How to cite a quote (and when it becomes a block quote)
Short quotations live inside your sentence. Long ones get their own indented block. Paste yours to see which it is.
40
50 words. Format this as a block quotation. APA 7: 40 words or more.
How it looks
Nguyen summarises the findings:
Sleep loss does not simply make students tired. Across three studies, participants who slept fewer than six hours recalled significantly fewer word pairs the next morning, and the gap widened when the material was emotionally neutral rather than emotionally charged, suggesting that sleep prioritises memories it judges to be important. (Nguyen, 2021, p. 14)
No quotation marks; whole passage indented 0.5 in; citation after the final full stop.
Citing a short quotation
- Copy the words exactly and wrap them in double quotation marks.
- Introduce them with a signal phrase so the quote doesn’t float on its own.
- Put the citation, with a page number, straight after the closing quotation mark and before the full stop: “…next-day recall” (Nguyen, 2021, p. 14).
Block quote rules by style
| Style | When | Format |
|---|---|---|
| APA 7 | 40+ words | New line, indent 0.5 in, double-spaced, no quotation marks, citation after final full stop. |
| MLA 9 | More than four lines of prose, or more than three lines of verse | Indent 0.5 in, no quotation marks, citation after final full stop. |
| Chicago 18 | 100+ words (or 5+ lines) | Indented block; note number or author-date citation at the end. |
| Harvard (CTR) | Longer quotes, usually 30+ words | Separate indented paragraph, no quotation marks, citation after. |
Changing a quotation without misquoting
- Leaving words out: use an ellipsis: “sleep … prioritises memories.”
- Adding or changing a word to fit: square brackets: “[Students] recalled fewer word pairs.”
- An error in the original: keep it and add [sic].
- A quote within a quote: single quotation marks inside the doubles.
Should you quote at all?
Quote when the exact wording matters: a striking phrase, a definition, a claim you’ll analyse word by word. Otherwise, paraphrase and cite. Most marking rubrics reward integrating ideas in your own words over stringing quotations together.
Questions students ask
How do you cite a quote in APA?
Put the words in quotation marks and add author, year and page: “…cuts recall” (Nguyen, 2021, p. 14). If you name the author first, put the year after the name and the page after the quote.
How long does a quote need to be to be a block quote in APA?
40 words or more. Start it on a new line, indent the whole passage 0.5 inches, drop the quotation marks, and put the citation after the final full stop.
How do you cite a quote in MLA?
Quotation marks plus author and page with no comma: “…sound truthful” (Orwell 137). More than four lines of prose becomes a block quote.
Can I change words in a quotation?
Only with signals: square brackets for words you add or change to fit your sentence, and an ellipsis (…) for words you remove. The meaning must stay the same.
What if the quote has a spelling mistake?
Keep it and add [sic] in square brackets right after the error, so the reader knows it was in the original.