VERBATIM CITATIONS: CHARACTERISTICS AND MAIN TYPES - LITERATURE - 2025

The quotations are those in which the words are taken from another author and reproduce in their own text, giving credit to the original source. The name of the author and the year of the text must be provided. If not, theft of intellectual property is committed.

They are called textual because all the elements of the source text are copied. Even if it has grammatical errors, these must be copied, duly pointing out the error that has been made.

Certain fragments of information that are not necessary for the thesis being developed can be omitted. In this case, the omitted part is indicated with an ellipsis between parentheses (…).

The textual citations are intended to reinforce your own idea and support it with voices of authority. Also, if the sources are verifiable and trustworthy, they provide the necessary information and data that give the text truth.

Types

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), verbatim citations can be classified according to their length and according to the element on which they want to emphasize.

1- Textual citations according to their extension

The citations can be of two types according to the length of the cited text: with less than 40 words or with more than 40 words.

- Extension less than 40 words

Following the methodology of the APA standards, citations with less than 40 words are included in the text that is being written. Because they are short, they do not break with the structure of the paragraph to be created but are integrated into it.

This type of quotation is in quotation marks and must respect the formal aspects of a paragraph. An example of this is that if they are entered after a comma or followed by a sentence, the first letter of the quote must be in lower case.

In case the original text has the first letter in capital letters, this must be eliminated and a lowercase letter must be written in brackets.

Example

María Teresa Cabré (2008) points out that “terminology is a necessity for all professionals involved in the representation, expression, communication and teaching of specialized knowledge, that is, for all those fields in which specialized knowledge is basic” (p. two).

- Extension greater than 40 words

When verbatim citations exceed 40 words, the APA standards indicate that they should be written in a separate paragraph. This is because their extension causes them to break the integrity of the paragraph syntax.

It should be noted that the non-integrated textual citation is usually accompanied by an additional explanation that justifies why this text has been used.

To differentiate the quote from the rest of the text, single spacing is placed. Also, a five-space indentation should be placed on the left. In this case, the quotation marks are dispensed with.

Example

Fedor (nd) proposes a well-defined concept of terminology:

Terminology is the science that studies the formation and use of terms, understanding under "term", any conventional symbol that is assigned to a defined concept within a specific field of human knowledge, and under "science", a body methodically formed and ordered knowledge that constitutes a particular branch of human knowledge. (p. 13)

This concept is more precise than that of other terminologists, such as Felber, whose definition was ambiguous.

2- Verbatim quotes according to the element to emphasize

When making a verbatim quote, one of the following two elements can be emphasized: the author or the text.

If the author is to be highlighted, this must be placed before the citation.

Example

Cabré (1993) adds that general languages ​​comprise “… a set of rules and units (phonological, morphological, lexical and syntactic that are common to all speakers…” (p. 31).

If what you want is to highlight the text, the author is placed at the end in parentheses.

Example

The difference between general language and specialty language depends on the degree to which the fundamental characteristics of the language are maximized or minimized:

Specialty languages ​​are used more consciously than general languages, and the situation in which they are used increases the user's concern about the use of the language. Therefore, the differentiating criteria are located in the level of use (Sager, Dungworth and McDonal, 1980, p. 45).

From this it is concluded that the linguistic use, added to the communicative context, establishes the separation between general and specialized language.

Elements to consider to quote verbatim

When making a verbatim quote, it is necessary to take into account certain aspects. The most notable are the author, the year of publication or issue of the cited text and the page number (if this element is available).

- Two or more authors

When two authors are cited, the elements are separated by a "and".

Pratchett and Gaiman (1990) jokingly indicate that “there are various phenomena-wars, plagues, surprise inspections- that show that the hand of Satan hides behind the affairs of Man” (p. 15).

If you want to put the author at the end, the model will be as follows:

As stated in the novel, “there are various phenomena-wars, plagues, surprise inspections- that show that the hand of Satan hides behind the affairs of Man” (Pratchett and Gaiman, 1990, p. 15).

- From three to five authors

The first time the authors are mentioned, they are all mentioned. The second time only the last name of the first is said followed by “et al.”.

Sager, Dungworth and McDonal (1980) indicate that “…”. Furthermore, Sager et al. (1980) add that “…”.

- Six or more authors

In this case, only the name of the first author is said, followed by "et al." from the first mention.

Whitelegg., Et al (1982) in the text "The changing experience of women" point out that "…"

References

1. APA Style Blog. Retrieved on October 4, 2017, from blog.apastyle.org
2. Definition and Examples of Direct Quotations. Retrieved on October 4, 2017, from thoughtco.com
3. Direct and Indirect Quotations. Retrieved on October 4, 2017, from learneramericanenglishonline.com
4. Direct Quotation. Retrieved on October 4, 2017, from grammar-once-and-for-all.com
5. Direct Quotations. Retrieved on October 4, 2017, from une.edu.au
6. Direct versus Indirect Quotations. Retrieved on October 4, 2017, from write.com
7. Examples of Using Direct Quotes. Retrieved on October 4, 2017, from laspositascollege.edu
8. Notetaking: Direct Quotation. Retrieved on October 4, 2017, from unilearning.uow.edu.au