A direct quote is the exact reproduction of someone else's spoken or written words. It's essentially copying and pasting their words into your own work, and enclosing them in quotation marks to indicate that they aren't your own.
A direct (short) quotation is used for quotations of 40 words or less.
Reasons for using a direct quote:
A passage in a source addresses an idea that you want to argue for or against
A passage in a source provides a clear and concise statement that enhances your paper
You want to use the authority’s or expert’s exact words
You want to use the exact words of someone who has firsthand experience with the issue you are researching
When quoting directly:
Use quotation marks (“blah blah blah”) to enclose the quoted excerpt.
Direct quotes should be no more than 40 words.
Identify the source using an in-text parenthetical citation, i.e. example of an APA in-text citation:
(Author Last Name, Publication Year, p. [page #])
Explain your quotes by providing analysis that ties the quote back to the thesis of your paper. Prove to the reader why that quote supports your argument.
Use a target phrase to introduce a direct quote!
Signal phrases, such as the examples below, alert the reader that you're about to quote directly from another source:
X states, “_____________.”
In her book, __________, X claims that “_____________.”
According to X, “_________________.”
X writes, “__________________.”
In X’s view, “________________.”
|
Original Passage: Social technology provides students with a 24-hour a day, 7-day a week access to their personal, physical face-to-face networks. While this can be beneficial for youngsters struggling through growing pains as social technology can extend supportive peer networks, there are negative implications such as cyberbullying, where unflattering pictures, rumors, and messages can be widely and quickly distributed. (p. 11) Source: Weber, N. L., & Pelfrey, W. V., Jr. (2014). Cyberbullying: Causes, consequences, and coping strategies. LFB Scholarly. |
Quote with a signal phrase (APA-style citation):
OR you could format the citation like this:
Quote with the authors included in parenthetical citation: While social media can have positive benefits on adolescents "there are negative implications such as cyberbullying, where unflattering pictures, rumors, and messages can be widely and quickly distributed" (Weber & Pelfrey, 2014, p. 11).
|