication, and the page number of the relevant text. In-text citations allow the reader to look up the full source information in your reference list and see your sources for themselves.

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 .

Check if your university or course guidelines specify which citation style to use. If the choice is left up to you, consider which style is most commonly used in your field.

• APA Style is the most popular citation style, widely used in the social and behavioral sciences.
• MLA style is the second most popular, used mainly in the humanities.
• Chicago notes and bibliography style is also popular in the humanities, especially history.
• Chicago author-date style tends to be used in the sciences.

Other more specialized styles exist for certain fields, such as Bluebook and OSCOLA for law.

The most important thing is to choose one style and use it consistently throughout your text.

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 Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2024, February 28). The Basics of In-Text Citation | APA & MLA Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved March 27, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/citing-sources/in-text-citation-styles/

Is this article helpful?

Jack Caulfield

Other students also liked, how to quote | citing quotes in apa, mla & chicago, how to paraphrase | step-by-step guide & examples, how to avoid plagiarism | tips on citing sources, scribbr apa citation checker.

An innovative new tool that checks your APA citations with AI software. Say goodbye to inaccurate citations!

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Perspect Med Educ
• v.8(6); 2019 Dec

Beyond the default colon: Effective use of quotes in qualitative research

Lorelei lingard.

Centre for Education Research & Innovation and Department of Medicine, Health Sciences Addition, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, Canada

In the Writer’s Craft section we offer simple tips to improve your writing in one of three areas: Energy, Clarity and Persuasiveness. Each entry focuses on a key writing feature or strategy, illustrates how it commonly goes wrong, teaches the grammatical underpinnings necessary to understand it and offers suggestions to wield it effectively. We encourage readers to share comments on or suggestions for this section on Twitter, using the hashtag: #how’syourwriting?

Last week the ‘e’ key died on my laptop. It’s a first-world problem, I’ll admit, but it really threw my writing for a loop—a lot of words require an ‘e’ key. Reflecting on what other keys I could not do without, I made a quick shortlist: comma, ‘ly’ and colon. The comma because its absence would consign me to the sort of breathy, adolescent writing that fills social media. The ‘ly’ because without that duo I can’t make most of the adverbs that prop up my first drafts. And the colon because I’m a qualitative researcher. How would I introduce quotes if the colon key were out of order?

I’m only partly joking. Every qualitative researcher confronts the challenge of selecting the right quotes and integrating them effectively into their manuscripts. As writers, we are all guilty of resorting to the default colon as an easy way to tuck quotes into our sentences; as readers, we have all suffered through papers that read like a laundry list of quotes rather than a story about what the writer learned. This Writer’s Craft instalment offers suggestions to help you choose the right quotes and integrate them with coherence and style, following the principles of authenticity and argument.

Authenticity

At the point of manuscript writing, a qualitative researcher is swimming in a sea of data. Innumerable transcript excerpts have been copied and pasted into data analysis software or (for the more tactile among us) onto multi-coloured sticky notes. Some of these excerpts we like very much. However, very few of them will make it into the final manuscript, particularly if we are writing for publication in a health research or medical education journal, with their 3000–4000 word limits.

Selecting the best quotes from among these cherished excerpts is harder than it looks. We should be guided by the principle of authenticity: does the quote offer readers first hand access to dominant patterns in the data? There are three parts to selecting a good, authentic quote: the quote is illustrative of the point the writer is making about the data, it is reasonably succinct, and it is representative of the patterns in data. Consider this quote, introduced with a short phrase to orient the reader:

Rather than feeling they were changing identities as they went through their training, medical students described the experience of accumulating and reconciling multiple identities: ‘the “life me”, who I was when I started this, is still here, but now there’s also, like, a “scientific me” as well as a sort of “doctor me”. And I’m trying to be all of that’ (S15) .

This quote is illustrative, providing an explicit example of the point that student identity is multiplying as training unfolds. It is succinct, expressing efficiently what other participants took pages to describe. And it is representative, remaining faithful to the overall sentiments of the many participants reporting this idea.

We have all read—and written!—drafts in which the quoted material does not reflect these characteristics. The remainder of this section addresses these recurring problems.

Is the quote illustrative?

A common challenge is the quote that illustrates the writer’s point implicitly, but not explicitly. Consider this example:

Medical students are undergoing a process of identity-negotiation: we’re ‘learning so much all the time, and some of it is the science stuff and some of it is professional or, like, practical ethical things, and we have to figure all that out’ (S2).

For this quote to serve as evidence for the point of identity-negotiation, the reader must infer that ‘figure all that out’ is a reference to this process. But readers may read their own meaning into decontextualized transcript extracts. Explicit is better, even if it sacrifices succinctness. In fact, this is the right quote, but we had trimmed away the first three sentences where ‘figuring out identity’ got explicit mention. The quote could be lengthened to include these sentences, or, to preserve succinctness, just that quoted phrase can be inserted into the introduction to the quote:

Medical students are ‘figuring out identity’, a process of negotiation in which they are ‘learning so much all the time, and some of it is the science stuff and some of it is professional or, like, practical ethical things, and we have to figure all that out’ (S2).

Is the quote succinct?

Interview transcripts are characterized by meandering and elliptical or incomplete speech. Therefore, you can search diligently and still come up with a 200-word quote to illustrate your 10-word point. Sometimes the long quote is perfect and you should include it. Often, however, you need to tighten it up. By including succinctness as part of the authenticity principle, my aim is to remind writers to explicitly consider whether their tightening up retains the gist of the quote.

The previous example illustrates one tightening technique: extract key phrases and integrate them into your own, introductory sentence to the quote. Another solution is to use the ellipsis to signal that you have cut part of the quote out:

Identity formation in the clinical environment is also influenced by materials and tools, ‘all this stuff you’ve never used before … you don’t know where it is or how to use it, and don’t even get me started on the computerized record. … So many hours and I’m still confused, am I ever going to know where to enter things?’ (S7) .

The first ellipsis signals that something mid-sentence has been removed. In this case, this missing material was an elaboration of ‘all this stuff’ that mentioned other details not relevant to the point being made. The second ellipsis follows a period, and therefore signals that at least one sentence has been removed and perhaps more. When using an ellipsis, only remove material that is irrelevant to the meaning of the quote, not relevant material that importantly nuances the meaning of the quote. The goal is not a bricolage which cuts and pastes tiny bits so that participants say what you want them to; it is a succinct-enough representation that remains faithful to the participant’s intended meaning.

Changing the wording of a quotation always risks violating the authenticity principle, so writers must do it thoughtfully. Two other situations, however, may call for this approach: to maintain the grammatical integrity of your sentence and to tidy up oral speech 1 . The first is usually not problematic, particularly if you are altering for consistent tense or for agreement of verb and subject or pronoun and antecedent, or replacing a pronoun with its referent. Square brackets signal such changes:

Participants from the community hospital setting, however, ‘[challenged] the assumption of anonymity when evaluating teachers’. (verb tense changed from present to past)

The second situation can be trickier: when should you tidy up the messiness of conversational discourse? Interview transcripts are replete with what linguists refer to as ‘fillers’ or ‘hesitation markers’, sounds and words such as ‘ah/uh/um/like/you know/right’ [ 1 ]. There is general agreement among qualitative scholars that quotes should be presented verbatim as much as possible, and those engaged in discourse and narrative analysis will necessarily analyze such hesitations as part of the meaning. In other applied social research methodologies, however, writers might do some ‘light tidying up’ both for readability and for ethical reasons, as long as they do not undermine authenticity in doing so [ 2 ]. Ethical issues include the desire not to do a disservice to participants by representing the um’s and ah’s of their natural speech, and the concern to protect participant anonymity by removing identifiable linguistic features such as regional or accented speech.

Finally, an emerging strategy for succinctness is to put the quotes into a table. Many qualitative researchers resent the constraints of the table format as an incursion from the quantitative realm. However, used thoughtfully, it can offer a means of presenting complex results efficiently. In this example, Goldszmidt et al. name, define and illustrate five main types of supervisor interruptions that they observed during their study of case review on internal medicine teaching teams (Tab.  1 ; [ 3 ]).

Types of supervisors’ interruptions during patient case review presentations, London Health Sciences Centre, University Hospital, Ontario, Canada 2010

AM  indicates morning case presentation; PM  overnight case presentation; A  attending physician; SR  senior resident; IM1  first-year internal medicine resident; FM1  first-year family medicine resident; CC  clinical clerk

This is a nice example of how ‘Tab.  1 ’, conventionally used in quantitative research papers for demographic details of the research sample, can be re-conceptualized to feature the key findings from a qualitative analysis. Tables should be supplemented, however, with narrative explanation in which the writer contextualizes and interprets the quoted material. More on this in the section on Argument.

Is the quote representative?

We have all been tempted to include the highly provocative quote (that thing we cannot believe someone said on tape), only to realize by the third draft that it misrepresents the data and must be relinquished. Quote selection should reflect strong patterns in the data; while discrepant examples serve an important purpose, their use should be purposeful and explicit. Your quote selection should also be distributed across participants, in order that you represent the data set. This may mean using the second- or third-best example rather than continuing to quote the same one or two highly articulate individuals.

You must provide sufficient context that readers can accurately infer the meaning of the quote. Sometimes this means including the interviewer’s question as well as the participant’s answer. In focus group research, where the emphasis is on the group discussion, it might be necessary to quote an exchange among participants rather than extracting individual comments. This example illustrates this technique:

Interviewer: And, in your experience, how do the students respond to your feedback about how well they communicated? SP1: Oh, really well, it’s really important to the students, they listen to what we say about their performance— Interruption with overlapping talk SP4: Well, yeah, on a good day maybe, sure. But not every time. Lots of sessions I feel like we’re probably more like props to them, so how well we think they did, I’m not sure that matters. SP3: Don’t you find it depends on the student? (FG2)

Of course, such a long excerpt threatens the goal of succinctness. Alternatively, you could use multiple quotes from this excerpt in a single sentence of your own:

Some standardized patients in the group believed that their assessor role was ‘really important to the students, they listen to what we say about their performance’, while others argued that ‘we’re probably more like props to them, so how well we think they did, I’m not sure that matters’. (FG2)

Sometimes a quote is representative but also, therefore, identifiable, jeopardizing confidentiality:

One participant explained that, ‘as chair of the competency committee, I prioritize how we spend our time. So that we can pay sufficient attention to this 2nd year resident. She’s supposed to be back from maternity leave but she had complications so her rotations need some altering for her to manage.’ (CCC4, P2)

In this case, the convention of using a legend (Clinical Competency Committee 4, participant 2) to attribute the quote may be insufficient to protect anonymity. If the study involves few programs and the methods identify them (e.g., Paediatrics and Medicine) and name the institution (e.g., Western University), the speaker may be identifiable to some readers, as may the resident.

Quoted material does not stand on its own: we must incorporate it into our texts, both grammatically and rhetorically. Grammatical incorporation is relatively straightforward, with one main rule to keep in mind: quoted material is subject to the same sentence-level conventions for grammar and punctuation as non-quoted material. Read this example aloud:

Arts and humanities teaching offers an opportunity for faculty to connect with medical students on a different level, ‘we can share how we feel about the work of caring, what it costs us, how it rewards us, as human beings’ (F9).

Your ear likely hears that this should be two sentences. But quotation marks seem to distract us from this, and we create a run-on sentence by putting a comma between the sentences. An easy correction is to replace the comma with a colon.

Arts and humanities teaching offers an opportunity for faculty to connect with medical students on a different level: ‘we can share how we feel about the work of caring, what it costs us, how it rewards us, as human beings’ (F9).

Many writers rely on the colon as their default mechanism for integrating quoted material. However, while it is often grammatically accurate, it is not always rhetorically sufficient. That is, the colon doesn’t contextualize, it doesn’t interpret. Instead, it ‘drops’ the quote in and leaves the reader to infer how the quoted material illustrates or advances the argument. This is problematic because it does not fulfil the requirement for adequacy of interpretation in presenting qualitative results. As Morrow argues, writers should aim for a balance of their interpretations and supporting quotations: ‘an overemphasis on the researcher’s interpretations at the cost of participant quotes will leave the reader in doubt as to just where the interpretations came from; an excess of quotes will cause the reader to become lost in the morass of stories’ [ 4 ]. (p. 256).

There are many techniques for achieving this balance between researcher interpretations and supporting quotations. Some techniques retain the default colon but attend carefully to the material that precedes it. Consider the following examples:

One clinician said: ‘Entrustment isn’t a decision, it’s a relationship’. (F21) One clinician argued: ‘Entrustment isn’t a decision, it’s a relationship’. (F21) One clinician in the focus group disagreed with the idea that entrustment was about deciding trainee progress: ‘Entrustment isn’t a decision, it’s a relationship’. (F21) Focus group participants debated the meaning of entrustment. Many described it matter-of-factly as ‘the process we use to decide whether the trainee should progress’, while a few argued that ‘entrustment isn’t a decision, it’s a relationship’. (F21)

These examples offer progressively more contextualization for the quote. The first example simply drops the quote in following the nondescript verb, ‘said’, offering no interpretive gloss and therefore exerting minimal rhetorical control over the reader. The second offers some context via the verb ‘argued’, which interprets the participant’s positioning or tone. The third interprets the meaning of the quote even more by situating it in the context of a focus group debate. And the fourth eschews the default colon entirely, integrating two quotes into the narrative structure of the author’s sentence to illustrate the dominant and the discrepant positions on entrustment in this focus group debate.

Integrating quotes into the narrative structure of your sentence, like the last example, offers two advantages to the writer. First, it interprets the quote for the reader and therefore exerts strong rhetorical control over the quote’s meaning. Second, it offers variety and style. If your goal is compelling prose, variety and style should not be underestimated. We have all had the experience of reading Results sections that proceed robotically: point-colon-quote, point-colon-quote, point-colon-quote …. If only to make the reader’s experience more enjoyable, your revision process should involve converting some of these to integrated narration.

Notwithstanding the goal of succinctness, sometimes you will include a longer quote because it beautifully illustrates the point. However, a long quote may offer opportunities for readers to focus on images or phrases other than those you intended, therefore creating incoherence in the argument you are making about your results. To guard against this, you might try the ‘quotation sandwich’ technique [ 5 ] of both an introductory phrase that sets up the context of the quote and a summary statement following it emphasizing why you consider it important and what you are using it to illustrate.

Finally, how many quotes do you need to support your point? More is not necessarily better. One quote should be sufficient to illustrate your point. Some points in your argument may not require a quoted excerpt at all. Consider this example, in which the first sentence presents a finding that is not illustrated with a quotation:

Residents described themselves as being always tired. However, their perceptions of the impact of their fatigue varied, from ‘not a factor in the care I provide’ (R8) to ‘absolutely killing me … I’m falling asleep at the bedside’ (R15).

The finding that residents are always tired does not require illustration. It is readily understandable and will not surprise anyone; therefore, following it with the quote ‘I’m tired all the time’ (R2) will feel redundant. The second part of the finding, however, benefits from illustration to show the variety of perception regarding impact.

If you do use multiple quotes to illustrate a point in your argument, then you must establish the relations between them for the reader. You can do this between the quoted excerpts or after them, as modelled above with the four examples used to illustrate progressively stronger quote contextualization.

In conclusion, quotes can be the life’s blood of your qualitative research paper. However, they are the evidence, not the argument. They do not speak for themselves and readers cannot infer what you intend them to illustrate. The authenticity principle can help you select a quote that is illustrative, succinct and representative, while the argument principle can remind you to attend to the grammatical and the rhetorical aspects of integrating the quote into the story you are telling about your research.

1 A third situation is beyond the scope of this piece: translating quoted material from another language into English. For careful consideration of this issue, please see Helmich et al. [ 6 ].

• How it works

How to Quote Sources – Comprehensive Guide With Examples

Published by Olive Robin at October 17th, 2023 , Revised On October 17, 2023

In academia, research, journalism, and writing, the skill of quoting sources is fundamental. Accurate and proper quoting adds credibility to your work and demonstrates respect for the original authors and their ideas. Whether you’re working on a research paper , an essay , or any other form of written communication, understanding how to quote sources is crucial. This comprehensive guide will take you through the ins and outs of quoting, with examples and tips to help you become proficient in citation.

Understanding the Basics of Quoting

Proficiency in the fundamentals of quoting is integral to scholarly writing . This proficiency encompasses the ability to distinguish between primary and secondary sources and the skill of sourcing quotations.

Primary Source Vs. Secondary Source

Before discussing our journey of quoting sources, it’s crucial to distinguish between primary and secondary sources.

Primary Source 

A primary source is direct, firsthand information or an original work. Examples include original research papers, letters, diaries, speeches, and interviews.

Secondary Source 

On the other hand, a secondary source interprets, analyses, or summarises primary sources. It provides commentary or analysis based on primary sources. Examples include books, articles, documentaries, or reviews.

In most cases, it’s preferable to quote from primary sources as they offer the most direct and credible information.

How to Find a Quote Source

Finding the right source to quote is the first step in the quoting process. Here are some tips on how to locate suitable sources:

Online Databases and Libraries

Utilise online databases and library resources like PubMed, JSTOR, Google Scholar, and your university library’s website. These platforms provide access to a vast collection of scholarly materials.

Credible Websites

When searching online, focus on credible websites, such as government agencies, academic institutions, and well-established news outlets. Check for the author’s credentials and the publication date to ensure reliability.

Books and Journals

Physical and digital books and academic journals are excellent sources for quotes. Libraries and digital libraries like Project Gutenberg and the Library of Congress offer extensive collections.

Interviews and Personal Communications

If quoting from an interview or personal communication, ensure you have proper consent from the source. Use these quotes sparingly and only when they add unique value to your work.

How to Quote Sources in a Research Paper

Now that we have laid the foundation, let us explore the specifics of quoting within a research paper.

Inline Quotations

Inline quotations are short snippets of text integrated into your writing. 

Here’s how to format them correctly:

• Use Quotation Marks: Enclose the quoted text in double quotation marks.
• Include Page Numbers: If available, add the page number in parentheses after the quotation.
• Credit the Source: Mention the author’s name and the publication date within or after the quotation.

According to Smith (2020), “Quoting sources properly enhances the credibility of your research” (p. 45).

Block Quoting

When a quote exceeds 40 words or more, it should be formatted as a block quote.  

Follow these guidelines:

• Indentation: Indent the entire quote from the left margin, typically by 0.5 inches.
• Omit Quotation Marks: Block quotes do not require double quotation marks.
• Maintain Spacing: Keep the spacing consistent with the original text.
• Cite Source: Include the author’s name and publication date either before or after the block quote .

Example: Markdown

Smith (2020) highlighted the importance of proper quoting:

    Quoting sources properly enhances the credibility of your research. It shows that you have conducted thorough research and are building upon established knowledge. (p. 45)

Verifying Quotes

In quotes, especially when dealing with secondary sources that include quotes, it’s wise to verify the accuracy of the quoted material. Take the extra step to go back to the original source to ensure that the quote is complete, accurate, and not taken out of context. This diligence is essential for maintaining the integrity of your work.

Using Ellipses and Square Brackets

Quoting often involves adapting source material to fit within your narrative. When omitting words or phrases from a quote, use ellipses (…) to indicate the omission. When adding clarifications or explanations within a quote, enclose them in square brackets [].

These tools allow you to maintain the integrity of the original quote while ensuring it fits smoothly into your text.

Quoting a Source in An Essay

Quoting within an essay follows similar principles to research papers, with minor differences.

Signal Phrases

Signal phrases are used to introduce quotes in your essay. They provide context and indicate that you are incorporating someone else’s ideas. Examples of signal phrases include:

• According to…
• Smith argues that…
• In the words of…

Using signal phrases helps smoothly integrate quotes into your essay’s narrative.

Paraphrasing

While quoting is a valuable skill, it’s worth noting that paraphrasing—expressing someone else’s ideas in your own words—is another essential technique in writing. Paraphrasing allows you to integrate source material smoothly into your text while giving proper credit. When quoting is not necessary, consider paraphrasing as a viable alternative.

How to Cite a Quote: Harvard Style

Citing quotes correctly is crucial to avoiding plagiarism and giving credit to the original source. The Harvard referencing style is one commonly used for citing sources. Here’s how to cite a quote in Harvard style:

In-Text Citation

In-text citations should include the author’s last name, the publication year, and the page number (if applicable) within parentheses. Place this citation immediately after the quote or paraphrased content.

Example: (Smith, 2020, p. 45)

Reference List

In your reference list or bibliography, provide a full citation for each source you’ve quoted or referenced. The Harvard format typically includes the author’s name, publication year, title of the work, publisher, and other relevant information.

Example: scss

Smith, J. (2020). The Art of Quoting. Academic Press.

The research done by our experts have:

• Precision and Clarity
• Zero Plagiarism
• Authentic Sources

Common Mistakes to Avoid when Quoting Sources

Even knowing how to quote sources effectively, it’s easy to make mistakes. Being aware of common pitfalls can help you avoid them. Here are some mistakes to watch out for:

1. Over-Quoting

Quoting should enhance your work, not dominate it. Avoid the temptation to fill your paper with lengthy quotes. Instead, use quotes selectively to support your arguments or provide evidence.

2. Improper Citation

Only accurate or consistent citations can lead to clarity and allegations of plagiarism. Make sure your in-text citations and reference list entries match the citation style required (e.g., Harvard, APA, MLA) and follow the prescribed format.

3. Lack of Context

Quotes should never stand alone; they should fit seamlessly into your narrative. Provide context by introducing the quote, explaining its relevance, and connecting it to your main argument.

4. Not Verifying Quotes

Refrain from relying on secondary sources that misquote or take original quotes out of context can lead to inaccuracies. Always verify quotes fromprimary sources w henever possible.

5. Overlooking Proofreading

Typos, missing punctuation, or formatting errors can detract from the professionalism of your work. Proofread your quotes, citations, and the surrounding text carefully.

Best Practices for Quoting

To ensure your quoting is impeccable, consider these best practices:

• Always attribute quotes to their respective authors.
• Ensure that the quotes you select are relevant and enhance your work’s context.
• Use quotes sparingly, with your voice and analysis dominating the text.
• Double-check the formatting style required by your institution or publication for consistency.
• Proofread to ensure accuracy in quotation marks, citations, and source details.

Online Tools and Resources For Quoting

Consider using online tools and resources to simplify the quoting process and ensure accuracy. Here are a few valuable options:

1. Citation Management Tools

• Zotero: A free, open-source tool that helps you collect, organise, cite, and share research materials.
• EndNote: A reference management program that offers advanced features for organising and citing sources..

2. Online Style Guides

• Purdue OWL: An online writing lab by Purdue University that provides extensive style guides for APA, MLA, Chicago, and more.
• CiteULike: A free service that helps you create and manage citations in various styles.
• Citation Machine: An easy-to-use tool for generating citations in APA, MLA, Chicago, and other styles.

3. Plagiarism Checkers

• Turnitin: A widely used plagiarism detection tool that helps you ensure the originality of your work.
• Grammarly: Besides grammar and spelling checks, Grammarly also offers a plagiarism checker for academic writing.

Integrating these tools and resources into your quoting process allows you to streamline your work and reduce the risk of errors in citations and quotations.

In conclusion, quoting sources is an integral part of academic and professional writing. Understanding the nuances of quoting, finding credible sources, and citing them correctly will elevate the quality of your work. Always prioritise accuracy, attribution, and context when incorporating quotes into your writing.

By following the guidelines and examples provided in this comprehensive guide, you’ll master quoting and enhancing the credibility of your research, essays, and papers. Remember that quoting is not just about using someone else’s words; it’s about building upon the knowledge of others while giving credit where it’s due.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to quote sources in a research paper.

To quote sources in a research paper, use double quotation marks, include an in-text citation with the author’s name and publication year, and integrate the quote smoothly into your text.

How to Cite a Quote?

To cite a quote, provide an in-text citation with the author’s name, publication year, and page number (if applicable), and include a full citation in your reference list following the required citation style.

What Are the Key Differences Between Primary and Secondary Sources in Quoting?

In the context of quoting, primary sources are firsthand accounts or original works, while secondary sources interpret or analyze primary sources. Explain the significance of these distinctions and their impact on effective quoting practices.

You May Also Like

From academic research to personal blogs, the bedrock of trust and credibility is often established by one simple act: source citing. Whether we are constructing a thesis for a graduate program or debunking a myth on a personal blog, providing the origins of our information bolsters our arguments and pays homage to the original creators of that knowledge.

The CRAAP Test is an acronym used as a checklist to help individuals evaluate the credibility and relevance of sources, especially in academic or research contexts. CRAAP stands for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. Each of these criteria can help a researcher determine if a source is trustworthy and suitable for their needs.

A tertiary source is an information source that compiles, analyses, and synthesises both primary and secondary sources.

USEFUL LINKS

LEARNING RESOURCES

COMPANY DETAILS

• How It Works

• Skip to main content
• Skip to ChatBot Assistant
• Academic Writing
• What is a Research Paper?
• Steps in Writing a Research Paper
• Critical Reading and Writing
• Punctuation
• Writing Exercises
• ELL/ESL Resources

Working with Quotations

Using quotations in a paper.

A research paper blends your own ideas and information from expert sources. It is NOT a series of direct quotations strung together. A common complaint of faculty is that students use too many direct quotes in their papers instead of formulating their own ideas about the paper topic and using quotes rather sparingly as one way to substantiate their point of view on the topic.

Use summaries and paraphrases most often to support your own ideas. Use direct quotations only when the information is so well-presented (or in the interest of clarity, emphasis, or accuracy), that you think the exact language of the source should be used.

Remember that when you do choose to use direct quotations, you need to retain the exact wording, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation of the original source. And remember, too, that just like when using a direct quotation, you must cite your source when summarizing or paraphrasing.

How to Leave Out Part of a Quotation

Yes, you can leave out words you deem unnecessary in a quotation, but you can't take out words that will change its meaning.

For example, if the quotation is "This movie is wonderful drivel," you can't quote it as "This movie is wonderful . . ." and leave out the word "drivel," since it changes the meaning of the quotation.

• Deleting Words at the Start of a Quotation - If you are deleting words at the beginning of a quotation, simply start the quotation at the appropriate place to show that words have been left out: The New York Times reports, however, that screening for cystic fibrosis is "quietly creeping into clinical practice" (Swerdlow 66). [MLA format]*
• Deleting Words in the Middle of a Quotation - To delete words in the middle of a quotation, show that words have been omitted by using ellipses, a series of three periods separated by spaces. For example, the whole quotation is this: "'Human improvement' is a fact of life, not because of the state eugenics committee, but because of consumer demand" (Kevlev 75). [MLA format] If you choose to leave out the middle phrases you could do it this way: "'Human improvement' is a fact of life . . . because of consumer demand" (Kevlev, 1994, 75). [APA format]*
• Deleting Words at the End of a Quotation - If you leave out words at the end of a quotation and the end of the quotation also coincides with the end of your sentence, place the ellipses at the end of your sentence: Today we have the "Republicans, who are more nationalist than socialist, and the Democrats, who are more socialist than nationalist . . . ." (Smith, 1995, 3). [APA format] If you leave out words at the end of a quotation and more of the sentence follows, then simply work the quotation into the structure of your sentence, without using ellipses: Today we have the "Republicans, who are more nationalist than socialist, and the Democrats, who are more socialist than nationalist," thus confirming the dilemma of modern U.S. politics (Smith, 1995, 3). [APA format]

Adding Information to a Quotation

You can add information to a quotation in order to define a word or phrase, to clarify the quotation's information, or to make a brief comment on the quotation's information. The information that you add always should be brief; reserve your major comments on the quotation's information to be placed after the quotation ends.

Show any added information by placing that added information in square brackets within the quote.  You CANNOT substitute parentheses for brackets, since they carry a different meaning. (Parentheses indicate that the added information is part of the direct quotation itself and not your own.)

For example:

Holmes stated that "The chair on which the body was found was covered in a formerly yellow, now a brownish, blood-stained tabaret [upholstery with satin stripes]" (5). [MLA format]

(In this case, you'd need to define "tabaret" for a general reading public.)

"He [William Dean Howells] was 'fierce to shut out' of his study the voices and faces of his family in 'pursuit of the end' which he 'sought gropingly, blindly and with very little hope but with an intense ambition, and a courage that gave way under no burden, before no obstacles'" (Kirk and Kirk xxxvi). [MLA format]

(In this case, you'd need to clarify the person to whom the "he" refers.)

"Stephen Crane's experience as a journalist [as Berryman affirms] provided the impetus for his fiction" (Walcutt 22). [MLA format]

(In this case, the writer provides a brief comment on the information to let the reader know that two major critics of Crane agree.)

Long Quotations

If you decide to use a quotation that is longer than four lines, it is not put in quotation marks but rather block-indented from the left.

Once again remember that you will need to document or show the source of the quotations you use, so make sure that you have recorded all necessary information about the source.

Using a Quote within a Quote

If you need to quote something that already includes a quotation in it, then place the regular "double" quotation marks at the beginning and the end of the complete quotation, and use special "single" quotation marks for the quote within the quote. It looks like this:

"Blake disposes of Menroy's definition of realism, which he calls 'naturalism in disguise'" (Zwerbe 13). [MLA format]   *Notice the different types of formatting indicated after each example. Be sure to follow the correct type (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) that your mentor or area of study requires.

Need Assistance?

If you would like assistance with any type of writing assignment, learning coaches are available to assist you. Please contact Academic Support by emailing [email protected].

Questions or feedback about SUNY Empire's Writing Support?

Contact us at [email protected] .

Smart Cookies

They're not just in our classes – they help power our website. Cookies and similar tools allow us to better understand the experience of our visitors. By continuing to use this website, you consent to SUNY Empire State University's usage of cookies and similar technologies in accordance with the university's Privacy Notice and Cookies Policy .

APA Citation Guide (7th Edition): Works Quoted in Another Source

• Journal Articles
• Books, eBooks & Pamphlets
• Class Notes, Lectures, and Presentations
• Government Documents
• Codes of Ethics (Online)
• Images, Charts, Graphs, Maps & Tables
• Newspaper Articles
• Magazine Articles
• Personal Communication (Interviews, Emails)
• Social Media
• Videos & DVDs
• Encyclopedias & Dictionaries (Reference Works)
• When Information Is Missing
• When Creating Digital Assignments
• Works Quoted in Another Source
• Paraphrasing
• Informal Citations
• Citation Tools
• Conscious Language
• Reference List & Paper Formatting
• Annotated Bibliography

Work Quoted in Another Source

Sometimes an author of a book, article or website will mention another person’s work by using a quotation or paraphrased idea from that source. ( This may be called a secondary source.)  For example, the Kirkey article you are reading includes a quotation by Smith that you would like to include in your essay.

• If it is possible to retrieve the original source of the quotation (in this case, Smith), verify the quote and cite the original source.
• You will add the words “as cited in” to your in-text citation. Examples below.

Examples of in-text citations:

According to a study by Smith (as cited in Kirkey, 2013) 42% of doctors would refuse to perform legal euthanasia.

Smith (as cited in Kirkey, 2013) states that “even if euthanasia was legal, 42% of doctors would be against this method of assisted dying” (p. 34).

Example of Reference list citation:

Kirkey, S. (2013, Feb 9). Euthanasia.   The Montreal Gazette , p A10. Retrieved from Canadian Newsstand Major Dailies database.

• << Previous: When Creating Digital Assignments
• Next: In-Text Citation >>
• Last Updated: Jan 8, 2024 10:23 AM
• URL: https://libguides.salemstate.edu/apa

• Integrating Direct Quotations into Your Writing

by acburton | Mar 21, 2024 | Resources for Students , Writing Resources

If you’ve ever had a professor ask you to “use quotes” or quote other texts in your writing before, you know that it’s no easy task. It can feel awkward sometimes to determine what parts of the text are worth quoting, as well as how to directly quote in your writing without sounding too formulaic or repetitive. Keep reading for some strategies on effectively using direct quotations in your next writing project!

Why do I need to know how to directly quote?

If you’ve seen our blog post on “Quoting Directly,” you know that using direct quotations (or “quotes”) in our writing can be useful for a variety of reasons. By quoting other credible, relevant sources in our own writing projects, we can provide more convincing evidence and reasoning for our own ideas. Direct quotations are a type of support we can provide for our own arguments and claims, as it demonstrates to our readers that other writers agree with what we have to say.

What are different ways to directly quote in my writing so that I don’t sound repetitive?

A common way to integrate “quotes” in our writing is with the use of a signal phrase , which is a short phrase that indicates to readers that the writer is about to introduce another source. For example, we often use the phrase “According to” as a common signal phrase for introducing quotations. However, if we were to use “According to” for every single quotation in our essays, our writing would start to sound awfully repetitive and potentially boring or uninteresting.

So, here are some different approaches you can take for integrating direct quotations to have more variety and style in your writing!

1. Use a signal phrase to introduce the quotation

The two most commonly used signal phrases only require a couple of words, primarily a verb and the author’s name:

• The introductory phrase: “According to (author’s name and/or title of source),”. e.g., “According to Ahmed,” or “According to Ulmer in Internet Invention ,”.

After a signal phrase, you can quote from the text directly. Here are some important reminders to keep in mind whenever you directly quote another source in your own writing:

•  Use quotation marks “ “ and copy the passage exactly as it appears in the original text. If there is a grammatical or spelling error in the original source, you can use [sic] to cue to your reader that you did not make the mistake and are intentionally quoting the source material (for more on using [sic] in direct quotations, see our post on Quoting Directly ).
• Long Quotations in MLA format
• Long Quotations in APA format

Note: You can also use a signal phrase after the direct quotation for more variety in your sentence structure and style. You’d follow the same rules, except the quotation would come first, followed by your ‘says’ verb and the author.

It is usually better to lead with the author’s name and a ‘says’ verb because this introduces where the quotation is coming from (ensuring your reader is not confused) and is written in active voice, which is more direct and concise.

Example According to Melissa Dahl, “[Cringe is] the intense visceral reaction produced by an awkward moment, an unpleasant kind of self-recognition where you suddenly see yourself through someone else’s eyes. It’s a forced moment of self-awareness, and it usually makes you cognizant of the disappointing fact that you aren’t measuring up to your own self-concept” (Wynn).

While this is a direct quotation attributed to author Melissa Dahl, the in-text citation is credited to (Wynn) because the writer found this quotation in an original source published by Natalie Wynn. If you directly quote an author or writer whose work is quoted by another source, you cite the source that “houses” the passage. In other words, you cite the author who introduced you to the work. You can still credit the original author by introducing them in your signal phrase, as shown in the example above, but make sure your in-text citation credits the source you found the passage in.

2. Summarize the main ideas of the quotation to create a framework for the quotation, then use a colon to present the quotation.

For this method, you would provide a concise overview of the main ideas from the passage you wish to quote as a way of contextualizing what the source is about. This provides a helpful framework for the reader to understand the purpose and meaning of your quote better.

Example In Rebecca Solnit’s Wanderlust: A History of Walking, she raises several theoretical and philosophical viewpoints concerning both the act of walking, or flânerie, and the walker, or flâneur. On escapism, Solnit posits: “In the city, one is alone because the world is made up of strangers, and to be a stranger surrounded by strangers, to walk along silently bearing one’s secrets and imagining those of the people one passes, is among the starkest of luxuries” (23).

3. Blend a shorter quotation into your own sentence structure

This is the best method to use if you have only a short passage, some key words, or a specific phrase you want to quote in your writing. For this method, you want to build your own original sentence that leads up to the key ideas in your short quotation to blend it together as one cohesive sentence.

Example Within a participatory culture, individuals are often gathered together as a community due to shared interest networks, like video games, in which “members believe that their contributions matter” and there is “some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices” (Jenkins 7).

Practice in the Writing Center

For more support and guidance on directly quoting, make an appointment with us here at the Writing Center! We can help you integrate “quotes” into your writing projects effectively and with style so that your support is interesting and convincing to readers.

For further reading, check out these resources from the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) International Association:

• Integrate Quotations in Writing, by Carla Mannix (2017)
• List of Reporting Verbs, from University of Technology Sydney

***Adapted from TESOL International Association Handout “Integrate Quotations in Writing” by Carla Mannix, Nov. 2017

Our Newest Resources!

• Transitioning to Long-form Writing
• Developing a Research Question
• Nurturing a Growth Mindset to Overcome Writing Challenges and Develop Confidence in College Level Writing
• An Introduction to Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and Quoting

Additional Resources

• Graduate Writing Consultants
• Instructor Resources
• Student Resources
• Quick Guides and Handouts
• Self-Guided and Directed Learning Activities

How to do IT✔️News /Tutorials – Learn more!

Howto2IT.com✔️ latest news, tutorials, tips, beauty, business, cars, fashion and style, food, free time, health, home, pets, relationships, travels, games, internet and much more.

How to Use Quotes in a Research Paper: A Comprehensive Guide

Introduction

Using quotes effectively in a research paper can enhance your arguments, provide evidence, and lend credibility to your work. However, it’s crucial to understand the purpose of quotes, choose relevant ones, integrate them smoothly, use correct formatting and citation, analyze their significance, and use them sparingly. This comprehensive guide will provide you with detailed instructions on incorporating quotes into your research paper.

1. Understand the Purpose of Quotes

Before using quotes, it’s essential to grasp their purpose in a research paper. Quotes serve several functions, including: Providing evidence: Quotes can support your arguments or claims by referencing authoritative sources or primary research. They add weight to your statements and help establish credibility.

Adding credibility: Including quotes from experts or reputable sources can strengthen the credibility of your own research. By demonstrating that other respected individuals or studies support your ideas, you establish your work’s validity.

Offering different perspectives: Quotes can present alternative viewpoints or opinions on a topic. By incorporating diverse perspectives, you demonstrate a well-rounded analysis and critical thinking skills.

2. Choose Relevant Quotes

Selecting appropriate quotes is crucial to maintaining the integrity of your research paper. Follow these steps: Align with your research objective: Choose quotes that directly contribute to your research paper’s focus and support your thesis statement. Ensure they enhance your argument and add value to your analysis.

Consider credibility: Opt for quotes from reputable sources such as scholarly articles, books by established authors, or experts in the field. Make sure the quotes come from credible and reliable sources that are relevant to your research topic.

Look for unique insights: Seek quotes that provide unique perspectives or present information that is not commonly known. Look for statements that offer valuable insights or challenge existing theories, as they can contribute to the originality of your research.

3. Integrate Quotes Effectively

When integrating quotes into your research paper, follow these guidelines: Use signal phrases: Introduce quotes with signal phrases that provide context, attribution, and establish the source’s authority. Signal phrases can include the author’s name, publication year, and credentials. For example, “According to Smith (2019),…” or “In the words of renowned researcher Johnson (2020),…”

Provide proper context: Before inserting a quote, provide a brief explanation of its relevance to your argument. Explain how it connects to your research topic, supports your thesis, or provides evidence for a particular point. This ensures your readers understand the quote’s significance.

Incorporate quotes smoothly: Blend quotes seamlessly into your own writing by integrating them into your sentences. Avoid dropping quotes abruptly or using them as standalone sentences. Use appropriate punctuation, such as commas or colons, to introduce and connect quotes.

Maintain clarity and readability: Ensure that quotes don’t disrupt the flow of your writing. If a quote is too long or complex, consider paraphrasing or summarizing it while preserving its essential meaning. This helps maintain readability while still capturing the key points.

4. Use Correct Formatting and Citation

To use quotes properly and avoid plagiarism, adhere to the correct formatting and citation guidelines. Follow the specific citation style required by your academic institution or the guidelines provided by your instructor, such as APA, MLA, Chicago, or Harvard. In-text citations: Provide in-text citations immediately after the quote, including the author’s name, publication year, and page number (if applicable). This allows readers to locate the original source if needed. Use the appropriate citation style’s format for in-text citations.

Works Cited/References page: Include a comprehensive list of all the sources you cited in your research paper. Follow the formatting rules of your chosen citation style for the correct presentation of author names, titles, publication information, and other required elements. Include complete bibliographic details to ensure proper credit is given.

5. Analyze and Explain Quotes

After incorporating a quote, analyze and explain its significance in relation to your research. Merely including a quote is not enough; you need to provide your own interpretation and insights. Discuss how the quote supports your argument, contributes to the overall understanding of the topic, or presents a counterargument. Interpret the quote and offer your analysis to demonstrate your critical thinking and analytical skills.

6. Use Quotes Sparingly

While quotes can be valuable additions to your research paper, it’s important to use them sparingly. Overusing quotes can make your paper appear disjointed and prevent your own voice and analysis from shining through. Aim to balance quotes with your own ideas, analysis, and interpretations. Use quotes selectively to provide key supporting evidence or to highlight significant viewpoints.

7. Proofread and Revise

After incorporating quotes, proofread your research paper to ensure proper grammar, punctuation, and citation formatting. Check that your quotes are accurate and effectively support your arguments. Revise any awkwardly integrated quotes or make adjustments for better clarity and coherence. Ensure that the flow of your writing is smooth and that the quotes enhance the overall coherence and structure of your paper.

Using quotes effectively in a research paper can strengthen your arguments, provide evidence, and lend credibility to your work. By understanding their purpose, choosing relevant quotes, integrating them smoothly, using correct formatting and citation, analyzing their significance, and using them sparingly, you can incorporate quotes in a way that enhances the quality and impact of your research. Remember to consult the specific citation style required for your research paper and follow the guidelines provided by your academic institution. With careful selection and proper integration, quotes can significantly contribute to the strength and integrity of your research.

More articles

How to Make Your Videos More Accessible – 11 Tips

How to Fix Instagram Notes Not Showing

YouTube Downloaders: 12 Options You Should Know

News worth reading.

How-To Guide: Nurturing Your Holistic Health

Crafting Chickpea Tofu at Home

how to make perfect neer dosa

How to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient

How to Make Homemade Mayonnaise

• Discoveries
• Right Journal
• Journal Metrics
• Journal Fit
• Abbreviation
• In-Text Citations
• Bibliographies
• Writing an Article
• Peer Review Types
• Acknowledgements
• Withdrawing a Paper
• Form Letter
• ISO, ANSI, CFR
• Google Scholar
• Journal Manuscript Editing
• Research Manuscript Editing

Book Editing

• Manuscript Editing Services

Medical Editing

• Bioscience Editing
• Physical Science Editing
• PhD Thesis Editing Services
• PhD Editing
• Master’s Proofreading
• Bachelor’s Editing
• Dissertation Proofreading Services
• Best Dissertation Proofreaders
• Masters Dissertation Proofreading
• PhD Proofreaders
• Proofreading PhD Thesis Price
• Journal Article Editing
• Book Editing Service
• Editing and Proofreading Services
• Research Paper Editing
• Medical Manuscript Editing
• Academic Editing
• Social Sciences Editing
• Academic Proofreading
• PhD Theses Editing
• Dissertation Proofreading
• Proofreading Rates UK
• Medical Proofreading
• PhD Proofreading Services UK
• Academic Proofreading Services UK

Medical Editing Services

• Life Science Editing
• Biomedical Editing
• Environmental Science Editing
• Pharmaceutical Science Editing
• Economics Editing
• Psychology Editing
• Sociology Editing
• Archaeology Editing
• History Paper Editing
• Anthropology Editing
• Law Paper Editing
• Engineering Paper Editing
• Technical Paper Editing
• Philosophy Editing
• PhD Dissertation Proofreading
• Lektorat Englisch
• Akademisches Lektorat
• Lektorat Englisch Preise
• Wissenschaftliches Lektorat
• Lektorat Doktorarbeit

PhD Thesis Editing

• Thesis Proofreading Services
• PhD Thesis Proofreading
• Proofreading Thesis Cost
• Proofreading Thesis
• Thesis Editing Services
• Professional Thesis Editing
• Thesis Editing Cost
• Proofreading Dissertation
• Dissertation Proofreading Cost
• Dissertation Proofreader
• Correção de Artigos Científicos
• Correção de Trabalhos Academicos
• Serviços de Correção de Inglês
• Correção de Dissertação
• Correção de Textos Precos
• 定額 ネイティブチェック
• Copy Editing
• FREE Courses
• Revision en Ingles
• Revision de Textos en Ingles
• Revision de Tesis
• Revision Medica en Ingles
• Revision de Tesis Precio
• Revisão de Artigos Científicos
• Revisão de Trabalhos Academicos
• Serviços de Revisão de Inglês
• Revisão de Dissertação
• Revisão de Textos Precos
• Corrección de Textos en Ingles
• Corrección de Tesis
• Corrección de Tesis Precio
• Corrección Medica en Ingles
• Corrector ingles

Select Page

How To Use Direct Quotations In Research Papers

Posted by Rene Tetzner | Apr 15, 2021 | Referencing & Bibliographies | 0 |

How To Use Direct Quotations In Research Papers When an author directly quotes sources in scholarly writing, it is essential to enclose each quotation within quotation marks or set it off as a block quotation, and also to maintain appropriate and correct patterns of punctuation in every sentence that includes a quotation. Only if the quotations you use are properly punctuated will they be successfully integrated into your text and succeed in supporting your argument as you intend.

The punctuation that precedes a quotation is particularly important because such introductory punctuation helps determine the way in which readers approach and read that quotation within a piece of academic or scientific writing. In some cases, no punctuation at all is needed immediately before a quotation, whether it is embedded in your main text or set off as a block quotation, but this is only so if no punctuation would be required were the entire sentence constructed of your own words. My next sentence provides a simple example. Smith and Jones conducted a similar trial and ‘discovered that over half of the participants could not complete the four tasks.’

In other cases, nothing more than the full stop closing the preceding sentence is required before a quotation, whether embedded or block, if the logic of the quotation naturally follows that of the preceding sentence and can start (or already is) a sentence of its own. My next two sentences demonstrate how this works in running prose, but the second sentence could easily be displayed as a block quotation, especially if it were longer. Thompson read the manuscript very carefully and discovered clear evidence of several early readers. ‘Marginal notes in three different hands appear on most pages, while an earlier hand corrected the text and a later one added drawings that are themselves a commentary on the treatise.’

Often a comma is the correct punctuation to introduce a quotation, as is the case in the following sentence. In an early study of the effects of chemotherapy, ‘patients were shown to recover much more quickly and with fewer negative side effects when they did not receive chemotherapy as part of their treatment.’ Again, if the quotation is long, it can be formatted as a block quotation using the exact same punctuation. Commas are also used to present dialogue effectively, and are therefore common when reporting and discussing interviews: ‘Are you sure,’ the researcher repeated, ‘that you didn’t see anything else before the bridge collapsed?’

In many cases, however, and especially in formal English, a colon is more appropriate than a comma. A colon is often used to introduce scholarly quotations, and it is a good choice when more than one sentence or passage is quoted or when emphasis is required. A colon also tends to clarify sentence structure as well as the line between your own text and quoted passages, so it can improve the clarity and legibility of a complex text. My next sentence provides an example. Question 4 was designed to help us refine our understanding of any limitations perceived by the participants: ‘Was there any task the domestic robot was not able to accomplish due to its size?’ A colon is especially well suited to introducing block quotations, with the colon coming at the end of your own running text and the block quotation following on a new line.

You might be interested in Services offered by Proof-Reading-Service.com

Journal editing.

Journal article editing services

PhD thesis editing services

Scientific Editing

Manuscript editing.

Manuscript editing services

Expert Editing

Expert editing for all papers

Research Editing

Research paper editing services

Professional book editing services

Related Posts

How To Cite ISO, ANSI, CFR & Other Industry Standards & Guidelines

September 12, 2021

How To Write an Annotated Bibliography

August 3, 2021

Abbreviating References to Specific Pages in Source Texts

August 1, 2021

How To Cite a Research Paper & Provide a Bibliographical Reference

July 29, 2021

Our Recent Posts

Our review ratings

• Examples of Research Paper Topics in Different Study Areas Score: 98%
• Dealing with Language Problems – Journal Editor’s Feedback Score: 95%
• Making Good Use of a Professional Proofreader Score: 92%
• How To Format Your Journal Paper Using Published Articles Score: 95%
• Journal Rejection as Inspiration for a New Perspective Score: 95%

Explore our Categories

• Abbreviation in Academic Writing (4)
• Career Advice for Academics (5)
• Dealing with Paper Rejection (11)
• Grammar in Academic Writing (5)
• Help with Peer Review (7)
• How To Get Published (146)
• Paper Writing Advice (17)
• Referencing & Bibliographies (16)

Scientific Consensus

It’s important to remember that scientists always focus on the evidence, not on opinions. Scientific evidence continues to show that human activities ( primarily the human burning of fossil fuels ) have warmed Earth’s surface and its ocean basins, which in turn have continued to impact Earth’s climate . This is based on over a century of scientific evidence forming the structural backbone of today's civilization.

NASA Global Climate Change presents the state of scientific knowledge about climate change while highlighting the role NASA plays in better understanding our home planet. This effort includes citing multiple peer-reviewed studies from research groups across the world, 1 illustrating the accuracy and consensus of research results (in this case, the scientific consensus on climate change) consistent with NASA’s scientific research portfolio.

With that said, multiple studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals 1 show that climate-warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human activities. In addition, most of the leading scientific organizations worldwide have issued public statements endorsing this position. The following is a partial list of these organizations, along with links to their published statements and a selection of related resources.

American Scientific Societies

Statement on climate change from 18 scientific associations.

"Observations throughout the world make it clear that climate change is occurring, and rigorous scientific research demonstrates that the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver." (2009) 2

American Association for the Advancement of Science

"Based on well-established evidence, about 97% of climate scientists have concluded that human-caused climate change is happening." (2014) 3

American Chemical Society

"The Earth’s climate is changing in response to increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and particulate matter in the atmosphere, largely as the result of human activities." (2016-2019) 4

American Geophysical Union

"Based on extensive scientific evidence, it is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century. There is no alterative explanation supported by convincing evidence." (2019) 5

American Medical Association

"Our AMA ... supports the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s fourth assessment report and concurs with the scientific consensus that the Earth is undergoing adverse global climate change and that anthropogenic contributions are significant." (2019) 6

American Meteorological Society

"Research has found a human influence on the climate of the past several decades ... The IPCC (2013), USGCRP (2017), and USGCRP (2018) indicate that it is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-twentieth century." (2019) 7

American Physical Society

"Earth's changing climate is a critical issue and poses the risk of significant environmental, social and economic disruptions around the globe. While natural sources of climate variability are significant, multiple lines of evidence indicate that human influences have had an increasingly dominant effect on global climate warming observed since the mid-twentieth century." (2015) 8

The Geological Society of America

"The Geological Society of America (GSA) concurs with assessments by the National Academies of Science (2005), the National Research Council (2011), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2013) and the U.S. Global Change Research Program (Melillo et al., 2014) that global climate has warmed in response to increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases ... Human activities (mainly greenhouse-gas emissions) are the dominant cause of the rapid warming since the middle 1900s (IPCC, 2013)." (2015) 9

Science Academies

International academies: joint statement.

"Climate change is real. There will always be uncertainty in understanding a system as complex as the world’s climate. However there is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring. The evidence comes from direct measurements of rising surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures and from phenomena such as increases in average global sea levels, retreating glaciers, and changes to many physical and biological systems. It is likely that most of the warming in recent decades can be attributed to human activities (IPCC 2001)." (2005, 11 international science academies) 1 0

U.S. National Academy of Sciences

"Scientists have known for some time, from multiple lines of evidence, that humans are changing Earth’s climate, primarily through greenhouse gas emissions." 1 1

U.S. Government Agencies

U.s. global change research program.

"Earth’s climate is now changing faster than at any point in the history of modern civilization, primarily as a result of human activities." (2018, 13 U.S. government departments and agencies) 12

Intergovernmental Bodies

Intergovernmental panel on climate change.

“It is unequivocal that the increase of CO 2 , methane, and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere over the industrial era is the result of human activities and that human influence is the principal driver of many changes observed across the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, and biosphere. “Since systematic scientific assessments began in the 1970s, the influence of human activity on the warming of the climate system has evolved from theory to established fact.” 1 3-17

Other Resources

List of worldwide scientific organizations.

The following page lists the nearly 200 worldwide scientific organizations that hold the position that climate change has been caused by human action. http://www.opr.ca.gov/facts/list-of-scientific-organizations.html

U.S. Agencies

The following page contains information on what federal agencies are doing to adapt to climate change. https://www.c2es.org/site/assets/uploads/2012/02/climate-change-adaptation-what-federal-agencies-are-doing.pdf

Technically, a “consensus” is a general agreement of opinion, but the scientific method steers us away from this to an objective framework. In science, facts or observations are explained by a hypothesis (a statement of a possible explanation for some natural phenomenon), which can then be tested and retested until it is refuted (or disproved).

As scientists gather more observations, they will build off one explanation and add details to complete the picture. Eventually, a group of hypotheses might be integrated and generalized into a scientific theory, a scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena.

1. K. Myers, et al, "Consensus revisited: quantifying scientific agreement on climate change and climate expertise among Earth scientists 10 years later", Environmental Research Letters Vol.16 No. 10, 104030 (20 October 2021); DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/ac2774 M. Lynas, et al, "Greater than 99% consensus on human caused climate change in the peer-reviewed scientific literature", Environmental Research Letters Vol.16 No. 11, 114005 (19 October 2021); DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/ac2966 J. Cook et al., "Consensus on consensus: a synthesis of consensus estimates on human-caused global warming", Environmental Research Letters Vol. 11 No. 4, (13 April 2016); DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/11/4/048002 J. Cook et al., "Quantifying the consensus on anthropogenic global warming in the scientific literature", Environmental Research Letters Vol. 8 No. 2, (15 May 2013); DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/8/2/024024 W. R. L. Anderegg, “Expert Credibility in Climate Change”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Vol. 107 No. 27, 12107-12109 (21 June 2010); DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1003187107 P. T. Doran & M. K. Zimmerman, "Examining the Scientific Consensus on Climate Change", Eos Transactions American Geophysical Union Vol. 90 Issue 3 (2009), 22; DOI: 10.1029/2009EO030002 N. Oreskes, “Beyond the Ivory Tower: The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change”, Science Vol. 306 no. 5702, p. 1686 (3 December 2004); DOI: 10.1126/science.1103618

2. Statement on climate change from 18 scientific associations (2009)

3. AAAS Board Statement on Climate Change (2014)

4. ACS Public Policy Statement: Climate Change (2016-2019)

5. Society Must Address the Growing Climate Crisis Now (2019)

6. Global Climate Change and Human Health (2019)

7. Climate Change: An Information Statement of the American Meteorological Society (2019)

8. American Physical Society (2021)

9. GSA Position Statement on Climate Change (2015)

10. Joint science academies' statement: Global response to climate change (2005)

11. Climate at the National Academies

12. Fourth National Climate Assessment: Volume II (2018)

13. IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, Summary for Policymakers, SPM 1.1 (2014)

14. IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, Summary for Policymakers, SPM 1 (2014)

15. IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, Working Group 1 (2021)

16. IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, Working Group 2 (2022)

17. IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, Working Group 3 (2022)

Discover More Topics From NASA

Explore Earth Science

Earth Science in Action

Earth Science Data

Facts About Earth

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Paraphrase: Write It in Your Own Words

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

This handout is intended to help you become more comfortable with the uses of and distinctions among quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. This handout compares and contrasts the three terms, gives some pointers, and includes a short excerpt that you can use to practice these skills.

Paraphrasing is one way to use a text in your own writing without directly quoting source material. Anytime you are taking information from a source that is not your own, you need to specify where you got that information.

A paraphrase is...

• Your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form.
• One legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow from a source.
• A more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single main idea.

Paraphrasing is a valuable skill because...

• It is better than quoting information from an undistinguished passage.
• It helps you control the temptation to quote too much.
• The mental process required for successful paraphrasing helps you to grasp the full meaning of the original.

6 Steps to Effective Paraphrasing

• Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning.
• Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.
• Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision using this material. At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase.
• Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form.
• Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source.
• Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper.

Some examples to compare

Note that the examples in this section use MLA style for in-text citation.

The original passage:

Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers . 2nd ed., 1976, pp. 46-47.

A legitimate paraphrase:

In research papers, students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46-47).

An acceptable summary:

Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46-47).

A plagiarized version:

Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.

A note about plagiarism: This example has been classed as plagiarism, in part, because of its failure to deploy any citation. Plagiarism is a serious offense in the academic world. However, we acknowledge that plagiarism is a difficult term to define; that its definition may be contextually sensitive; and that not all instances of plagiarism are created equal—that is, there are varying “degrees of egregiousness” for different cases of plagiarism.