1. Use quotes sparingly.
In general, rely more on paraphrase and summary than direct quotation (see last week's post for tips on paraphrasing). When you overuse quotations, your narrative voice is repeatedly interrupted, resulting in a choppy feel. Also, overuse of quotes may give readers the impression that you don't have anything original to say yourself.
Use a direct quote when you feel that you can't adequately express the original author's idea in your own words, or when you just love the way s/he expresses it. You can quote passages that involve a lot of numbers, if you need to include that level of detail and can't paraphrase or summarize it instead. You can also use a quotation when you want to convey the personality or tone of the original author. Try to keep it to a maximum of one or two quotes per page, though.
2. Punctuate correctly.
In general, punctuation goes INSIDE quotation marks. Here are some examples (in-text citations are in APA style):
Doe (2012) argues, "blah blah blah blah," and blah blah blah (p. 12). Putting the comma outside the end quotes is one of the most common errors I see.
The questionnaire begins with the question, "Blah blah blah blah blah?" Note that if the question mark is part of the original quote, it should go inside the quotation marks. If the question mark is your own, not part of the actual quote, it should go outside the end quotes. Example: Should the survey require participants to respond with "true" or "false" to the statement, "I read and understood the patient education materials provided to me"?
Note that in 6th edition APA style, the period at the end of a sentence that ends in a quotation should go after the parenthetical citation (except in the case of long, block formatted quotes--see the section on block quotations below). The order goes like this: Beginning quotation marks, quote, end quotation marks, parenthetical citation, period. Like this:
Doe (2013) argued, "Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah" (p. 16).
Do not use double punctuation. Examples:
INCORRECT: The questionnaire begins with the question, "Blah blah blah blah?". See that period after the end quotes? This is incorrect--only end the sentence with ONE punctuation mark. The only time it is ever correct to use double punctuation is when you combine a question mark with an exclamation point to indicate what APA calls an "exclamatory question," as in "He said what?!" I can't imagine needing to do this in a scholarly paper, however.
CORRECT: The questionnaire begins with the question, "Blah blah blah blah?"
INCORRECT: Doe (2013) argued that "blah blah blah blah blah." (p. 17). See the double periods? One before the end quotes and one after the parentheses? This is never correct.
CORRECT: Doe (2013) argued that "blah blah blah blah blah" (p. 17).
Remember that long quotes should be formatted as block quotations. Different style manuals have different rules for what constitutes a "long quote." In 6th edition APA style, it's 40 words or longer. As I recall, MLA style puts it at 30 words or longer. Be sure to check the rule for whatever style manual your paper requires. In general, however, each line of a block formatted quote will be indented about a half inch from the left margin. Do not use quotation marks in a block quote; the block formatting takes their place. In APA style, the punctuation at the end of a block quote goes before the parenthetical citation, not after; this is different from short quotes, in which the end punctuation follows the parenthetical citation.
I tried three times to show you an example of a block quote, but the Outlook email formatting is so crazy that it made it impossible. It turned each of my efforts into a jumbled mess. However, you can see examples of block formatted quotes in my "APA Style FAQ" PowerPoint presentation on the Blackboard "Writing Resources" website. The PowerPoint also provides more detail about block quotes, including what to do if a new paragraph begins in the middle of a block quotation.
For short quotes, be sure to put the reproduced text in quotation marks and cite appropriately, so that it is 100% clear to readers that this is quoted material.
3. Capitalize correctly.
Capitalize the first word of a direct quotation IF the quoted text is a complete sentence. If it isn't a complete sentence, the first word in the quote should be lower case. The following examples are from the Purdue OWL - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/577/01/:
Quoted text is a complete sentence: Mr. Johnson, who was working in his field that morning, said, "The alien spaceship appeared right before my own two eyes."
Quoted text is not a complete sentence: Although Mr. Johnson has seen odd happenings on the farm, he stated that the spaceship "certainly takes the cake" when it comes to unexplainable activity.
If you interrupt a direct quotation in the middle and continue it later in the sentence, do not capitalize the first word of the second part of the quote. Example:
"I didn't see an actual alien being," Mr. Johnson said, "but I sure wish I had."
4. Cite your source. This is crucial to give credit to the original author, to show readers where to read the original text, and to avoid plagiarism. Different style guides have different rules for how to cite source material; be sure to read these and follow them exactly.
For more on quoting, check out the APA Style Blog, the Purdue OWL, the AMA style guide, or any of the other great resources linked to on the Blackboard "Writing Resources" website. Just click on "Useful Websites." As always, I will post this email on my Writing Tips blog, where you can also find an archive of my previous tips: http://www.writingtipoftheweek.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html
I hope this post was helpful. Happy scribbling!
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