How to cite a quote properly in APA and MLA styles

Correctly citing opinions or theories from other texts is one of the main foundations that determine the quality of a scientific article. Many novice writers are not aware of this and so they tend to overlook the importance of good citation procedures. Therefore, this article will discuss the importance of citing opinions or theories and how to write them properly and correctly.

What are quotes and why are they important?

Quotations are passages of text that are cited and used in other texts with the aim of providing a basis for ideas. Quotations are usually taken from texts that are relevant to the text being written. Quotations are one of the important elements in scientific writing.

In scientific writing, a writer should not only parse his own opinion or ideas without relating them to the opinions of other writers who are also experts in the field he is writing about. A scientific writer needs to base his ideas, claims, or statements on other texts that are the source of his reading. This is a form of scientific accountability that guarantees the validity and reliability of the content of the text he writes.

I don't mean to say that a scientific writer should not have his own ideas. What I want to say is that a scientific writing is always in a constellation of other scientific texts so that the relationship between one text and another is very important in scientific writing.

Without citing opinions or theories in scientific writing, no matter how good the writing is, it is still considered irresponsible in the context of science.

Quoting opinions is also a form of scientific honesty. After all, a scientific writer gets ideas from reading scientific texts written by other experts. When a writer conveys an idea that was originally in another text without citing it properly, there is a high probability that the essay he wrote will be identified as plagiarism.

Another reason why citing a quote is important is to prove that we are not the only writers who think so; that we and other writers agree with the ideas we convey.

What is the purpose of citing a quote?

In general, citing quotations aims to show that what we mention in our writings can be found in other writings. Sometimes we quote someone's opinion because we agree with him and sometimes because we don't agree with him. For example, if I disagree with what an expert says in his writing, I have to prove that he did say it. So that readers can prove that what I say is true, then I must quote it properly and correctly, and include clear references in the bibliography.

Usually, a scientific writer cites opinions or theories or definitions as a form of honesty in writing. After all, we get knowledge from reading; as a tribute to the hard work of other authors, using their opinion is only valid if it is quoted properly and correctly.

Quotations are also needed as a basis for ideas. To substantiate our ideas, we must be able to prove that we are not the only writers who have these ideas. Quotes written properly will also make it easier for readers to find the right reference if they want to get more information that we may not detail in our writing.

How to quote a quote properly and correctly?

In scientific writing, there are several citation styles that apply, but in this article I only review the APA and MLA styles. But first I must explain some of the citation habits that are often found but rarely explained.

Quoting at the beginning of a sentence

We may quote a sentence or two in a paragraph. Usually, we'll use opening words like:

According to Chomsky...

Or

Chomsky stated that...

If we quote in this way, then we need to mention the name of the person whose opinion is quoted before the quote. The name of the person we quote becomes part of our paragraph.

Quoting in the middle of a sentence

When a quote is in the middle of a sentence, we may not mention the name of the person being quoted directly. For example:

I agree with the opinion of linguists that language is a natural human intelligence (Chomsky, 2002; Searle, 2003) although some other linguists disagree with it.

By quoting in this way, even though the name of the person quoted is mentioned, it does not become part of our sentence or paragraph. But we can also write it another way if we want the name of the person quoted to be part of our sentence, for example:

I agree with the opinion of Chomsky (2002) and Searle (2003) that language is a natural human intelligence although some other linguists do not agree with it.

Quoting at the end of the sentence

Another way to write a citation is to include the author's last name and year (and page if required) at the end of the sentence. However, quoting in this way does not include the name of the person quoted as part of the sentence. For example:

According to linguists, language is a natural intelligence that only humans have (Chomsky, 2002: Searle, 2003).

Quoting more than three lines

If the quoted text is long or exceeds three lines, then we need to write it in a separate paragraph. The name of the person quoted may be written in the previous paragraph or at the end of the quoted paragraph. For example:

As Russell (1987, p.16) points out:

We need to distinguish between reality and what we think about reality. We also have beliefs about how things actually exist, which are called propositions. We should be aware that the value of true and false cannot be applied to reality but only to propositions.

Or

We need to distinguish between reality and what we think about reality. We also have beliefs about how things actually exist, which are called propositions. We should be aware that the value of right and wrong cannot be applied to reality but only to propositions (Russell, 1987, p.16).

In-text citation (APA and MLA)

As I mentioned earlier that there are several styles of citation that apply in scientific writing but I will only describe two of them.

APA stands for the American Psychological Association. The APA style of citation is widely used in the social sciences and education fields. The examples of citations that I have presented above are examples of citations in the APA style.

MLA stands for Modern Language Association and it is more often found in humanities fields. The similarity between these two citation styles is that they both use parentheses and include full references at the end of the text (bibliography). Please read articles on references and bibliographies for complete examples of writing bibliography in various styles.

To write in-text citations in APA style, we must enter the author's last name and year of publication. If we quote a specific piece of text then we must also include the page number.

Example:

According to Chomsky (2002, p.7)

Meanwhile, in the MLA style, the in-text citation does not include the year of publication, so that only the author's last name and page number are written.

Example:

According to Chomsky (7) or (Chomsky 7).

If there are two authors, then in APA style the ampersand (&) is used while in MLA style the word (and) is used.

Example:

(Sapir & Whorf, 1987, p.17) for APA

(Sapir and Whorf 17) for MLA

If there are more than two or three authors, et al is used in both styles except for the year.

Example:

(Sapir et al., 1987, p.17) for APA

(Sapir et al. 17) for MLA

Some of the examples and explanations above should explain how to properly and correctly cite quotes, both in APA and MLA styles. An important note that I need to convey is to pay attention to how to write commas in quotations.