How to Quote | Citing Quotes in APA, MLA &

Chicago
By: Mrs. Catherine C. Bayang
How to Quote | Citing Quotes in APA, MLA & Chicago

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 or formatted as a
block quote.
 The original author is correctly cited.
 The text is identical to the original
How to Quote | Citing Quotes in APA, MLA & Chicago
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.
How to cite a quote in APA, MLA,
and Chicago
How to cite a quote in APA, MLA, and Chicago

APA (American Psychological Association) is used by Education,

Psychology, and Sciences. MLA (Modern Language Association) style
is used by the Humanities. Chicago/Turabian style is generally used by
Business, History, and the Fine Arts.
Every time you quote, you must cite the source correctly. This looks
slightly different depending on the citation style you’re using. Three of
the most common styles are APA, MLA, and Chicago.
Citing a quote in APA 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 periods and commas are placed after the
citation, not within the quotation marks.
Examples: APA in-text citation

• 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).
Citing a quote in MLA style
Citing a quote in MLA style

An MLA in-text citation includes only the author’s last name and a page
number. As in APA, it can be parenthetical or narrative, and a period (or
other punctuation mark) appears after the citation.
Examples: MLA in-text citation

• Evolution is a gradual process that “can act only by very short and
slow steps” (Darwin 510).
• Darwin explains that evolution “can act only by very short and slow
steps” (510).
Citing a quote in Chicago style
Citing a quote in Chicago style

Chicago style uses Chicago footnotes to cite sources. A note, indicated

by a superscript number placed directly after the quote, specifies the
author, title, and page number—or sometimes fuller information.
Unlike with parenthetical citations, in this style, the period or other
punctuation mark should appear within the quotation marks, followed
by the footnote number.
Example: Chicago footnote citation
Evolution is a gradual process that “can act only by very short and slow
steps.”1
1. Darwin, The Origin of the Species, 510.
Introducing Quotes
Introducing Quotes

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.
Example: Quote not properly introduced
• “A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent
of Danish voters” (Levring, 2018, p. 3).
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
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.
Introductory sentence
• 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).
Quotes within quotes
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
single (instead of double) 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 double quotation marks.
Examples: Punctuation mistakes with nested quotations
• 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).
Examples: Correctly formatted nested quotations
• 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).
Shortening or altering a quote
Shortening or altering a quote
Often, incorporating a quote smoothly into your text requires you to
make some changes to the original text. It’s fine to do this, if 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
ellipses indicate that some text has been removed, but the shortened
quote should still accurately represent the author’s point.
Example: Shortening a quote
• As Darwin (1859) puts it, “natural selection acts solely by
accumulating slight, successive, favourable variations … it can act
only by very short and slow steps” (p. 510).
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 verb tense), or because extra
information is needed to clarify the quote’s meaning.
Example: Adding words to a quote
• Smith (2020) states that “those [participants] with the highest scores
were generally older than the average” (p. 33).
Use brackets to distinguish words that you have added from words
that were present in the original text.
Example: Marking a mistake with “sic“
• Sill (2022) states that “several problem [sic] can be addressed using
this technique” (p. 14).
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.
Example: Adding emphasis with italics
• Because natural selection “acts solely by accumulating slight,
successive, favorable variations [emphasis added], it can produce no
great or sudden modification; it can act only by very short and slow
steps” (Darwin, 1859, p. 510).
In some cases, it can be useful to italicize 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.
Block Quotes
Block quotes
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 period, the citation appears after the period.
Example: MLA block quote
Tolkien favors long sentences and detailed descriptions:
• 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)
When should I use Quotes?
When should I use quotes?
Avoid relying too heavily on quotes in academic writing. To
integrate a source, it’s often best to paraphrase, which means putting
the passage in your own words. This helps you integrate information
smoothly and keeps your own voice dominant.
However, there are some situations in which quoting is more
appropriate.
Example: Using quotes to analyze language
You are writing a paper about the novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald. You
will have to quote frequently from the novels in order to analyze their
language and style.
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.
Example: Using quotes as evidence
You are working on a research paper about the causes of the French
Revolution, and you have studied documents and letters written at the
time. You can quote from these sources as evidence in support of your
argument.
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.
Example: Quoting to present a theory
Your interpretation of survey data is supported by a well-known
theory on your topic. You find a sentence that perfectly sums up the
theory, so you quote it directly before elaborating on your
understanding of the theory.
Sources:
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