how to format quotations

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Using Quotations Definition General use Difference when citing Mechanics with quotes Long quotes vs. short quotes

Presentation by Michael Scanlon, Sheryl Scanlon, and Kate Cottle

What is a Quote?

▪ A quotation is the reproduction or use of another person’s words, thoughts, ideas, materials, or terminology

▪ The quote marks tell us that these are the exact words of the author(s).

▪ Other ways of incorporating another’s ideas into your work include paraphrasing and summarizing.

– Even though the ideas are in your words, they should be cited.

When to Quote?

▪ The original author’s precise wording (word for word) is required for accuracy

“The medium is the message” (Macluhan, 2003).

▪ The quotation lends authority to your paper by supporting a statement, position, or observation

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all [people] are created equal…”

▪ The author’s words are particularly expressive and thought-provoking

When to Limit Quotations?

▪ In your final draft, only 15% of your paper should be direct quotes (Clines & Cobb, 2011).

▪ The rest should be paraphrases, summaries, and your persuasive logic holding everything together to make the argument.

▪ If you have too many quotes – It will look like you are trying to make a short paper longer

– It will look like you don’t understand the material

– The quotes will be difficult to tie back to your persuasive argument if there are too many

What Makes Using Quotes Interesting? ▪ When you use a quote, you must set the quote up, use the

quote and then explain how the quote supports your argument.

(The following paragraph is a part of a much longer paper on the role of technology-driven peer review in increasing critical thinking skills. The increase in critical skills will then translate into increased success in the workplace.)

University X also will transition to using technology for many parts of the process. The students need to be educated across current media in order to provide scaffolding for learning future media: “Equipping students to write in only one mode—traditionally, black ink on white paper in scripted genres – will not serve students in their higher education experiences or in the workplaces of the future” (NWP, DeVoss, Eidman-Aadahl, & Hicks, 2010, p. 5). Transitioning to using technology to do a peer review (uploading a paper, making comments, saving the annotated document, and returning the paper) will help students’ digital literacy for future collectively-authored documents in the workplace. (Cottle, 2012).

Deconstructed Use of a Quote

▪ The set up:

University X also will transition to using technology for many parts of the process. The students need to be educated across current media in order to provide scaffolding for learning future media:

▪ The quote:

“Equipping students to write in only one mode—traditionally, black ink on white paper in scripted genres – will not serve students in their higher education experiences or in the workplaces of the future” (NWP, DeVoss, Eidman-Aadahl, & Hicks, 2010, p. 5).

▪ The tie-back to the argument:

Transitioning to using technology to do a peer review (uploading a paper, making comments, saving the annotated document, and returning the paper) will help students’ digital literacy for future collectively-authored documents in the workplace.

Setting Up Quotations

▪ When quoting, introduce the quotation with a signal phrase. – The signal phrase may also include a citation.

– The citation is necessary regardless.

Roberts (2011) stated that asking cohort students “to jeopardize peer relationships through constructive criticism is unreasonable” (p.25).

Asking students “to jeopardize peer relationships through constructive criticism is unreasonable” (Roberts, 2011, p.25).

Beattie (2000) found that "students learn faster if information is presented through gamification" (para. 4); how will this impact teachers who are not video game players?

(APA, 2009; Driscoll & Brizee, 2013; Perrin, 2012)

In-Text Citation of Quotations

▪ All direct quotes require the following for the in-text citation – Author(s)’ name(s)

– Date

– Page or paragraph number

▪ Page number for print materials and paginated PDFs

▪ Paragraph number for any flowing-text website


Mechanics with Quotations

▪ The quotation marks tell you that these are the author’s exact words, but there are a few tricks to incorporate quotes more smoothly into your own writing. – However, it is always better to paraphrase where possible.

Remember the 15% (Clines and Cobb).

▪ The tricks include – Ellipses

– Square brackets

– [sic]


Ellipses

▪ To only use part of the original sentence, use ellipses (…) – You can use ellipses at the beginning, middle and end of

sentences: wherever you are cutting material.

– Only use ellipses in the beginning of the quote if the quote is starting mid-sentence.

“…and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…” (Jefferson, 1776/2013)

– If you are using ellipses at the end, include the end punctuation.

▪ The previous example is still mid-sentence, so there are three periods.


▪ The next example will end at one sentence and then pick up in the middle of another sentence.

▪ There will be four periods (between “happiness…whenever…”.

“…that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness….whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends…” (Jefferson, 1776/2013).

Ellipses


Square Brackets

▪ You use square brackets to indicate to the reader that you have made a change to the original text. – However, the change cannot alter the meaning of

the original. – The changes you make must help the quote to flow

more smoothly within the sentence.

▪ Use for changes in verb tense

When Americans think about what it is to be American, we should all remember how Jefferson closes the Declaration: “we [have] mutually pledge[d] to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor” (Jefferson, 1776/2013).


Square Brackets

▪ Use them to indicate a change in number.

“Prudence, indeed, will dictate that [a Government] long established…” (Jefferson, 1776/2013).

▪ Use them to add emphasis – These are words that you really want your audience to pay

attention to.

– The words that directly precede [emphasis added] will be italicized.

“…it is the Right of the People [emphasis added] to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…” (Jefferson, 1776/2013)


[sic]

▪ [sic] is what you add directly following text in a quote that is grammatically incorrect.

▪ It allows you to acknowledge to your audience that it is not a typo, but respecting the original text.

“Lexicographer: A writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the signification [sic] of words” (Johnson, 1755/2013).

What About a Quote in the Middle of Another Quote?

▪ The quote in the middle gets single quotes

“Do modern leaders mean all Americans or just themselves when they speak of ‘we the people’? It’s hard to know .”


Long/Block Quotation

▪ Short quotations are incorporated into sentences.

▪ A long quotation, of forty words or more, is placed as a free-standing block of typewritten lines, and omits quotation marks.

▪ Start the quotation on a new line, indented ½” from the left margin (one tab)

▪ Indent the entire quotation ½” from the left margin

▪ Indent the first line of any subsequent paragraphs within the block quotation ½” from the left margin

▪ Double-space the entire block quotation

▪ The parenthetical citation should come after closing punctuation mark


Long/Block Quotation Example

Jones's (1998) study found the following:

Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially

when it was their first time citing sources. This difficulty

could be attributed to the fact that many students failed

to purchase a style manual or to ask their teacher for help.

(p. 199)

Entire quote

indented ½”

No closing punctuation

Note the colon

Double spaced

(Whitfill, 2008, slide 18)

Secondary/ Indirect Sources/Quotations

▪ If you use a source that you found reading another source, name the original source in your signal phrase. – This is called an indirect or secondary source.

– List the secondary source (the source where you read it) in your reference list and include it in your in-text citation, preceded by the words “as cited in.”

– The secondary source is what will be listed on your References page. Former Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher described “a nation of young people seriously at risk of starting out obese and dooming themselves to the difficult task of overcoming a tough illness” (as cited in Critser, 2003, p. 4).

▪ You are only allowed indirect sources when you are an undergraduate. On the graduate level, you must go back and find the original source.


References

American Psychological Association. (2009.) Publication manual of the American

Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Cottle, K. (2012). Peer reviewing and its role in increasing critical thinking skills.

Unpublished manuscript, University of Delaware.

Driscoll, D.L. & Brizee, A. (2013). Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing.

Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/563/

Jefferson, T. (2013). The declaration of independence. (Original work published

1776). Retrieved from http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/

References

Clines, R. H., & Cobbs, E.R. (2011). Research writing simplified (7th ed.). New York, NY:

Longman.

Johnson, S. (2013). Some definitions from Johnson’s Dictionary. (Original work

published 1755). Retrieved from

http://www.samueljohnson.com/definitions.html

McLuhan, M. (2013). Marshall McLuhan Speaks. (Original Work published 1968).

Retrieved from http://marshallmcluhanspeaks.com/sayings/

Perrrin, R. (2012). Pocket guide to APA style (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth

Cengage Learning.

University of South Florida (2013). Emphasizing words in a direct quotation.

Retrieved from http://writingcommons.org/format/apa/678-emphasizing-

words-in-a-direct-quotation-apa

Whitfill, J. (2008). A guide to APA citations. [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from

http://www.sitemason.com/files/jrYwDe/A_guide_to_apa_ci

tations.pdf

References

how to format quotations

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