How to Quote Someone Else’s Writing in Your Writing
The P word: Plagiarism. It should terrify every writer (it does for me, at least). But it’s important to show that you’ve done your homework and prove to your reader that your message isn’t just your opinion. How do we cite and quote other writers properly?
When Should I Quote Someone?
Whenever you’re using their direct words or sharing an idea that you learned from them, you must attribute it in some form. Most publications outline a specific method of citation they want writers to use, so adhere to those guidelines. But even if you’re writing something for your blog, you still need to cite people when you iterate their idea or angle. Whether you explicitly quote someone word-for-word or paraphrase their idea, you must cite it and give attribution to them.
There are many facts and ideas that are commonplace, so you don’t need to quote them. To say that the Bible is inerrant doesn’t need to be quoted, unless you want to prove that many other qualified people are behind the fact you presented. Lore Wilbert wrote a thorough piece on plagiarism a few years ago, and she reminds writers that plagiarism is not, “Shared similar ideas, shared vision or goals, overlapping messages or research, similar taste and aesthetic, or [a] shared mission.”
For example, I wouldn’t need to quote someone if I wrote that to be a leader requires that you also be both stronger and vulnerable, both humble and confident. However, if I explain this by using Andy Crouch’s four quadrant diagram from Strong and Weak, I must cite him. See the difference?
Who Should I Quote?
When citing and quoting various sources, we need to take care that the people or studies we reference are reputable. Are they qualified to instruct on this subject? What qualifications do they have? Where did they receive their information? Who are they quoting, and are those references reputable?
An example of this can be seen in how many people read studies published online. They misconstrue the findings, and sometimes they claim a study says the complete opposite of what it truly discovered. Not only that, simply because someone conducted a study doesn’t mean their findings are valid if they conducted the study poorly.
Try to dig as close as you can to the original source. For example, instead of learning Charlotte Mason’s principles from someone writing about her, go read her writings. Instead of researching only what people on your side of the argument say about the opposing side, actually read the work of the opposing side to make sure you accurately understand their views.
All that to say, do your research on those you cite and use much care and diligence.
The Nitty-Gritty How-Tos of Quotations
Block Quote or In-Text?
Use block quotes when your quotation is longer than four lines. For a block quote, don’t use quotation marks, indent the entire quote, and make the text smaller. Use in-text quotes when your quote is shorter than four lines. And whichever you choose, please do not italicize the entire quote; long lines of italics are harder to read, and when a piece of writing appears difficult to read, readers brains automatically stop engaging or skip away.
What Form of Citation to Use?
Whichever form the publisher / institution requires you to use. For your own personal blog, you can choose. Footnotes don’t work as easily for online publication (and they can be a lot of work) so an author, title, page number formula in parenthesis after the quotation is fine.
How do I cite something in X format?
Use Bibme! With their free version, you can create an entire bibliography, in-text citations, or footnotes. It’s very easy to use, just make sure you choose the proper format that your publication requires. If the resource you are citing doesn’t provide all the information you need, simply fill out as much as you can.
One annoying thing that a number of online publications do is not display the date of publication for their articles. I don’t know why, but it makes it very difficult to cite their works. I use The Way Back Machine on Internet Archives to get a close estimation of when it was first published.
What if I want to alter the quote to better fit into my piece?
You can! But you must demonstrate that you have done so. If you add emphasis to a quote (such as bolding or italicizing a word or phrase) add at the end of your attribution “emphasis mine.” If you alter any of the wording so it flows better with your wording, put square brackets around your words.
What is the difference between footnotes and endnotes?
Footnotes are at the bottom of a page in the footer with a superscript where you cited in your text to correspond with the citation in the footer, endnotes likewise have superscript numbers but are listed at the end in order of how they appeared.
How do I cite the Bible properly?
Book, chapter number, colon, verse number(s), abbreviation for the translation used. Most publications want you to abbreviate the book of the Bible and use this list from Logos as their guide. If you use the same translation through the piece, you only need to reference it once.
I hope you found this guide helpful! if you have any unanswered questions still, reach out to me and I’ll come back to add them to the list if I can answer them.
