Assignments, this is how you should reference direct quotations

Introduction Referencing is important in academic writing for various reasons such as it helps to inculcate discipline, makes the written piece of work presentable, and most of the above, it relieves the writer from the issues of plagiarism. The Plagiarism is a punishable offence which can be avoided by properly referencing and citing the sources used in the piece of written work. There are different referencing and citation styles which vary from the university to university. For example, the American universities follow APA style of referencing, while, the UK based universities follow Harvard referencing style. In this context, the current paper deals with the guidelines as applicable to the direct quotations in the in text citations.

What is Direct Quotation In the academic writing the sources such as books, journals, newspaper article, reports of governmental agencies, and online sources (website), are used as suggested by an assignment expert. The writer needs to get these sources cited within the text itself, which can either be done directly or indirectly. The term direct quotation is used when the writer takes the writing material directly from the source without altering that into own words. This implies that something written in the book or journal is copied and pasted as such into the writer’s own text. These are few lines only rather say famous quotes or opinions of the author only are included in the direct quotation.

How to Refer Direct Quote However, it may be noted again that the copying and pasting the material as such from any published source is not permitted, but considering the type of language used and small size of the text, the quotes and opinions are allowed to be copied and pasted as such. In such cases, the writer should not forget to properly refer and cite the sources from, which the quotes and opinions were taken. Consider an example of direct quotes, "Sociological discourse claims to be knowledge of modern society, the mirror of modern society or the social." (Game, 1991: 20). This quote could also be presented in another way as, “As Game (1991: 20) tells us: "Sociological discourse claims to be a knowledge of modern society, the mirror of modern society or the social."

Important Features of Direct Quotation From the examples as depicted in the above section, it could be observed that the most crucial aspects of the direct quotation are the name of the author, year of publication of the source and the page number of the source. Two alternative ways of presenting a direct quote have been elucidated in the above section. In the first alternative, the quote is given in the inverted commas (“”) and then the name of the author followed by a comma (,), year, column (:), and then page number. The information related to the author’s name, year of publication, and page number is given in the small bracket. In the second alternative, the sentence starts with referring the name of the author and then the year of publication and page number is given in the small bracket. Immediately after the small bracket, the quote is given in the inverted commas. Both the alternative ways of presentation are equally valid and can be used by the writer in referring the direct quotations. However, generally, the second alternative is preferred as it results in more accurate presentation of the direct quotation.Other Important Points In regard to direct quotations, the writer should remember that the length of the quote is not too big. Ideally, the length of a direct quote should not be more than 40 words. If the length of the direct quote exceeds 40 words, the writer should strive to reword it in his own words or should avoid using it, if possible. As far as possible, the direct quotes should be taken from the published scholarly sources such as books and journals and not from the academic papers submitted by a student. However, the quotes from academic papers submitted by the other students could also be used with properly following the citation guidelines, but this should be a last resort in the hands of the writer. Another important aspect of the direct quotation is that it should be separated from the other text by the writer, which can be achieved by properly indenting or keeping the quote in italics. Summary This paper has concentrated on the issues relating to referencing and citations of the direct quotes in the academic writing. The citation of the direct quotes is very important as it accredits the work of another person and relieves the writer from being charged of plagiarism. The paper elaborates the guidelines to be followed in giving citations to the direct quotes in the written piece of work of the writer. Examples of direct quotes and alternative ways of presenting these quotes have been given in this paper. Further, the paper also addresses general concerns of using the direct quotes, such as the length of the quote and the sources from which quotes can be taken. These tips can also be used for essay writing