quoting and citing

7/30/2019 Quoting and Citing

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Quoting and Citing Sources

I. Citing Sources

A. Why Do I Have to Cite My Sources?

By citing your sources, you are letting your readers know that youre building your ideasand arguments on real, credible, and available information. Citing your sources is also a

way to acknowledge the ideas and research that youve used in your paper. When citing

your sources, the questions to answer are

Who wrote, said, or created this information?

What form does this information come in (book, magazine article, film,

website, etc.)?

Where can the reader find it (where was it published? If its an online source,

whats the URL?)

When was it written, said, or created?

B. When Do I Have to Cite My Source? When Dont I Have to?

You dont have to cite the source if it is Common knowledgefive our more general reference sources would tell you

the same thing (example: Bill Clinton was elected president in 1992 and

1996.)

Your own opinion or experience (if you discover and outside source that

agrees with your opinion, tell your reader that your source agrees with you)

AND youve put the information in your own words.

You have to cite the source if it is Specific technical information such as statistics, percentages, studies Someone elses idea(s) or opinion(s)

Controversial facts (ones that people argue about)

EVEN IF youve put the information in your own words.

And of course, you have to cite the source if youve used the authors exact words inquotation marks.

When in doubt, cite your source. You are less likely to be penalized for citing a source

when you dont need to than for not citing a source when youre supposed to.

C. What Format Should I Use?

A number of documentation formats exist. Theyre all relatively similar because they all

use the information that is listed above. They just organize it differently. Different

academic areas tend to prefer different formats. Sometimes, instructors wont care whichformat you use as long as you pick one and stick to it.

KT HCC Writing Center


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Generally, most of your research writing would involve one of these three

documentation formats:

MLA (Modern Language Association): This format is common in

writing in the humanities field.

APA (American Psychological Association): This format is common

in the social sciences. CBE (Council of Biology Editors): This format is common in the

physical sciences.

All documentation formats have two main parts, however:

1. In-text Citations: These are brief notations in the paper itself that provide a small

amount of specific information about the source and refer the reader to the list of

sources at the end of the paper for more information.2. A list of your sources at the end of the paper (bibliography, references, or works

cited): This alphabetical list of your sources provides the rest of the information

about the sources so your readers can find them on their own.

D. How Do I Remember All These Things?

Write them on your hands and commit them to memory. Just kidding. No sane person,

including professional researchers, memorizes these details. They do their research andthen use handbook information to document their sources.

II. Quoting

A. Why Quote Someone Else?

Occasionally, you might want to quote (use the authors exact words in quotation marks)if the author has stated something important to the point of your essay that is

Written with excellent phrasing that would highlight your point

Written so clearly and precisely that it would sound less effective if it

were written any other way

In a questionable or controversial way that you want to discuss

Just remember to be selective and to the pointdont abuse long quotations that

overwhelm your own words. Your reader needs to hear your voice as well.

B. What Are the Different Types of Quotations?

1.Short Quotations

If your quotation is no longer than four typed lines, use quotation marks to enclose thequotation but keep it a part of your paragraph.

Example:

American masculine ideology regards the ability to provide as the primary method for a

man to display his worth. When he can no longer provide for his family, he loses his

position as the "economic master" (Avers 160) and the dominant authority in the

household (Dawahare 266). Henceforth, a man strives to provide for his family not only



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because of paternal commitment, but also because he wishes to fulfill the "accepted

social definition of masculinity" (Guerrero 2).

2.Long QuotationsIf the quotation is more than four typed lines, do not use quotation marks to enclose the

quotation. Instead, set it off by indenting the whole quotation block 0.5 from the leftmargin. As a rule of thumb, never let a long quotation goes unexplained. The reader

expects that you would write something to introduce this long quotation and write

something after the quotation to explain or analyze it.

Example:

Similar to other social concepts, gender-role boundary has the power to influence

peoples lives because of their willingness to accept and honor it. Once people adhere toit, this boundary automatically becomes a part of their lives.

There was a time we was on the land. There was a boundary to us then.... We was

always one thing. We was the family. Kind of whole and clear. But now we ain't

clear no more. There ain't nothing that keeps us clear. (Steinbeck, The Grapes ofWrath).

The boundary Ma Joad mentions is more than just a physical encirclement of the land. It

segregates the woman's world from the man's and defines the limits of domesticity.

3. Quotations from PoetryIf youre only quoting one line from a poem, include it in quotation marks in a paragraph

like you would with a short quotation. If youre quoting two lines of a poem, also includethem in quotation marks and separate the two lines with a slash (/). If youre quoting

more than two lines of a poem, set them off like you would with a long quotation.

Examples:Langston Hughes opens one of his most famous poems, I, Too, written in 1925, with

I, too, sing America (135).

In the same poem, he wrote, Besides, / Theyll see how beautiful I am (135).

In another poem written in 1951, Langston Hughes raises the question of what mighthappen to a dream deferred.

Does it dry up

Like a raisin in the sun?Or fester like a sore

And then run?Does it stink like rotten meat? (134)

He is referring to the different responses that individuals might have to obstacles thatprolong their journey. Some people wither; some become agitated, and many simply

forget about their dreams and goals after a while.

4. Quotations from Dialogue



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If you are quoting a dialogue between two or more people, start a new paragraph when

the speaker changes. (Make sure that your reader has some way of knowing which

character is speaking when you quote from a dialogue.)

Example:

"What are you doing?" she asked, her brown eyes wider and larger than the mostexpensive jewels sold at the store.

"Building a castle." I replied, staring at the new creature that just invaded my privacy.

C. Other Points of Interest

Capitalize the first word of the quotation if that word begins a sentence (in the

original text). Do not capitalize the first word of the quotation if that word does

not begin the sentence.Example: She said, I want some ice-cream unless it is cold outside.

But: She said that she wanted some ice-cream unless it is cold outside.

When introducing a quotation, use a comma to set off the marker phrase unless

the quotation follows the word that. Do not capitalize the first word of the quote.Example: As Albert Einstein stated, "Imagination is more important than

knowledge."

But: Albert Einstein stated that "imagination is more important than knowledge."

Occasionally, if you need to add more information to explain a quote or change

the word form to fit with your sentence, insert the changes into the quotation

using a pair of brackets.Example: As Robert McKay [representative of the C.O company] said,

Anything that this company publicize[s] should not be taken seriously.

When you omit words from a quotation, use an ellipse () to indicate that some

information has been left out.

Example: Karen said to Mary, I will not do that It is not necessary.


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