The document provides guidance on using quotations effectively in academic writing according to MLA style. It discusses when and how to incorporate direct quotes into essays, including using signal phrases, giving credit to sources, formatting short and long quotes, and constructing the Works Cited page. Direct quotes should be sparingly used and must always be properly introduced, cited, and discussed in the text. Both in-text citations and a reference list are needed to give credit to original sources.

1. MLA Documentation Style
USING QUOTATIONS EFFECTIVELY

2. QUOTES ADD AUTHORITY TO YOUR WRITING
• Quotes, paraphrases, and summaries add validity and authority
to academic essays.
• The majority of your work should be in your own words.
• Be sparing with quotations, especially if you are writing for a
discipline which encourages summary or paraphrase over direct
quotation.
• Strive to begin and end each paragraph in your own words.
• The first time you use a new source, introduce the speaker and
the work from which the quote was taken.

3. WHEN SHOULD QUOTES BE USED?
• When another writer’s language is particularly
memorable and will add interest and liveliness to your
paper.
• When another writer’s language is so clear and
economical that to make the same point in your own
words would, by comparison, be ineffective.
• When you want the solid reputation of a source to lend
authority and credibility to your own writing.

4. GIVING CREDIT TO ORIGINAL SOURCES
• All borrowed material, whether that material is in the form of
words, pictures, charts, graphs, ideas, statistics, etc. must be
cited.
• All summaries, paraphrases, and direct quotes must be cited.
• Summaries and paraphrases can be cited at the end of the
summarized or paraphrased section, rather than at the end of
each sentence.
• However, direct quotes must be cited at the end of the sentence
which contains the quoted material.

5. DIRECT QUOTES
• Every direct quote needs the following 5 steps:
• 1. A signal phrase – introduces the quote and perhaps the speaker as well
• 2. The quote itself – generally in quotations marks (unless it is officially a
long quote)
• 3. The citation – changes dramatically based on the citation style
• 4. Discussion – follows the quote and explains to the reader the
significance, your train of thought in choosing the quote, etc. Don’t assume
that your reader will make connections between your topic and the quote.
• 5. Reference listing – the source of the quote must be included on a
Reference page, Works Cited page, Bibliography, Notes page, etc. based on
the citation style in use

6. INCORPORATE YOUR QUOTE
• A quoted sentence should never stand by itself – this is considered a
freestanding quotation or stand-alone quote.
• Quotes must be attached to one of your sentences.
• use a signal phrase.
• You can also connect a quotation to one of existing sentences with
a semi-colon.
• Use a lower-case letter at the beginning of a mid-sentence quote and
an upper-case letter to indicate the beginning of a quoted sentence.
• Ex: Researchers note that students “may be asked to utilize
secondary research” (Smith, Smith, and Hamby 71).

7. SHORT QUOTES
• Fall within the regular line of text and include quotation marks.
• No longer than 4 lines of typed text in MLA format.
• Ex: Johnson and Smith argue that “we are all responsible for
ourselves. Period” (219).

8. LONG OR BLOCK QUOTES
• Long quotes are the opposite of short quotes.
• Indented and offset from the regular line of text.
• The number of lines constituting a long quote varies based on citation style in use.
For MLA the rule is more than four lines of text.
• Quotation marks are dropped from a long text and the end-stop punctuation falls
before the citation.
• Ex: The authors indicate that:
In some classes, you’ll be asked to conduct primary research. Primary
research involves the researchers collecting the data themselves…some of
the more popular methods include surveying participants, interviewing
informants, and observing subjects and phenomena….You may also be
asked to utilize secondary research [like] books, journal and magazine
articles, blog posts, and newspapers….Both types of research are valid
and important for the research process and both have their place in writing
and researching across the curriculum. (Smith, Smith, and Hamby 70-1)

9. ELLIPSIS MARKS
• If you want to quote the beginning and end of a passage but not the middle, use
ellipsis marks. Ellipses ( … ) show the reader where information was omitted.
• **Be sure that leaving out material does not alter the meaning of the selected
quote.
• Use three ellipsis marks for material left out of a sentence. Use four ellipsis
marks when the material omitted constitutes two or more sentences.
• Ex: Smith, Smith, and Hamby note that students “may be asked to utilize
secondary research….These kinds of sources often provide the historical
context, summaries of other sources, and critical perspectives” (71).
• OR…
• Ex: Experts note that students “may be asked to utilize secondary
research…These kinds of sources often provide the historical context,
summaries of other sources, and critical perspectives” (Smith, Smith, and Hamby
71).

10. BRACKETS
• Brackets [ ] are used when the structure of the sentence you are quoting
does not match the structure of your sentence or you want to change a
particular word ending or clarify the speaker’s meaning for your reader.
• Ex:
Original quote: I attached my material to the form incorrectly.
Incorrect Quote: Smith indicated that, “I attached my material to the form
incorrectly” (57).
Correct Quote: Smith indicated that, “[He] attached [his] material to the form
[IRS 1040] incorrectly” (57).

11. QUOTE-WITHIN-A-QUOTE OR INDIRECT QUOTE
• When you quote a speaker who is quoting someone else (a third-party
quote), use double quotation marks “ ” for the outside of the quote and
single quotation marks ‘ ’ for the inside quote.
• It must be noted in your citation that the speaker is quoted in your source.
This means that both sources receive credit in the draft, but only your source
receives credit on the Works Cited page.
• Ex: The authors note that “Andrea Stuart disagrees with this solution as she
believes that ‘individuals are responsible not only for themselves but for
those in their community as well’” (qtd . in Johnson and Smith 227).

12. OR…
• Ex: The authors note that one colleague “disagrees with this solution
as she believes that ‘individuals are responsible not only for
themselves but for those in their community as well’” (Stuart qtd . in
Johnson and Smith 227).
OR…
• Ex: Johnson and Smith note that “Andrea Stuart disagrees with this
solution as she believes that ‘individuals are responsible not only for
themselves but for those in their community as well’” (227).

13. IN-TEXT CITATIONS
MLA Documentation Style

14. • Header in upper right-hand
corner:
• Go to Insert Page #
• In the drop-down box, click on
Plain #3
• In front of the number at the
blinking cursor, type your last
name, space
• Double-click to close the header
MLA PAGE SETUP

15. • *Set document for double-
spacing with 0pts. following
the line of text
• Right click and select
Paragraph
• In the box “Line Spacing”
select Double Space
• In the boxes “Before” and
“After” set the numbers to 0
• Select “Okay”
USE ACCURATE DOUBLE-SPACING

16. QUICK CHECK FACT SHEET
• IQ = Incorporate the Quote into your sentence.
• Don’t allow a sentence to begin and end with quotation marks, unless you
have your own words nestled between sections of the quote. This is a
drop-in or stand-alone quote.
• Do attach the quote to one of your sentences. The easiest way is with a
comma.
• WRONG: It is not uncommon to be a vegetarian nowadays. “Knowledge on
adequacy and nutritional effects of vegan diets is still limited” (Waldmann et al.
947).
• RIGHT: While it is not uncommon to be a vegetarian nowadays, “Knowledge
on adequacy and nutritional effects of vegan diets is still limited” (Waldmann et
al. 947).

17. USE A SIGNAL PHRASE TO INTRODUCE A QUOTE
• The signal phrase should include the author’s name and the title of the
article, book, or website the first time it is discussed in your draft.
• The signal phrase does not need to include the author’s name every time the
source is used (after the first time) in your draft.
Signal Phrase
• RIGHT: Medical journalist Karen Sullivan suggests that the diet should be
balanced and include at the very least “the required number of fruits and
vegetables” as well as “good sources of protein and carbohydrates” (76).
Signal Phrase
• RIGHT: Good sources of proteins include “fish, lean meat, chicken, turkey,
cheese, milk, yogurt, tofu, nuts, seeds, and legumes” (Sullivan 77).

18. ALWAYS CITE THE SOURCE
• Remember that this is a two-step process: (1) cite the
information in-text or parenthetically, and (2) list the source on
the Works Cited page.
• Remember: MLA uses Author’s Name and Page Number
• Remember: Always use the page number if you can find it;
however, many websites do not list page numbers.
• Remember: The in-text citation must match the first word of the
Works Cited page citation exactly.

19. • *Can you spot what makes the first sentence incorrect and
what makes the second sentence correct as citation for a
web source?
• WRONG: However, according to Maria Elena Jefferds, vitamin
B12 deficiency is a problem “that doesn’t just affect vegetarians”
(Lawson).
• RIGHT: However, according to Maria Elena Jefferds, vitamin
B12 deficiency is a problem “that doesn’t just affect vegetarians”
(qtd. in Lawson).

20. WORKS CITED PAGE
MLA Documentation Style

21. • *These sources on the Works Cited page would look like this:
Works Cited
Lawson, Willow. “Brain Food.” Psychology Today Online Sept/Oct. (2003): n. pag.
LexisNexis. Web. 16 Feb. 2009.
Sullivan, Karen. The Parent’s Guide to Natural health Care in Children. Boston:
Shambala, 2004. Print.

22. ANOTHER EXAMPLE

23. WORKS CITED PAGE INCLUDES
• All sources that are in the body of the essay, including graphs,
charts, pictures, and other visuals
• Alphabetical order of entries based on the authors’ last names
• Specific entries based on the particular type of document you
are using; for example, books are different from journals, which
are different from website articles
• Carefully consider what your source is and find the closest
match for it from among the choices in your handbook or on the
Purdue OWL.

24. CITING GLOBAL TRENDS 2030
• Let’s use the following MLA format to cite Global Trends 2030:
United States. Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds. Dec. 2012.
Director of National Intelligence. Web. Your access date.