Quoting

Quoting Conventions

Quoting means copying the exact words of another author, without changing the words or punctuation, and indicating this by the use of quotation marks (or inverted commas) around the quoted words if the passage is relatively short (e.g. no more than one sentence or a couple of lines of text) or by formatting as a block or indented quote for longer quotations. An in-text citation (using either a numbering system or an author-date system) is always necessary to indicate that another author's words are being cited with the full bibliographic details set out in an end-of-text reference list or endnotes (or at the foot of the relevant page in the footnote system). Note that page numbers should always be included for direct quotations, if possible, to enable a reader to locate the quotation easily in the original source.

Short Quotes
(Use of Quotation Marks)

Examples:

1. Merchant states that, a "vision in which nature is held in esteem as mother and Goddess is a source of inspiration and empowerment for many ecofeminists" (1990: 101).

2. According to Merchant (1990, p. 101), many ecofeminists draw "inspiration and empowerment" from a "vision in which nature is held in esteem as mother and Goddess".

Note:
* Punctuation (such as the use or not of commas, colons, and abbreviations such as p.) varies depending on the referencing style adopted. The golden rule is to be consistent throughout your writing and follow the conventions of the appropriate referencing style for your discipline for both in-text citations and end-of-text reference lists.

Longer Quotes
(Indented or Block Quotes)

Example:

New social movement theorists differ from collective behaviour theorists in their explanation of protest movements. The new social movement theorists

see mass mobilisations as rational, and potentially therapeutic - as promoting self-awareness and collective learning, developing new forms of participation, facilitating the process of communication, forming new identities, experimenting with new cultural codes, and reviving and expanding the public realm (civil society) stultified by formalised and instrumental state interventions (Pakulski 1991: 28).

Note:
* When a long quotation is used, it is indented (from the left margin and often from both margins) and no quotation marks are used.
* The author, date of publication and page number are pieces of information which must be included.
* Long quotes are usually done in single spacing and the rest of the essay in space and a half or double spacing.
* Long quotes are also often done in a slightly reduced point size to further set them off from the main text.
* Long quotes like the one above should only be used on rare occasions.
* The original use of italics, (brackets) and dashes - have to be reproduced when you quote.

Secondary (and Tertiary) Quotes

If you wish to use a quotation that another author has cited (and you are unable to locate the original), this is called a secondary quote and you must indicate this in your in-text reference by giving the original author's name and using phrases such as "as quoted by" or "cited in" followed by the secondary source. Your end-of -text reference list contains only the details of the secondary source (i.e. the source you actually read) and not the original author's bibliographic details.

Examples:

1. This is what Bruner (cited in Raimes, 1983) meant when he described as essential to learning the act of "climb[ing] on your shoulders to be able to look down at what you've just done and then to represent it to yourself" (p. 537).

2. In the words of Peter Carey, as quoted by Charlotte Wood in Walden (2004, p. R3), "I need time and solitude to work out what it is that I think".

Note:
* Example 1 is from Zamel, V. (1992). Writing one's way into reading. TESOL Quarterly, 26, 463-485.
Example 2 is from Walden, M. (2004). The face: Murray Walden meets Charlotte Wood, novelist. The Weekend Australian Review, Feb 28-29, p. R3.

Punctuation

In all quotes, the punctuation must be the same as the original. This includes capital letters, inverted commas etc. If you add italics, bolding or underlining, you must let the reader know by writing (my emphasis) or (emphasis added) immediately after the quotation. Some writers also clarify the use of emphasis by the original author by adding (original emphasis) or (emphasis as in the original) after some quotations.

Ellipsis

If information is left out, three dots ... must be used to show where the missing information goes.

Example:

As Ballard and Clanchy (1988, p. 14) have argued, "Learning within the university is a process of gradual socialization into a distinctive culture of knowledge, and … literacy must be seen in terms of the functions to which language is put in that culture".

Square Brackets

* Square brackets [ ] indicate that you have added something extra to the original.
You may need to do this:
* to change the grammar so that the quote makes sense
* to insert or delete a capital letter

Examples:

1. "No matter how much we tried to structure our organizations in ways that eliminated leadership, it did not disappear ... [and] because we did not recognise and validate it, leadership became covert."

2. In order to be successful at university, "[students] must learn the exact scope of the territory (the domain of the subject), the means of travelling (the mode of analysis), the boundaries and the manner of speech (the disciplinary dialect)" (Ballard and Clanchy, 1988, p. 14).

Use of (sic)

If there is an error, sexist or otherwise contentious language used in a quote, you keep the original spelling or word but put sic in brackets after the mistake or questionable turn of phrase.

Examples:

1. "Nature seems to be more significant then (sic) nurture in this case.”

2. Power is "the probability that one actor in a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his (sic) own will despite resistance."

With sexist language it is probably best to paraphrase in a non sexist way and not use the quote, unless you want to make a deliberate point or comment about the author's attitude or context of writing.