Incorporate Quotations

These guidelines help you use QUOTATION MARKS to identify QUOTATIONS cited from other works.



  1. Blend the quotation smoothly into your own sentence to show it has relevance to your ideas.

Jorge, the main character, is clearly shocked by the decision of the landowner, whom he considered an enemy: “I am leaving my plantation to those who worked hard for me, despite how miserable I was to them in return.”

  1. Insert quotation marks around another person’s exact words.

INCORRECT: “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.”  This is a quote by someone famous.

CORRECT:  A quotation from A Tale of Two Cities crystallizes its conflict: “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.”

  1. Sometimes you have to manipulate original text to insert a quotation into your sentence fluently.  Indicate that you altered text by using square brackets. Never change the original meaning.


Original: “…I think hockey leagues are just afraid to because they are convinced that a number of people go to the games because they like to see the brawling.”

Altered Quotation:  William McMurtry concluded hockey leagues are “just afraid to [ cut down on violence] because they are convinced that a number of people go to the [ NHL] games because they like to see the brawling.”

In this example, the words “cut down on violence” and “NHL” have been added to clarify the quotation within the context of the sentence.


  1. To emphasize only important words in a quotation, indicate that you omitted some words with an ellipsis (…).  Never change the intended meaning of the quotation with overuse of the ellipses, but ensure the sentence is constructed appropriately.


Original: “Where do you draw the line?  It is very difficult in my opinion for a player who is playing hockey with all the force, vigour and strength at his command, who is engaged in the rough and tumble of the game, very often in a rough situation in the corner of the rink, suddenly to stop and say, ‘I must not do that’.”

Altered Quotation: "Where do you draw the line? It is very difficult in my opinion for a player who is playing hockey... engaged in the rough and tumble of the game, very often in a rough situation in the corner of the rink, suddenly to stop and say, 'I must not do that'. "

  1. Do not allow quotations to take the place of your own ideas. Including too many quotations can overpower your exploration of the topic, which is the focus of the research report.