Integrating Quotes into Your Paper
Quotations are an important part of any academic paper. Quotes help you support your assertions, they lend credibility to your argument, and they make your paper more interesting to read. Any time you are
quoting an author (using his or her exact words as support for your ideas), you must put quotation marks around the words or sentences that are not your own.
In the following excerpt from Erich Goode’s book Between Politics and Reason, he explains his belief that drugs should not be legalized:
Other things being equal, the pharmacological properties of cocaine (and, to a lesser extent, heroin) should lead anyone to predict an increase in use under legalization. There is, in other words, sufficient ground for genuine concern when it comes to sharply reducing the cost and increasing the availability of cocaine, given its intrinsically pleasure-inducing and reinforcing property. A great deal of contrary evidence would have to be marshaled to convince evidence-minded observers that cocaine abuse would not rise sharply under legalization—and, as yet, no such evidence has been forthcoming. In the absence of such evidence, most of us will have to remain convinced that, in the words of John Kaplan, legalization “ignores basic pharmacology.” It almost defies logic to assume that, when criminal penalties are removed, the use of an entire array of pleasurable, highly reinforcing drugs will not rise significantly.
Clearly, this paragraph provides excellent support for the argument that drugs should not be legalized. How should I integrate this material in my paper?
Rule #1: Look for the quote that says the most within the shortest amount of space.
There are two relevant quotes in the above excerpt:
“There is, in other words, sufficient ground for genuine concern when it comes to sharply reducing the cost and increasing the availability of cocaine, given its intrinsically pleasure-inducing and reinforcing property.”
“It almost defies logic to assume that, when criminal penalties are removed, the use of an entire array of pleasurable, highly reinforcing drugs will not rise significantly.”
Rule #2: A quote should never stand alone. Rather, it needs a lead-in phrase. After the lead-in phrase, use a comma and capitalize the first letter of the quote.
Examples of lead-in phrases:
As (author’s name) states/writes/argues/points out
According to (author’s name),
(Author’s name) states/writes/argues/points out
According to Erich Goode, “There is, in other words, sufficient ground for genuine concern when it comes to sharply reducing the cost and increasing the availability of cocaine, given its intrinsically pleasure- inducing and reinforcing property.”
As the author states, “It almost defies logic to assume that, when
criminal penalties are removed, the use of an entire array of
pleasurable, highly reinforcing drugs will not rise significantly.”
Rule #3: Make sure to give credit to your source. Use a
parenthetical citation when necessary.
According to the author, “There is, in other words, sufficient ground for genuine concern when it comes to sharply reducing the cost and increasing the availability of cocaine, given its intrinsically pleasure-
inducing and reinforcing property” (Goode 51).
As Erich Goode states, “It almost defies logic to assume that, when criminal penalties are removed, the use of an entire array of pleasurable, highly reinforcing drugs will not rise significantly” (51)
Rule #4: If the quote appears after the word “that” or it appears as an integral part of the sentence, do not use a comma before the quote and do not capitalize the first letter.
Erich Goode claims that “there is, in other words, sufficient ground for genuine concern when it comes to sharply reducing the cost and increasing the availability of cocaine, given its intrinsically pleasure-
inducing and reinforcing property” (51).
The author argues that it is foolish to assume that under legalization “an array of pleasurable, highly reinforcing drugs will not rise significantly” (Goode 51).Quotations are an important part of any academic paper. Quotes help
you support your assertions, they lend credibility to your argument,
and they make your paper more interesting to read. Any time you are
quoting an author (using his or her exact words as support for your
ideas), you must put quotation marks around the words or
sentences that are not your own.
In the following excerpt from Erich Goode’s book Between Politics and
Reason, he explains his belief that drugs should not be legalized:
Other things being equal, the pharmacological properties of cocaine (and, to a lesser extent, heroin) should lead anyone to predict an increase in use under legalization. There is, in other words, sufficient ground for genuine concern when it comes to sharply reducing the cost and increasing the availability of cocaine, given its intrinsically pleasure-inducing and reinforcing property. A great deal of contrary evidence would have to be marshaled to convince evidence-minded observers that cocaine abuse would not rise sharply under legalization—and, as yet, no such evidence has been forthcoming. In the absence of such evidence, most of us will have to remain convinced that, in the words of John Kaplan, legalization “ignores basic pharmacology.” It almost defies logic to assume that, when criminal penalties are removed, the use of an entire array of pleasurable, highly reinforcing drugs will not rise significantly.
Clearly, this paragraph provides excellent support for the argument
that drugs should not be legalized. How should I integrate this material
in my paper?
Rule #1: Look for the quote that says the most within the
shortest amount of space.
There are two relevant quotes in the above excerpt:
“There is, in other words, sufficient ground for genuine concern when it
comes to sharply reducing the cost and increasing the availability of
cocaine, given its intrinsically pleasure-inducing and reinforcing
property.”
“It almost defies logic to assume that, when criminal penalties are
removed, the use of an entire array of pleasurable, highly reinforcing
drugs will not rise significantly.”
Rule #2: A quote should never stand alone. Rather, it needs a
lead-in phrase. After the lead-in phrase, use a comma and
capitalize the first letter of the quote.
Examples of lead-in phrases:
As (author’s name) states/writes/argues/points out
According to (author’s name),
(Author’s name) states/writes/argues/points out
According to Erich Goode, “There is, in other words, sufficient ground for genuine concern when it comes to sharply reducing the cost and increasing the availability of cocaine, given its intrinsically pleasure- inducing and reinforcing property.”
As the author states, “It almost defies logic to assume that, when
criminal penalties are removed, the use of an entire array of
pleasurable, highly reinforcing drugs will not rise significantly.”
Rule #3: Make sure to give credit to your source. Use a
parenthetical citation when necessary. (See the handout on in-
text citations for more information.)
According to the author, “There is, in other words, sufficient ground for
genuine concern when it comes to sharply reducing the cost and
increasing the availability of cocaine, given its intrinsically pleasure-
inducing and reinforcing property” (Goode 51).
As Erich Goode states, “It almost defies logic to assume that, when
criminal penalties are removed, the use of an entire array of
pleasurable, highly reinforcing drugs will not rise significantly” (51)
Rule #4: If the quote appears after the word “that” or it
appears as an integral part of the sentence, do not use a
comma before the quote and do not capitalize the first letter.
Erich Goode claims that “there is, in other words, sufficient ground for
genuine concern when it comes to sharply reducing the cost and
increasing the availability of cocaine, given its intrinsically pleasure-
inducing and reinforcing property” (51).
The author argues that it is foolish to assume that under legalization
“an array of pleasurable, highly reinforcing drugs will not rise
significantly” (Goode 51).
Rule #5: Sometimes you will omit part of a quote because the part doesn’t make sense out of context (or simply isn’t necessary). In this case, use ellipses to indicate words you leave out.
According to Erich Goode, “There is … sufficient ground for genuine concern when it comes to sharply reducing the cost and increasing the availability of cocaine, given its intrinsically pleasure-inducing and
reinforcing property” (51).
Rule #6: Conversely, sometime you will need to add words to the quote so that the quote will make sense or be more explicit. Use brackets to indicate the material you added.
As the author states, “It almost defies logic to assume that, when criminal penalties are removed [from drug use], the use of an entire array of pleasurable, highly reinforcing drugs will not rise significantly.”
Rule #7: Generally, long quotes should be avoided. However, if you must use a quote that is four lines or more, indent the entire quote a half-inch, use single-space, and remove quotation marks.
Goode argues:
There is, in other words, sufficient ground for genuine concern when it comes to sharply reducing the cost and increasing the availability of cocaine, given its intrinsically pleasure-inducing and reinforcing property. A great deal of contrary evidence would have to be marshaled to convince evidence-minded observers that cocaine abuse would not rise sharply under legalization—and, as yet, no such evidence has been forthcoming.
Other important notes:
1. Don’t use a quote as the first sentence of a body paragraph.
2. Don’t let the quote speak for you—quotes should support, enhance,
or elaborate on a main point that you’ve already stated.
3. Provide a follow-up explanation of the quote if it is not immediately
obvious why you are using the quote. However, avoid referring to the
quote itself. Don’t write: “This quote basically means …” or “If this
quote, the author is trying to say that”.
Integrating Quotes: Practice Exercise
The following quotes are integrated incorrectly. Identify and correct the problems.
1. Opponents also say that the threat of weapons of mass destruction has decreased. “Although the attacks of September 11 essentially gave Bush a political green light to develop missile defense, critics haven’t given up. They argue that the threat of ballistic-missile attack has declined” (Stone).
2. The anti-missile defense system, “could be deployed on land, at sea, and in space, with a variety of sophisticated laser and global technologies” according to Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
3. There are far too many gray areas surrounding the rating of website content. “If the government imposes filtering software then, depending on how liberal a country is, there are legal battles to decide if the move
us really lawful and to what extent the filtering should be implemented. Any system put in place can be circumvented by even the youngest of children with a basic knowledge of computers. In order
for filtering software to become viable from the technological standpoint, there either needs to be a new methodology produced that can accurately describe content that can then be used by a filtering
system, and the system be implemented on every website in the world, or a reliable autonomous filtering system be introduced that can work out in what context information is being presented.”
4. One author said “a war on Iraq would not shatter the huge international coalition in the fight on terrorism”.
5. George Bush states, “We must choose between a world of fear and a world of progress. We cannot stand by and do nothing while dangers gather. We must stand up for our security.” What George Bush is saying in this quote is that if we as a nation just sit around and do nothing, Saddam may very well build and use weapons of mass destruction on the U.S.
6. Such actions would help “transforming 22 Arab countries and the Muslim world beyond into liberal democracies, thus getting at the root causes of Islamic terrorism” (Garfinlke).
7. According to some analysts, the idea that war will bring about thousands of jobs is false. USA Today reasons why. “Experts expect economic benefits to be uneven across the country. And unlike during WWII, where most workers able to swing a hammer could find a job, war in Iraq would require fairly sophisticated defense workers.”
8. In the New York Times, it states that “Terrorism emanates from the Middle East for a reason. The style of politics and religion promoted by the regimes there … lend support to anti-U.S. terrorism.”