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Quotations and Paraphrases Lesson Reference Guide

Direct Quotations Overview
Definition: A direct quotation is a report of the exact words of an author or speaker.
Words belong to the person who said/wrote them.
Plagiarism is the act of stealing another persons words or ideas.
Always cite and properly format direct quotations to avoid plagiarism.
My notes:

Short, or Run-On, Quotes
Definition: Direct quotes less than four lines of text that are integrated into the body of
a paper.
Always enclose short quotes in quotation marks and add a citation to avoid plagiarism.
Closing quotation marks are placed outside commas and periods and inside colons and
semicolons.
End punctuation marks, such as question marks, dashes, and exclamation points, are
placed inside the end quotation mark when the end punctuation is part of the quote.
My notes:




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Long, or Block, Quotes
Definition: Direct quotes longer than four lines of text that are separated from the body
of a paper.
Do not use quotation marks but DO add citations to the end of the block quote.
Set off the block quote from the rest of the text with a space above and underneath.
Indent the block quote a half inch from the left margin.
Single space text in the block quote.
My notes:

Editing Direct Quotations
Noting a misspelled word in the original quotation:
Put the Latin term sic immediately after the misspelled word.
Be sure to put sic in italics and brackets.
Changing the capitalization of a letter in the original quotation:
Put brackets around the letter that has been changed.
Adding emphasis to the original quotation:
Italicize the words or phrases.
Be sure to add the words italics added or emphasis added in brackets
to the end of the quotation.
My notes:

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Deleting Text from Direct Quotations
Use ellipses (multiple periods) to signal that text has been deleted from an original
quotation.
Use three ellipses when deleting text within a quoted sentence.
Use four periods, three ellipses and one end period, when text is omitted between two
sentences or at the end of a quote.
Remember to use ellipses sparingly so that readers have access to as much of the
original quote as possible.

Paraphrasing
Definition: Paraphrasing means putting another persons words or ideas into your own
words without plagiarizing.
Paraphrases are usually shorter and more condensed than the original text because they
include only the major points.
Dont enclose paraphrases in quotation marks or use indentations.
AMA style requires citations for paraphrases because they are based on another
persons words or ideas.
My notes:

Reference:
American Medical Association. (2007). AMA manual of style: A guide for authors and
editors. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc.
My notes: