How Do I Handle Quotations in my Research Paper?

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Modern Language Association (MLA) format for parenthetical citations follows the author-page method of citation.  (See section 3.7 in the MLA handbook.)  This means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear in your Works Cited page. The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. For more specific examples refer to the “parenthetical citation” handout.

EXAMPLES:

  • Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (263).
  • Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Wordsworth 263).
  • Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).

For nonprint (films, TV series, etc.) or electronic sources, try to include the name that begins the entry in the Works Cited page. Sometimes you may have to use an indirect quotation, that is, a quotation that you found in another source that was quoting from the original. For such indirect quotations, use "qtd. in" to indicate the source.

EXAMPLE:

  • Ravitch argues that high schools are pressured to act as "social service centers, and they don't do that well" (qtd.in Weisman 259). 


Sometimes more information is necessary to identify the source from which a quotation is taken. 
For instance, if two or more authors have the same last name, provide both authors' first initials 
(or even her or his full name if different authors share initials) in your citation. 
If you cite more than one work by a particular author, include a shortened title for the particular work 
from which you are quoting to distinguish it from the other works by that same person.
 
 EXAMPLES:

Two authors with the same last name:
Although some medical ethicists claim that cloning will lead to designer children (R. Miller 12), others note that the advantages for medical research outweigh this consideration (A. Miller 46).

Two works by the same author:

Lightenor has argued that computers are not useful tools for small children ("Too Soon" 38), though he has acknowledged that early exposure to computer games does lead to better small motor skill development in a child's second and third year ("Hand-Eye Development" 17). 

 

SHORT QUOTATIONS

To indicate short quotations (fewer than four typed lines of prose or three lines of verse) in your text, enclose the quotation within double quotation marks and incorporate it into your text. Provide the author and specific page citation (in the case of verse, provide line numbers) in the text, and include a complete reference in the Works Cited page. Punctuation marks such as periods, commas, and semicolons should appear after the parenthetical citation. Question marks and exclamation points should appear within the quotation marks if they are a part of the quoted passage but after the parenthetical citation if they are a part of your text.

 

EXAMPLES:

  • According to some, dreams express "profound aspects of personality" (Foulkes 184), though others disagree.

  • According to Foulkes's study, dreams may express "profound aspects of personality" (184).

  • Is it possible that dreams may express "profound aspects of personality" (Foulkes 184)? Cullen concludes, "Of all the things that happened there/ That’s all I remember" (11-12).

 

LONG QUOTATIONS

Place quotations longer than four typed lines in a freestanding block of typewritten lines, and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented one inch from the left margin, and maintain double-spacing. Your parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark. When quoting verse, maintain original line breaks. (You should maintain double-spacing throughout your essay.)

 

EXAMPLES:

Nelly Dean treats Heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him throughout her narration: 
They entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room, and I had no more sense, so, I put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping it would be gone on the morrow. By chance, or else attracted by hearing his voice, it crept to Mr. Earnshaw's door, and there he found it on quitting his chamber. Inquiries were made as to how it got there; I was obliged to confess, and in recompense for my cowardice and inhumanity was sent out of the house. (Bronte 78)
In "Sources," Adrienne Rich explores the roles of women in shaping their world: 
The faithful drudging child the child at the oak desk whose penmanship, hard work, style will win her prizes becomes the woman with a mission, not to win prizes but to change the laws of history. (23)

 

ADDING OR OMITTING WORDS IN QUOTATIONS

If you add a word or words in a quotation, you should put brackets around the words to indicate that they are not part of the original text.

 

EXAMPLE:

  • Jan Harold Brunvand, in an essay on urban legends, states: "some individuals [who retell urbanlegends] make a point of learning every rumor or tale" (78). 
 
If you omit a word or words from a quotation, you should indicate the deleted word or word by using ellipsis marks surrounded by brackets.

EXAMPLE:

  • In an essay on urban legends, Jan Harold Brunvand notes that "some individuals make a point of learning every recent rumor or tale [...] and in a short time a lively exchange of details occurs" (78).

 

Note: If there are ellipsis marks in the quoted author's work, do not put brackets around them; only use brackets around ellipsis marks to distinguish them from ellipsis marks in the quoted author's work. 
 

Adapted by Maine South High School Library from:

Writing a Research Paper. Purdue University. 29 July 2002. 

<http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html#Handling >.