Click on each numbered item below to highlight each element. Then click in each bubble for further information.
2. The author (who wrote the article?).
AuthorYou normally need to include the author’s name when you quote or paraphrase their work. (Unless it is not clear who the author is or if you have already mentioned the name). Often there is more than one author or the author is writing on behalf of an organisation. In these cases there are particular rules about how you should cite and reference them.
The sentence above contains the following important items;
Quotation MarksPunctuation is important. It helps to clarify the flow of a text. In this case, quotation marks show that something from outside the flow of your text is included in support of your ideas. The quotation marks indicate exactly what is copied from another text.
3. A signal phrase (a word or phrase which introduces the words we want to use from the author’s text).
1. The source (where did the information come from?).
4. Quotation marks (“ …. ”) to show the precise words we have copied from the author’s text.
5. The quotation (or quoted text) which are the words we have taken from the author’s text.
6. A citation (showing the author’s name if it is not mentioned in the text, and the date of publication).
In his article about inventing in The Conversation, David Taylor argues that “simply copying nature does not work” (2014).
CitationsThis is known as an “in-text citation”. In-text citations in APA style normally consist of the author’s name and the date of publication, separated by a comma. For example: (Taylor, 2014). In this case, the author’s name, David Taylor, is mentioned in the text so we don’t need to repeat it; we just put the date in brackets, (2014). A full reference for this source needs to be included in the reference list at the end of your document.
Source
QuotationsA quotation must be the exact words the writer used and closed in quotation marks (parentheses). If you want to summarise the writer’s ideas in your own words, then do not use quotations marks; this is a paraphrase . If the quotation is long (more than 40 words), you should use a block quote.
Signal PhrasesSignal phrases introduce the ideas you want to use from another source. These ideas can be the actual words which you take from the original text (a quotation) or a restatement of these ideas in your own words (a paraphrase). Signal words can be very simple (states that …, writes that …). They can also indicate your opinion about the writer’s ideas (argues convincingly that …). You, at least, were convinced by the writer; other readers might be less persuaded.
Author
Quotation Mark
SourceThere are many types of sources you may wish to quote when you write; books, journals, blogs, tweets, videos, etc. You don’t need to include a phrase such as the one in our example (“his article about inventing in The Conversation”) but sometimes it is helpful (perhaps to distinguish it from another source by the same author). Each type of source needs a citation and a reference which must be formatted in a particular way. You don’t need to remember the exact details of this formatting but you need to know where to find these details when you need them.
Signal Phrase
Quotation (quoted text)
Citation
How to Quote, Paraphrase and Cite your Sources
When you use quotations or paraphrases in your text you need to follow some conventions and understand the terminology used to discuss your sources.
We are going to use a simple example taken from an online publication called “The Conversation”.You can read this short article here.
The article discusses how we get ideas for new inventions from nature but also that just copying from nature isn’t enough - copying doesn’t always work. He give examples of why this is so.
We want use this idea in our text so we need to say where this information came from, who wrote it and so on.
Here is the sentence we are going to insert into our text:
In his article about inventing in The Conversation, David Taylor argues that “simply copying nature does not work” (2014).
How to Quote, Paraphrase and Cite your Sources
When you use quotations or paraphrases in your text you need to follow some conventions and understand the terminology used to discuss your sources. We are going to use a simple example taken from an online publication called “The Conversation”.You can read this short article here.The article discusses how we get ideas for new inventions from nature but also that just copying from nature isn’t enough - copying doesn’t always work. He give examples of why this is so.We want use this idea in our text so we need to say where this information came from, who wrote it and so on. Here is the sentence we are going to insert into our text:
SourceThere are many types of sources you may wish to quote when you write; books, journals, blogs, tweets, videos, etc. You don’t need to include a phrase such as the one in our example (“his article about inventing in The Conversation”) but sometimes it is helpful (perhaps to distinguish it from another source by the same author). Each type of source needs a citation and a reference which must be formatted in a particular way. You don’t need to remember the exact details of this formatting but you need to know where to find these details when you need them.
There are many types of sources you may wish to use in support of arguments in your text.
For example, books, journals, newspapers, web pages (which may be online versions of journals, newspapers, etc.), videos, podcasts, blogs, and many others.
When you quote or paraphrase information in your text, you need to consider the authority of the source (is it a reliable source of information?).
See more on
There may be more than one author (scientific papers often have many), or the author may be unknown.
For more information about citing and referencing authors in APA style see this
Signal phrases, sometimes called reporting phrases, introduce the quotation or paraphrase you cite in you text.
Signal phrases are important because they make it clear who said what, and because they can indicate your
(whether you agree or disagree with he author you are quoting).
For more examples see the
, or speech marks help to show exactly what an author said and to separate this from your own words.
page. You can also view information about citations in APA style
For information about how to speed up your writing see the research tools section on the
page.
