With so many rules and regulations to keep in mind, citing a quote from a book certainly isn't a cakewalk. Therefore, in this Penlighten post, we're bringing you easy-to-understand guidelines to aid you with your citation.
Please don't overdo it.
Making use of both double quotation marks and italics to highlight a quote is unnecessary. For instance, use either "Fortune favors the brave." or Fortune favors the brave. and not "Fortune favors the brave."
Formal essays, summaries, and reports often require citations. Considering the official tone of the content, certain rules and regulations need to be adhered to. However, choosing the right style of citation can create some confusion, when we begin to realize the number of official styles that actually exist―it can get a bit unsettling.
CORRECT WAY TO CITE A QUOTE
Using the APA Format
The American Psychological Association (APA) has prescribed the author-date format, wherein the name of the author should be followed by the year of the book's publication. Lastly, mention the page number if applicable.
In case of a single author
Wren (2002. p. 47) states that citing quotes must be done correctly.
He wrote, "citing quotes must be done correctly" (Wren, 2002, p. 47), placing emphasis on the appropriate usage of grammar.
Wren (2002) wrote, "citing quotes must be done correctly" (p. 47), placing emphasis on the appropriate usage of grammar.
According to Wren (2002), "citing quotes must be done correctly" (p. 47).
"Citing quotes must be done correctly", writes Wren (2002, p. 47).
In case of multiple authors
Here, arrange the names in alphabetical order, followed by the year of publication and page number.
In their book, the authors state that "citing quotes must be done correctly" (Scott, Tanner, and Wren, 2002, p. 47).
Using the MLA Format
The Modern Language Association (MLA) format is used to write papers and cite sources related to liberal arts and humanities. In this format, one is expected to place a parenthesis with the source, immediately following the quote. State the name of the author followed by the page number.
In case of a single author
With a view to avoid plagiarism, "citing quotes must be done correctly" (Wren 47).
To avoid plagiarism, Wren mentions how "citing quotes must be done correctly" (47).
In case of 3 or less authors
List their names in alphabetical order within the parentheses, followed by the page number.
In their book, the authors state that "citing quotes must be done correctly" (Scott, Tanner, and Wren 47).
In case the number of authors exceed 4
Here, write the last name of the author whose name appears first alphabetically, followed by 'et al.', and the page number. Note that the 'al' in 'et al.' is followed by a period.
The authors emphasize on the fact that "citing quotes must be done correctly" (Scott et al. 47).
No matter which format you're using, ensure that you duly attribute the quote to the correct source, failing which, your writing can come under the scanner for being plagiarized.