A direct quotation is the exact reproduction of words from another source or from your own previously published work. There are two types of direct quotation in APA format: quotations and block quotations.
In addition, you may use information from sources without directly quoting them. In these cases, you "paraphrase" the information you have learned. In other words, you put the information in your own words.
Whether you use direct quotations or when you paraphrase, you must always cite your sources in the body of your paper.
See the JIBC Library APA Guide on In-Text Citations.
Paraphrasing
Most of the content in your assignment should be paraphrased rather than directly quoted. Some instructors may actually limit the number or length of direct quotations used in an assignment. Consult with your instructor or visit the Writing Centre if you are concerned about the number of direct quotations in your paper.
(1) Quotations (39 Words or Less):
If you are using a direct quote from a source that is 39 words or less, than you are required to surround the quotation within quotation marks. “ ”
- Do not use an ellipsis at the beginning and/or the end of a direct quotation unless the original source includes an ellipsis (APA Style Blog).
- Place periods and commas within closing single or double quotation marks. Place other punctuation marks inside quotation marks only when they are part of the quoted material.
- Place final sentence punctuation to the right of (after) your in-text citation.
Example:
Effective teams can be difficult to describe because “high performance along one domain does not translate to high performance along another” (Ervin et al., 2018, p. 470).
(2) Block Quotes (40 Words or More):
If you are using a direct quote from a source and the quote is 40 words or more, than there are special formatting considerations. You will need to treat it as a block quote.
- Do not enclosed the quotation with quotation marks within the body of your narrative. Instead, the block quotation should start on a new line. The entire quotation should be indented ½ inch (or 1.27cm) from the left margin, not just the first line.
- Do this by using the ruler tool or by using the “Tab” key on the first and second lines.
- The block quote should be double spaced with no additional space before or after the block.
- Include an in-text citation.
- Narrative style: the author and year come before the quotation in your narrative with the page number(s) appearing after, or
- Parenthetical style: cite the author, year, and page number(s) in a parenthetical citation after the quotation.
- Place final punctuation to the left (before) your in-text citation. So, give the quotation's final punctuation and then the in-text citation element/s.
Example:
Recruits may not graduate for a variety of reasons:
These reasons may include personal reasons (e.g., they no longer want to work in law
enforcement), physical training (PT) session failures (i.e., they do not complete the
requisite number of sessions as mandated by the LEA or state), injury, failure in
academics or scenario-based training. (Lockie et al., 2019, p. 1)
See Additional Resources for more.
