How to Cite A Quote In An Essay?

Adding a quote in your essay is an effective way to substantiate your thoughts. Direct quote in your essay means you are providing evidence for your ideas. To choose a relevant quote, search for the passage or sentence from your study material that supports your statement. Include that quote and cite it appropriately according to the style you are following such as APA, MLA, Chicago, and others.

Table of Contents

Include a short quote in a sentence

A short quote refers to the text with less than four typed lines. When students add a short quote, they need to incorporate it directly into their paragraph alongside their own words. Make it understandable for the reader; write a complete sentence, which contains the quote instead of just picking a sentence from someone else’s work and adding it to your essay. For example, “stress may lead to suicide, and an individual under chronic stress is vulnerable.” If you add this exact sentence, the reader may not get an idea of your argument. You can include a sentence like this: The author in the article highlights the consequence of stress, as “stress may lead to suicide, and an individual under chronic stress is vulnerable.”

Add some introduction to the quote

Readers should know the background of the quote. Introduction enables your reader to know that you are incorporating evidence alongside mentioning the source. On several occasions, you cite the author’s name, but it is not always mandatory. Following are the ways of including a short quote. “John Adams says, ‘Morning walk leads to a better physical and mental health.'” “According to Baker Charles, ‘Lack of sleep is one of the reasons behind stress.'” “Based on recent research, people living alone are more likely to suffer from stressful feelings.”

Add quotation marks for a direct quote

Add a quotation sign whenever you insert someone else’s words into your essay. In this way, the reader would understand that you have borrowed an idea from another author. Using quotation marks and citing the source of your study material is fine. However, if you include other writer’s work in your paper and do not cite them, it will be plagiarism.

You need to add quotation marks even if you quote only a few words. If you have any doubt, it’s better to be careful and add quotes.

Add a description after a quote to indicate how it endorses your claim

A quote on its own does not validate your idea until you evaluate it and connect that to your main thesis. Ideally, after the quote, add 1 to 3 sentences describing the meaning of the quote. How it supports your thesis statement, and how it validates your overall argument. For example, if you have inserted a quote “According to McLean’s research, ‘Eight-to-nine-hour sleep relieves stressful feelings.'” You can add a description: This indicates that how sleep positively impacts individuals’ health. On the other hand, lack of sleep does not keep the mind fresh, and it leads to stress.

Paraphrase the passage in your own words

If you can state the author’s ideas in your own words, paraphrase the passage or quote. Once you have paraphrased the author’s quote, you need to provide an in-text citation in your sentence. In-text citation needs to comply with your paper formats such as APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian, and others. For example, if you are writing your paper in APA style format, you need to give in-text citation like this: (Smith, 2013). Smith is the author’s last name and 2013 is the year of publication. If you are following MLA format, incorporate page number with the author’s name; for example, (Smith 23). Once you paraphrase the passage, you still need to add your own description of the text. The purpose is to prove your thesis/main argument with the help of relevant information.

Use a block for a long direct quote

A long quote refers to the text that exceeds four lines. You will wrap these quotes using a block of text that connects to the rest of your paragraph. The quote will be in a block, so you do not need to add a quotation mark around. The reader will understand that the text is a direct quote because it will look different from other passages. Nevertheless, you will need to give proper citation at the bottom.

Provide some Introduction of the Quote to the reader

If you add a blockquote, write a full sentence that describes what the readers need to know after reading the block quote. When this sentence ends, add a colon and then insert the blockquote. By doing so, you will provide an introduction to your block quote.

Citation of two or more paragraphs

When you cite two or more paragraphs, you need to add block quotes, even if the passage is less than four lines in length. You need to indent the first line of every paragraph to an extra 0.25 inches. Then, add ellipses (…) once the paragraph ends to make a transition to the next one.

Do not use too many Direct Quotes in Your Paper

Using too many direct quotes would not serve the purpose of your essay. In the paper, you need to provide your own arguments and ideas. If you have borrowed ideas from other scholarly writings, use your own words, and cite the source.

Add a Separate Reference Page

Once you have completed your essay and provided all the quotes with citations, prepare a Reference page. This will be the last page of your paper, and you do not consider it in essay word count. For APA, you will use the heading “References,” MLA format has “Works Cited” page, Chicago/Turabian style uses Bibliography/Endnotes, and so on. The number of references on a reference page should be in alphabetical order.

Final Word

You cite quotes in your essay to validate your arguments and thesis statement. Quotes serve as evidence of your arguments. However, do not incorporate too many quotes because you need to present arguments in your own words. Use your words, but cite the source from which you borrow ideas.