QUOTATIONS AND IN-TEXT CITATIONS

• When writing a term paper or an article for academic

purposes, it is important to weigh one’s opinions against
other people’s opinions. This is done by quoting from
relevant sources.
• Quoting means using information from another source
either as word for word or by paraphrasing or summarizing
(using one’s own words to explain the original information).
The purpose of quoting is to acknowledge the relevance of
the works of others to the topic of discussion.
• A citation is a reference to a published or unpublished
source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated
expression that indicates the source from which the quote
came from. This is known as an in-text citation. The brief in-
text citations point the reader to more complete
• To cite correctly, a writer has to use established means of
citing from sources. There are very many citation styles.
The citation style sometimes depends on the academic
discipline involved. However, the most common ones are:
• APA (American Psychological Association) is used by
Education, Psychology, and Sciences
• MLA (Modern Language Association) style is used by the
Humanities
• Chicago Manual Style is generally used by Business,
History, and the Fine Arts.
• NOTE: Students should always check with their professors
to know which citation styles to use.
• In this course, we will focus on the APA (American
Psychological Association) style. (The 7th edition) and
 Sources of quotations and citations
• Below are some of the sources where researchers can
source information for their papers from:
• Books
• Periodicals (Journal articles, Newspapers, Magazines,
Brochures).
• DVDs
• CDs
• YouTube
• Television and radio programs
• Class and public lectures
• Lecture notes.
• Interviews
• Field researches
• E-mails.
• In all types of academic writing, you have to document the
sources you used in your paper. Citations serve a number
of purposes:
• Help readers identify and relocate the sources: The
citations included in your paper can help readers relocate a
source to either verify the information or to learn more
about issues and topics by the source.
• Provide evidence that the position is well-researched:
Academic writing is usually grounded in the past studies.
Citations allow you to show that your position or argument
is thoroughly researched.
• Give credit to the author of an original concept or idea
presented: Allow you to give credit to other researchers
and acknowledge their ideas, thoughts and words you
used in your paper.
• Help you avoid plagiarism: Plagiarism is a serious
academic dishonesty and offense. Any violation of
academic integrity is subject to an appropriate penalty.
• Ways of plagiarizing include:
a)Presenting another person’s work as one’s work
b)Translating a work from another language and presenting
it as one’s work.
c)Changing some words of a cited work but presenting the
rest as one’s own work.
d) Faking a citation.
e) Quoting directly or indirectly without indicating the
source.
NOTE: All ideas and work of other persons, regardless of
their source, must be acknowledged.
 USING THE APA STYLE:
We will use the latest version, which is the 7 th edition of the APA
manual of 2019. It offers examples for the general format of APA
research papers.
• When using APA citation, a writer should follow the author-
date method of in-text citation. This means that the author’s
last name and year of publication and page number (if
available) should appear in text, and a complete reference
should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.
• APA uses a parenthesis at the end of a quotation. It is thus
known as a parenthetical citation style. The page number, if
available, is always written in the parenthesis.
• A writer sometimes introduces a quotation with a signal
phrase. This refers to words that alert the reader that an idea
(a quotation) taken from another source is about to be used.
• The signal phrase may or may not include the author's last
name and/or the date of publication in parentheses.
• Phrases that a writer can use for signal phrases include: 'As
stated by, argued by, posited by, suggested by, pointed out by
Oyago (2021) '(to indicate a citation by an author or authors).
• The preposition in is used if the citation is done using the title
of a book, journal etc. or the title of a chapter e.g. As pointed
out in Oral Literature in Africa or As stated in “Forms of Oral
Literature” if citing using the title of a chapter or article.
• NOTE: A writer is not limited to using these signal phrases
and can use any other.
NOTE:
1. The titles of books, periodicals, films, videos, TV
shows, and microfilms publications are italicized when
the work is typed and underlined if the work is hand
written.
2. Quotation marks are used when using the title of a
chapter, article, episode of a TV series etc. when citing.
3. APA style requires authors to use the past tense or
present perfect tense when using signal phrases to
describe earlier research, for example, Jones (1998)
found or Jones (1998) has found…
4. If more than one author with the same surnames are
cited, then add the initial of the first names in capital
letters. For example: D. Jones (2012) and P. Jones (2015).
5. In cases of two or three authors, the word “and” is
used when referring to them in the essay text and an
ampersand (&) is used if you are referring to them in a
parenthetical citation.
 QUOTATIONS AND IN-TEXT CITATIONS USING APA
• A writer normally uses two general types of notes for in-text
citations. These include:
a) Direct quotations
b) Indirect quotation (rephrasing)
Using Direct quotations: This means citing words as they appear in
the original. There are two types of direct quotations.
These are short quotations and long quotations.
• A short quotation is less than 40 words.
• A long quotation is more than 40 words.
REMEMBER:
When quoting directly from a work, using APA, one needs to
include the author, year of publication, and the page number, if
available, (preceded by p. for one page or pp. for more than one
page). Page numbers should be written in parenthesis after the
citation.
• Using short and Long Quotations When Citing.
• Short quotations are inserted within quotation marks.
They run directly into the main texts.
• Long quotations are written in a free-standing block of
indented lines, without quotation marks.
• The quotation should begin on a new line and indented
1/2 inch from the left margin, that is, in the same place
you would begin a new paragraph.
• Skip a line before and after writing the long quotation.
• Things to note:
• 1. Maintain double-spacing throughout the paper
including when writing the direct quotations.
Examples of short quotations: Note the different ways in which
the name of the author and date of publication are placed.
• According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty using
APA style, especially when it was their first time" (p. 199).
OR
• Jones posited that "students often had difficulty using APA style,
especially when it was their first time" (1998, p. 199).
OR
• A writer can place the author's last name, the year of
publication, and the page number in parentheses after the
quotation.
• She stated that, "Students often had difficulty using APA style,
especially when it was their first time " (Jones, 1998, p. 199).
• NOTE: The page number(s) always remains in the parenthesis
after the quotation.
Example of a long quotation:
Jones's (1998) study found the following:
Students often had difficulty using APA style,
especially when it was their first time citing sources.
This difficulty could be attributed to the fact that
many students failed to purchase a style manual or to ask
their teacher for help. Another difficulty is based
on the fact that many students believe that citing is
not important. They do not want to be bothered with
rigours of academic research and documentation.
However this attitude is detrimental to their
academic pursuit. (p. 199)
From the above, one can conclude that it is important for
learners change their attitude towards documentation so
as to engage effectively in research.
• NOTE:
• It is advisable for a writer to comment on the relevance of the
quotation. This can be done either before or after the
quotation.
• If a word or words are added or a letter is changed from
lower case to upper case or vise versa, then this new
information in inserted in square brackets […..] e.g.
• Original direct quotation: “Since they carry the continents
with them as they move, we refer to this motion as
continental drift” (Kutner, 2003, p. 451).
• Quoted sentence with added words: “Since they [tectonic
plates] carry the continents with them as they move, we refer
to this motion as continental drift” (Kutner, 2003, p. 451).
• The bracketed words in the quoted sentence were inserted
into the quotation to clarify the meaning of the word they.
3. If there is an error in the original text, the writer ought to
indicate awareness of this error by writing the word sic, after
the error. The word sic is a Latin word sic erat scriptum, which
means "thus“ or "thus was written as”. Sic is written in
brackets or parenthesis, with or without italicizing it. For
example:
• “It might may (sic) no difference, we ought to get someone
to ask him about his belief.”
• “We all gon [sic] be dead in 100 Years
• A NOTE OF CAUTION:
• When using sic to mark a mistake, make sure it is really a
mistake. For example, there is a spelling differences
between British and American English. If a spelling or word
usage seems unfamiliar, the writer should double-check it
before adding sic to it.
• 4. If the original text is too long, the writer can decide to
omit certain words from the text by using an ellipsis without
changing the meaning of the quote. An ellipsis is a set of
three dots (. . .), which show where something has been
consciously omitted from a quotation. The plural of ellipsis is
ellipses.
• For example:
"After school I went to her house, which was a few blocks
away, and then came home."
• The quote can be shortened by replacing some words with
an ellipsis. i.e. "After school I went to her house … and then
came home."
• The words "which was a few blocks away" have been
replaced with an ellipsis without changing the meaning of
the original quote.
 Indirect quotations (rephrasing)
• These are not word for word quotations.
• There are two types of indirect quotations used.
• Summary (Short paraphrase): Information is
shorter than the original. The writer uses his/her
own words as much as possible.
• Paraphrase: Information is almost the same
length as the original. The writer also uses
his/her own words as much as possible.
• Paraphrases and summaries are not word for
word citations thus no quotation marks should
be used against them nor should they be
indented.
• When citing paraphrased/summarized information, APA
requires you to include the author and date. It is also
recommended (but not required) that you include the page
number. The format of the page number depends on if the
information is on a single page or range of pages. But if
summarizing an entire chapter or book, no pages are
required.
• In this class we will not use pages for indirect quotations.
• For example :
• Original quotation: “In the case of Facebook, it has
changed its format multiple times, and merged other
literacy practices – email, instant messaging, games – into
its structure in an attempt to keep users on the site” (Keller,
2014, p.74).
• Summary: Facebook has tried to hold on to its users by
incorporating new functions like games and email
(Keller, 2014).
• Paraphrase: For example, Facebook has tried to
maintain its users by changing the way it works. It has
done this by incorporating new applications like the use
of email, instant messaging and games (Keller, 2014).
• Plagiarized work: Facebook has tried to changed its
format multiple times, and merged other practices like
email, instant messaging, games, in an attempt to keep
users on the site” (Keller, 2014).
• NOTE: The writer has plagiarized by merely omitting
certain words.
When to use a direct quotation or an indirect one
There are 3 people involved in this decision:
• the author of the text you are referencing,
• the writer of the research paper
• the reader
A writer should use a paraphrase if:
• The authors' words are too difficult for readers to
understand.
A writer should summarize if:
• Not all of the authors words are necessary; e.g. if the
author gives examples or explanations that are
unnecessary in achieving meaning.
• Paraphrasing or quoting directly will make the text too
long.
A writer should use a direct quotation if:
• everything the author has written is important to the researcher.
• the quotation will not make the text too long.
• The researcher has not yet used too many quotations already.
• when an author has said something memorable.
• when you want to respond to exact wording (e.g., something a
writer wrote).
• NOTE:
• Don't forget to indicate the author's surname name, year of
publication and page number if it is a direct quotation and the
source indicates page numbers. There is no need to include page
numbers if it is an indirect quotation.
• The paper should only have about 25% of directly and indirectly
quoted information. In fact some colleges and departments only
allow 15% of the quoted information.
 HOW TO QUOTE AND CITE

REMEMBER: The author’s name and year of publication are written in either
the signal phrase or parenthesis. The writer makes the decision of where to
place them. However, the page number is always written in the parenthesis.
Work by a single author with name, year and page in parenthesis:
• “Several rivers aside from the Thames once intersected London, although
those rivers have since been covered over by development” (Clayton,
2000, p. 28).
Work by a single author with the name in the signal phrase.
• Use both the first name and surname when citing for the first time. If a
writer uses more than one name, he or she should not add the year of
publication. Write the year in the parenthesis. Subsequently use only the
surname the next time the author is cited. e.g.
• Antony Clayton points out that “several rivers aside from the Thames
once intersected London, although those rivers have since been covered
over by development” (2000, p. 28).
 Work by two authors
Use the word “and” when citing two or more authors in the
text (in the signal phrase) and an ampersand (&) when writing
the names in the parenthesis.
John Rosdahl and Rosetta Weise have argued that the
unemployed of Denmark “have had the right to request job
related activities such as training or publicly supported work,
but that right has recently become an obligation” (2001,
p.160)
OR
The unemployed of Denmark “have had the right to request
job related activities such as training or publicly supported
work, but that right has recently become an obligation”
(Rosdahl & Weise, 2001, p. 160).
Citing three to five authors:
Provide all the authors' last names when you first refer to a
source with 3-5 authors. However, only list the first author with
the Latin abbreviation "et al." for any subsequent references.
For example:
• Jones, Chavez, Jackson, and Chen (2010) have argued...
• After this write: Jones et al. (2010) further described...
• Citing six or more authors:
• If a source has 6 or more authors, simply provide the last
name of the first author with "et al." from the first citation
to the last.
For example:
• Thomas et al. (2007) likened abnormal psychology to...
• Abnormal psychology is likened to…(Thomas et al., 2007).
Works listed by title i.e. works with no author indicated
• If the source has no author indicated on it, the writer can use:
• the title of the chapter or article set off in quotation marks.
• use the italicized title of the book, journal, newspaper,
magazine etc.
• In the first example below, the title of the article has been
used and in the second one, the italicized title of the
newspaper has been used.
• Critics have recently taken exception to the decision by the
Nairobi City Council “not to name the new football stadium
after any local athlete” ("The stadium," 2018, March 2, p.20).
• Critics have recently taken exception to the decision by the
Nairobi City Council “not to name the new football stadium
after any local athlete”(The Daily Nation, 2018, March 2, p.20).
Works by corporate authors
A Corporate author refers to an organization. The
organization, and not individual authors, is thus the copyright
owner of the source. In such a case, write the organization’s
name in the signal phrase or in the parenthesis. For example:
The National Research Council indicated that “between 1970
and 1994, expenditures on information processing equipment
rose at an inflation-adjusted average annual rate of 9.7
percent” (1999, p. 25).
OR
“Between 1970 and 1994, expenditures on information
processing equipment rose at an inflation-adjusted average
annual rate of 9.7 percent” (National Research Council, 1999,
p. 25).
• If organization is recognized by abbreviation, cite the
first time as follows:
• (World Health Organization (WHO), 2005). Thereafter
use (WHO, 2005)
• Citing multiple authors (citing from different authors
who have similar ideas).
• If a citation summarizes information from different
sources in a single citation, list the sources in
alphabetical order and separate with semicolons.
Researchers on sleep conclude that, in most cases, sleep
paralysis is simply a sign that your body is not moving
smoothly through the stages of sleep. Rarely is sleep
paralysis linked to deep underlying psychiatric problems
(Le Gris, 1996; Alder & Towne, 1995; Barlow, 1990).
Two or more works published in the same year,
by the same author.
• Add the lower case alphabetical letters (a, b,
c) to the year. The book whose title has an
earlier alphabetical letter is indicated as a, the
second as b, etc. For example:
• All of Christian mysticism grew out of St.
Augustine's discussions of the Eros theme
(Singer, 1984a, p. 170).
• Christian preachers recognized the
importance of fasting (Singer, 1984b, pp. 7-8).
 Internet and Multimedia Sources
These sources are cited in the typical author-page number style.
However, if an internet site does not have page numbers, offer other
location information such as screen, section (sec.), paragraph (para.),
track, or time frame (min). E.g.
The ancient Greeks relied on the sea for most long-distance traveling
(Martin, 2002, para. 2).
For a YouTube video, list the person or organization that uploaded the
video as the author. If this is not the same person responsible for the
content of the video, make this clear in the text. E.g.
• Nisha Anand states that … (TED, 2020).
• In order to highlight a specific moment in a video or audio source,
use a timestamp in the in-text citation. E.g.
• Nisha Anand states that… (TED, 2020, 1:59).
• NOTE: The TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) is a talks
channel where prominent people talk about their lives.
 Quotations within another source
Use this form to cite a quotation that was found in another (not
the original) source. Use the words “as cited in”. For example.
• John Evelyn described London's churchyards as being filled
with bodies "one above the other, to the very top of the
walls, and some above the walls" (as cited in Clayton, 1998, p.
14). OR
• London's churchyards were filled with bodies "one above the
other, to the very top of the walls, and some above the walls"
(Evelyn, 1948, as cited in Clayton, 1998, p. 14).
OR
Evelyn (1829, as cited in Clayton, 1998) states that…… (p.14)
• NOTE: In the reference page, only include the secondary
source (Clayton, 1998).
NOTE:
In APA citation and documentation, all
sources that are cited in the text must
appear in the reference list which is written
at the end of the paper.
For more information, consult the
Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association, 7th edition,
second printing.