Quotation

At times you will want to use direct quotation rather than paraphrase, but not too often:  A research paper should consist of about 90% paraphrase.  Use quotation to make an important point even stronger, or because the wording in the original is especially effective.  It is important to use quotation clearly and correctly.  The examples below are from the reading "Eating Well" on pages 107-8 of the text.

              Speaker                      Speaker's Exact Words

Dr. Shuhei Kobayashi           Diet is related to the change in
director/National Institute      economic growth.  The richer
of Health and Nutrition,         people are, the more food they
Japan                                   eat.

Dr. Teruo Omae                   The government is concerned;
president/National                  pediatric cardiologists are
Cardiovascular Center,           concerned.  They are warning
Osaka                                   that the situation is very risky and 
                                            that children will have a greatly
                                            increased risk factor for heart
                                            disease.  [speaking of the cholesterol
                                            levels of Japanese children]

Introduced quotations 

You will usually introduce a quotation.  There are two basic ways to do this:

        1.  Speaker says, "Quotation" (source).
        2.  According to speaker, "Quotation" (source).

1.  Dr. Shuhei Kobayashi, director of the Japanese National
     Institute of Health and Nutrition, said, "The richer people are,
     the more food they eat" (qtd. in Burros).

2.  According to Dr. Shuhei Kobayashi, director of the Japanese
     National Institute of Health and Nutrition, "The richer people
     are, the more food they eat" (qtd. in Burros).

Notice:

	In the first style the quotation is introduced by a verb of communication, such as "said," "wrote," "argued," etc.  In the second style, with "according to," there is no verb of introduction.  Do not write:  *According to Kobayashi says...
	A comma separates the introduction from the quotation.
	In introduced quotations the quotation forms a complete sentence and so begins with a capital letter.
	The source of a quotation is always given in parentheses (qtd. in Burros) after the quotation:  See the page on documentation.

Integrated quotations

At other times you will integrate, or include, the quotation in the grammar of the sentence:

3.  Dr. Kobayashi, the director of the Japanese National Institute
     of Health and Nutrition says that "diet is related to the change
     in economic growth" (qtd. in Burros).

4.  Dr. Kobayashi explains that how much we eat "is related to
     the change in economic growth" (qtd. in Burros).

Notice:

	These quotations are not separated by a comma.
	The first letter is not capitalized (even if it was in the original).

Other punctuation

If you remove words from the middle of the original, indicate this with ellipses (...); if you add a word to the quote, indicate this with brackets ([  ]).  This punctuation allows you to use just as much of a quote as you need, and to fit it smoothly into your writing.

5.  Dr. Teruo Omae, president of the National Cardiovascular Center
     in Osaka warns, "The Government is concerned; pediatric
     cardiologists are concerned... that the [cholesterol] situation is
     very risky" (qtd. in Burros).

Compare this quotation with the original.  The ellipses indicate that words have been left out ("They are warning" is omitted).  The word "cholesterol," in brackets, has been added to the original to make the meaning clear.

09/27/2005