Skip to Main Content

APA 6th referencing style

A guide to using the APA 6th referencing style.

What is a direct quotation?

A direct quotation reproduces word-for-word material taken directly from another author’s work, or from your own previously published work.

If the quotation is fewer than 40 words, incorporate it into your paragraph and enclose it in double quotation marks. Place it before the full stop.

David Copperfield starts with "Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show" (Dickens, 1869, p. 1).

If the quotation comprises 40 or more words, display it in an indented, freestanding block of text, without quotation marks. At the end of a block quotation, cite the quoted source and the page number in parentheses, after the final punctuation mark.

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show. To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born (as I have been informed and believe) on a Friday, at twelve o’clock at night. It was remarked that the clock began to strike, and I began to cry, simultaneously. (Dickens, 1896, p. 1)

Format of a direct quotation in-text reference

  • If you have directly quoted words from a source (in inverted commas, or in an indented paragraph), provide the author, year, and specific page number for that quotation. (For material without page numbers, give the paragraph number.)
  • Include a complete reference in the reference list.

The in-text reference will look like:- 

(Smith, 2003, p. 105)

(Brown, 1999, pp. 49-50)

Smith (2003) has argued that "......" (p. 105)

As Brown (1999) found "......" (pp. 49-50) 

Placement of a direct quotation in-text reference

  • If the direct quote is part of a sentence, place the in-text reference directly after the quote and continue with the sentence. For example:-

Mindfulness has a range of meanings as it "...has become a trend word conveying a diversity of understandings dependent on context" (Crane, 2017, p. 586) and can encompass....

As Crane (2017) said, "Mindfulness has become a trend word conveying a diversity of understandings dependent on context" (p. 586) and can encompass....

  • If the direct quote is at the end of a sentence, include the in-text reference directly after the quote and end with a full stop.

"Mindfulness has become a trend word conveying a diversity of understandings dependent on context" (Crane, 2017, p. 586).