Quoting

In general, use direct quotations sparingly and only for good reason. Remember that most of your writing should be in your own words. However, incorporating the exact words of others into your text can enrich your argument.

You can use quotations to:

• Show support for your own ideas.
• Present a statement to comment on.
• Include an especially significant piece of information or detail.
• Present a well-stated passage whose meaning would be lost or changed if paraphrased or summarised.

Direct quotations should exactly match the original source in terms of spelling and punctuation; Where alterations or corrections are required, these can be indicated by the use of square brackets.

• Three ellipsis points [...] indicate material that has been omitted from the original. Use four ellipsis points to indicate any omission between sentences.
• An error can be indicated by [sic] (Latin for thus) directly following the incorrect material.
• Anything added or changed in order to render the directly quoted material grammatically compatible with your text must be contained in square brackets.

Short quotations - Quotations of fewer than 40 words should be incorporated into the text and enclosed with double quotation marks. The format varies depending on whether the source is in print or electronic form.

Print sources - for all print sources you must include the page number.

For example:
... the results show that "sleepiness seems to be a very underrated factor in accidents" (Leger, 1994, p. 91).

 OR

Smith (1983) stated that "sales people with high need for achievement sell the most kitchen appliances, whereas those with low need for achievement are better at selling garden tools" (p. 25).

Electronic sources - many electronic sources e.g., webpages, some ebooks and electronic articles have no page numbers.

 If available, use heading or section names. Otherwise count the number or paragraphs and include the abbreviation para. in front of the  number. You can also use both the heading/section name and the paragraph number.

For example:

… “product and services exports are a valuable addition to New Zealand's food and fibre exports” (New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, n.d., Agribusiness section).

Maltin (2015) reported that young viewers thought “that the men who made it must have been stoned” (para. 2). 

How to obtain additional support for yourself or the person you’re “looking after would help you to juggle work and care” (Carers UK, n.d., “Getting support for you" section, para. 1).

Note: To indicate that you have abbreviated a long heading/section name use quotation marks.

Long quotations - Quotations of 40 words or more should be placed in a double-spaced block of typewritten lines indented 1.27cm from the left margin. Omit the quotation marks.

Block quote with parenthetical citation (Author's name and publication date in brackets)

On the topic of necessary and sufficient conditions,

... detecting the exact conclusion is of the first importance. But that is often a complex task. If you are serving on the jury during a breaking or entering case, it is easy enough to state the conclusion that the prosecution is attempting to prove: The defendant is guilty of breaking or entering. That's right as far as it goes, but it doesn't go very far. (Waller, 1998, p. 82)

Block quote with narrative citation (Author's names as part of the sentence, publication date in brackets)

Sumpter (2013) points out the following:

The fact that it is now what the public thinks, rather than trade opinion, is a change from the previous law and puts New Zealand out of step with Australia and the United Kingdom. It moves our law much closer to that of the United States, whose case law may become relevant in this jurisdiction. (p. 330)

Block quote of two paragraphs

Research on post war defence showed that the system would not adequately defend our shores:

After WWII ended, defending New Zealand changed so much and so quickly that within 10 or so years it was clear that the system of gun defence the country's ports had relied on was completely useless.

Most coast defence equipment had been stepped down by 1944, and the permanent guns were mothballed until the Cold War. (Cooke, 2000, p. 817)

Note: If there is more than one paragraph, indent the first line of each paragraph by 1.27cm.

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The format varies depending on whether the source is in print or electronic form.

Print sources - for all print sources you must include the page number.

According to Smith, "sales people with high need for achievement sell the most kitchen appliances, whereas those with low need for achievement are better at selling garden tools" (25).

Electronic sources - many electronic sources (other than PDF documents) have no page numbers. If available, cite relevant section number (sec.) or paragraph number (par.).

As Thompson suggests, "sales performance is based on unmitigated bloody-minded determination" (sec. 2 par. 4).

Short quotations - Prose quotations of fewer than four lines and requiring no special emphasis should be placed within double quotation marks and incorporated into the text. (see examples above)

Long quotations - Quotations of more than four lines should be introduced by a colon, off-set from the text, begin on a new line, be indented one inch or ten spaces from the left margin, be double-spaced, and be without quotation marks. A parenthetical reference follows the last line of the quotation.

Eoin Mac Neill's observation that simplicity is a significant structural trait of Irish literature is applicable to the Corca Laidhe. He writes:

One of the most striking characteristics of Irish literature is the absence of comprehensive design. Large design appears to be associated most with the complex life of cities or the complex order of great states. Ancient Ireland had neither [...]. A cognate characteristic of Irish literature is a certain carelessness of proportion and symmetry [...] (Neill, 16).

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A footnote number follows directly after the quotation. This number directs the reader to a footnote at the bottom of the page. The footnote provides detailed information about the work being cited, including the page number where the quoted material can be found.

According to Smith, "sales people with high need for achievement sell the most kitchen appliances, whereas those with low need for achievement are better at selling garden tools."¹

Short quotations - Prose quotations of fewer than five lines should be placed within double quotation marks and incorporated into the text (see examples above).

Long quotations - Prose quotations of more than five lines should be presented as a single-spaced block quotation. Leave a blank line before and after the quote and indent the whole quote from the left margin. Do not add quotation marks.

Introduce the quote using your own words followed by : a colon – if you have written a complete sentence – or a comma if you use a phrase such as 'according to' along with the authors name. End the quote with a fullstop and the footnote number.

John Miles Foley addresses the issue of meaning in orally-derived narrative in "The Implications of Oral Tradition":

In the modern, literary work of art, we place the highest priority on a writer's personal manipulation of original or inherited materials, rewarding the work that strikes out boldly in a new direction by providing a perspective uniquely its own, memorable because it is new, fresh, or, best of all, inimitable. In such a case the work is praised for the finesse with which an author (not a tradition) confers meaning on his creation ... In contrast, a traditional work depends primarily on elements and strategies that were in place long before the execution of the present version or text, long before the present nominal author learned the inherited craft. Because the idiom is metonymic, summoning conventional connotations to conventional structures, we may say that the meaning it conveys is principally inherent.¹

This distinction between 'conferred' and 'inherent' meaning ...

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An endnote number follows directly after the quotation. This number directs the reader to an endnote at the bottom of the page. The endnote provides detailed information about the work being cited, including the page number where the quoted material can be found.

According to Chew and Maibach, "barrier creams should be tested against a variety of substances, and should only be marketed for protection against those specific substances."¹

Short quotations - Prose quotations of fewer than 50 words should be placed within quotation marks and incorporated into the text (see examples above).

Long quotations - Prose quotations of more than 50 words should be presented as a single-spaced block quotation. Leave a blank line before and after the quote and indent the whole quote from the left margin. Do not add quotation marks.

Introduce the quote using your own words follow by : a colon – if you have written a complete sentence – or a comma if you use a phrase such as 'according to' along with the authors name. End the quote with a fullstop and the footnote number.

According to Linus Pauling, it is useful to apply the concept of resonance to chemical bonds in terms of pendulums and springs, but we must remember that the concept is problematic in the quantum-mechanical sense:

The convenience and value of the concept of resonance in discussing the problems of chemistry are so great as to make the disadvantage of the element of arbitrariness of little significance. This element occurs in the classical resonance phenomenon also—it is arbitrary to discuss the behaviour of a system of pendulums with connecting springs in terms of the motion of independent pendulums, since the motion can be described in a way that is mathematically simpler by use of the normal coordinates of the system—but the convenience and usefulness of the concept have nevertheless caused it to be widely applied.¹

This concept is useful for developing ...

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