A direct quotation is a text that has been taken exactly word for word from an original source. You can take a single word, a phrase, a sentence or an entire passage.

The Three Rules of Quoting in APA Style

Use double quotation marks when the quote is less than 40 words. In case, a quote is 40 words or more, use the block quote format. Add the author, year and page number in the in-text citation.

Example: According to the study, “direct quotes can very helpful in academic papers” (Samuel et al., 2020, p. 29).

In APA, you must always mention the author’s last name, the year the source was published, and the page where the quote can be located when citing a quote. Use “p.” when referring to a single page or “pp.” for multiple pages.  Parenthetical and narrative in-text citations are the two forms of APA in-text citations. You put the whole citation in parenthesis after the quote and before the period.

Example: A recent study of students found that “plagiarism is a very serious matter in academic writing” (Hora & Ková, 2019, p. 2).

The author(s) should be part of your sentence in a narrative quotation. Put the year after the author’s name in brackets, and the page number after the quotation in brackets. Hora and Ková (2019) stated that “plagiarism is a very serious matter in an academic writing” (p. 2).

Quote a Source Having no Page Number

Page numbers are not present in some source formats, such as web pages. Unless the source is very brief, you should normally give an alternate location when citing a direct quotation. A chapter or section name, a paragraph number, or a mix of the two might be used as the locator. Use whichever location will make it the easiest for your reader to discover the quotation.

Quoting 40 or More Words

If the quotation is more than 40 words, it should be structured as a blockquote. In APA Style, a block quotation should be formatted as follows:
  •  Quote marks should not be used.
  •  Begin the quote with a new line.
  •  Indent the quotation by 0.5 inch throughout.
  • Ensure that the whole quote is double-spaced.
Block quotations, like ordinary quotes, can be referenced using a parenthetical or narrative citation. If the block quotation completed with a period, the citation should be placed after the period.