To quote an article in a paper, you place the exact words from the source inside double quotation marks, introduce them with a signal phrase or context sentence, and add a parenthetical citation with the author’s last name and page number. The specific formatting depends on which citation style your paper follows, but the core mechanics are the same across MLA, APA, and Chicago: copy the text exactly, mark it clearly as someone else’s words, and tell the reader where it came from.
Short Quotes vs. Block Quotes
Most quotes you pull from an article will be short, just a sentence or a key phrase. In MLA format, any quote that runs four typed lines or fewer goes directly into your paragraph, enclosed in double quotation marks. In APA, the threshold is 40 words. As long as your quote stays under the limit, it flows right into your sentence like any other clause.
Here’s what a short quote looks like in MLA:
Smith argues that “the rapid decline in print subscriptions has forced newsrooms to rethink their revenue models entirely” (47).
Notice the period comes after the parenthetical citation, not inside the quotation marks. That rule trips up a lot of writers. Periods, commas, and semicolons always go after the parenthetical citation when you’re quoting source material.
If your quote runs longer than four typed lines of prose (or 40 words in APA), you format it as a block quote. Block quotes look different: you start on a new line, indent the entire passage half an inch from the left margin, keep double spacing, and drop the quotation marks entirely. The indentation itself signals that you’re quoting. Your parenthetical citation goes after the closing punctuation mark, which is the opposite of short quotes.
How to Introduce a Quote Smoothly
Dropping a quote into your paper without any setup is one of the fastest ways to make your writing feel choppy. Signal phrases solve this. A signal phrase is the short introductory clause that tells the reader who is speaking and, often, what stance the author is taking. Common signal phrase verbs include “argues,” “claims,” “suggests,” “points out,” “acknowledges,” and “indicates.”
MLA style uses present-tense verbs in signal phrases:
- Johnson argues that “remote work has permanently altered commuting patterns” (12).
- As Rivera suggests, “the data points to a more complex explanation” (88).
APA style uses past-tense verbs because it emphasizes when research was conducted:
- Johnson (2022) argued that “remote work has permanently altered commuting patterns” (p. 12).
- As Rivera (2023) pointed out, “the data points to a more complex explanation” (p. 88).
If you want to show that an author disagrees with a position, pick a verb that reflects that. Words like “refutes,” “disputes,” “rejects,” and “denies” all signal disagreement clearly. Match the verb to what the author is actually doing in the source material.
When you name the author in your signal phrase, you don’t repeat the name inside the parentheses. Just include the page number (or page number and year in APA).
What Goes in the Parenthetical Citation
MLA uses an author-page method. You provide the author’s last name and the page number where the quoted text appears. If the article doesn’t have page numbers, which is common with online sources, include whatever identifying information appears first in your Works Cited entry. That might be the author’s name alone, or if there’s no known author, a shortened version of the article title in quotation marks.
APA uses an author-date-page method. You include the author’s last name, the publication year, and the page number preceded by “p.” for a single page or “pp.” for a range. For online articles without page numbers, APA allows paragraph numbers (preceded by “para.”) or section headings to help readers locate the passage.
For articles you accessed online with no page numbers and no paragraph numbers, don’t try to fabricate a page number from your browser’s print preview. Just provide the author name (and year, for APA) and let the Works Cited or References entry do the rest of the locating work.
Modifying Text Inside a Quote
Sometimes you need to trim a quote or adjust a word so it fits grammatically into your sentence. Two tools handle this: ellipses and square brackets.
An ellipsis (three spaced dots: . . .) signals that you’ve removed words from the original. Use it when cutting out a section of a sentence that isn’t relevant to your point, but be careful not to change the author’s meaning. If the original reads “The policy, which was implemented in three phases over two years, ultimately reduced emissions by 40 percent,” you could write: “The policy . . . ultimately reduced emissions by 40 percent.”
Square brackets let you insert or change a word for clarity or grammar. If the original says “They were unable to replicate the findings,” but your sentence needs a different subject, you can write: “[The researchers] were unable to replicate the findings.” Brackets tell the reader you’ve altered the original text.
One edge case: if the article you’re quoting already contains an ellipsis, readers could confuse the author’s original ellipsis with your omission. In that situation, place your own ellipsis inside brackets [. . .] to distinguish the two, or add a parenthetical note like “(ellipsis in original)” after the quote.
Quoting an Article With No Named Author
News articles, unsigned editorials, and some web content lack a byline. When there’s no known author, your in-text citation uses a shortened version of the article’s title instead. In MLA, put the shortened title in quotation marks since articles are short works: (“Shifts in Climate Policy” 4). In APA, use the first few words of the title in quotation marks followed by the year: (“Shifts in Climate Policy,” 2024, p. 4). The shortened title should match the beginning of the full title as it appears in your Works Cited or References list so the reader can find the complete entry.
Blending Quotes With Your Own Words
The strongest academic writing doesn’t just stack quotes back to back. Each quote should serve a specific purpose: providing evidence for a claim you’re making, illustrating a concept, or presenting a viewpoint you plan to analyze. A reliable pattern is to introduce the quote with context, present the quote, then follow it with your own analysis or explanation of why it matters.
You can also quote just a phrase rather than a full sentence. Partial quotes often integrate more naturally into your writing. For example: Garcia describes the phenomenon as “a slow erosion of institutional trust” (34), a characterization that aligns with the survey data from the previous decade. Pulling out only the essential phrase keeps your voice in control of the paragraph while still grounding your claim in the source.
If you find yourself quoting more than two or three sentences in a row from the same article, consider whether a paraphrase would work better for part of the passage. Reserve direct quotes for language that is particularly vivid, precise, or important to reproduce exactly. Your professor wants to see your thinking supported by sources, not a patchwork of other people’s sentences.
Poetry and Media Sources
If you’re quoting verse from a literary article or anthology, the rules shift slightly. Short poetry quotes (fewer than three lines of verse) stay inline, but you mark line breaks with a forward slash surrounded by spaces: “To be, or not to be, / That is the question.” If a stanza break falls within your quote, use a double slash ( // ).
For articles that include audio or video content, like podcast transcripts or multimedia features, cite the timestamp range rather than a page number. Format it as hours, minutes, and seconds: (00:14:22-00:14:45).
Quick Formatting Checklist
- Short quote (under 4 lines in MLA, under 40 words in APA): Use double quotation marks, integrate into your paragraph, place the period after the parenthetical citation.
- Block quote (over the threshold): Start a new line, indent half an inch, no quotation marks, period before the parenthetical citation.
- Signal phrase names the author: Only the page number goes in parentheses.
- No signal phrase: Author’s last name and page number both go in parentheses.
- Omitting words: Use an ellipsis (. . .) where text was removed.
- Changing words: Use square brackets around any inserted or altered text.
- No author: Use a shortened article title in quotation marks as the in-text identifier.