Direct quotes are a valuable tool in your dissertation, providing definitions, supporting statements, and highlighting relevant facts or beliefs. Because direct quotes are so important, it is necessary to understand how and when to use them. As such, here we will outline several guidelines for using direct quotes in your dissertation.
Primarily, it is important to know how to cite a direct quote. You must cite the original authors somewhere in the sentence, either before or after the quote. After using the quote, cite the page number in the source per APA guidelines. If there is no pagination for the work you are citing, be sure to cite the paragraph number the quote is from instead.
This would look like: Author and Author (year) stated, “Direct quote” (p. ); or “Direct quote” (Author & Author, year, p. ). However, if a quote exceeds 40 words, you should omit the quotation marks and indent the entire statement, formatting it as a block quote. For a block quote, place the citation or page number in parentheses after the final punctuation mark.
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Additionally, while it is very useful, you should only use them when necessary, and paraphrase everywhere else. Typically, it should comprise no more than 20-25% of your total document. This will ensure that your document will be able to stand alone from prior research and maintain its own strength and merit.