How to Cite the Work of a Source in Your Essay
1. Writers own their original ideas, their unique choice of words, and the arrangement in
which they put them. If you use any of the three without properly crediting the writer, you
are plagiarizing.
2. You can report your source’s ideas in your own words (called a paraphrase), making
clear that the idea came from the source. To do this, use a signal phrase crediting the
author and then paraphrase or summarize.
3. If you use the unique word choice of the source—a single word, a phrase, a clause,
whatever—you must identify with quotation marks the specific portion that belongs to
the source.
4. Whatever appears between the quotation marks must be exactly the same as the
original unless you identify the changes with ellipses or brackets.
5. You cannot drop a quotation into your paper without using a signal phrase to identify
the source.
6. A quotation integrated into your paper must fit grammatically into the sentence in which
you make it appear.
7. If you integrate a quoted word, phrase, or clause into a sentence, do not capitalize the
first word:
Thomas Jefferson identified certain “truths” as “self-evident.”
8. If you make a formal introduction of a quoted sentence, capitalize the first word and put
a comma after the signal phrase:
Thomas Jefferson wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident . . . .”
9. If you want to leave part of a quote out, use an ellipsis mark—three space periods. If
the part is at the end of the sentence, use three spaced periods and one more for the
end of the sentence:
Thomas Jefferson wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident . . . .”
If the part you want to leave out is at the beginning of the quote, you might want to begin
your quote with a “that” signal phrase:
Thomas Jefferson said that “all men are created equal.”
Avoid the ellipsis mark at the beginning of a direct quote:
Thomas Jefferson said, “ . . . all men are created equal.”
10. If you want to insert your own words as explanation or comment into a quote, identify
those words by setting them off with brackets.
Jefferson wrote, “He [the English king] has refused his Assent to Laws . . .
necessary for the public good.”
11. Document both quotations and paraphrases with publication information per MLA/APA.