Citing Quotations for Research Paper

Plagiarism is just plain cheating. It's using someone else's words or ideas in your paper as if they were your own. If you copy someone else's work on purpose, you know that it's wrong. However, if you don't understand how to cite another's work and accidentally plagiarize, you may still get accused of cheating. That's one good reason to learn quotation mechanics.

Original material:

Wuthering Heights is the most remarkable novel in English. It is perfect, and perfect in the rarest way: it is the complete bodying forth of an intensely individual apprehension of the nature of man and life. That is to say, the content is strange enough, indeed baffling enough, while the artistic expression of it is flawless. (Allen 223)

Student Version A:

The most remarkable novel in English is Wuthering Heights. It brings forth an individual apprehension of the nature of man and life; therefore, it is perfect in the rarest way. The artistic expression is flawless, but the content is strange, indeed baffling.

This is clearly plagiarized. The student has copied the original almost word for word, and there is no attempt to indicate what has been copied or where it was found.

Student Version B:

Wuthering Heights is a great English novel. It is perfect in the rarest way: it provides an individual apprehension of man's nature. The artistic expression is flawless, although the content is strange and baffling. (Allen 223)

This is a little better, but it is still an example of plagiarism. Even though an attempt has been made to indicate the source, we can't tell which words were copied directly. (Remember: just because you move the word order around a little or leave a word or two out, that doesn't make it your writing or your ideas. You still have to document.)

Student Version C:

Walter Allen insists that the "artistic expression" of Wuthering Heights is flawless (223). Allen admits that the content is strange and even baffling, but he argues that the novel is perfect because it accurately presents "an intensely individual apprehension of the nature of man and life" (223).

Here the student has correctly handled the use of the original. Some words are rephrased, but those taken word for word are clearly marked. Also, it is clear what source is being used.

Terms:

• Quoting is simply using someone else's words in your paper.
• Paraphrasing is writing someone else's ideas in your own words.
• Citing is indicating where you found the quotation.
• Documenting, strictly speaking, refers to keeping records of your sources and citing them in your paper.

Short Quotations

If you are directly quoting from a work, you will need to include the author, year of publication, and the page number for the reference (preceded by "p."). Introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author's last name followed by the date of publication in parentheses.

According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time" (p. 199). Jones (1998) found "students often had difficulty using APA style" (p. 199); what implications does this have for teachers?

If the author is not named in a signal phrase, place the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number in parentheses after the quotation.

She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA style," but she did not offer an explanation as to why (Jones, 1998, p. 199).

If you are paraphrasing an idea from another work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication in your in-text reference, but APA guidelines encourage you to also provide the page number (although it is not required.)

According to Jones (1998), APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners.
APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners (Jones, 1998, p. 199).

A model for citing Internet materials

An acceptable form for citing information taken from this Web site, for example, is:

Foll, Scott. "Big Dog's Quotation Mechanics." 26 April 1997. (28 April 1997).

The format for citing any URL (Web address) is: Author's name (if known). "Title." Date of last update or revision. (Date of your accessing the page).

[The spacing and indenting follow the model found on the sample "Works Cited" page below.]

A form for citing Email is:

Foll, Scott. "Re: your question." 28 April 1997. Personal Email. (29 April 1997).

For more on electronic citation, see the reference mentioned above.

http://aliscot.com/bigdog/mla.htm