A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations, 7th edition - Kate L. Turabian 2007

Integrate quotations into your text
Drafting your report
Part I. Research and writing: from planning to production

You can insert quotations into your text in two ways:

Run four or fewer quoted lines into your running text.

Set off five or more lines as an indented block.

You can integrate both run-in and block quotations into your text in two ways:

1. Drop in the quotation as an independent sentence or passage, introduced with a few explanatory words. But avoid introducing all of your questions with just a says, states, claims, and so on:

Diamond says, “The histories of the Fertile Crescent and China . . . hold a salutary lesson for the modern world: circumstances change, and past primacy is no guarantee of future primacy” (417).

Instead, provide some interpretation:

Diamond suggests that one lesson we can learn from the past is not to expect history to repeat itself. “The histories of the Fertile Crescent and China . . . hold a salutary lesson for the modern world. . . .”

2. Weave the grammar of the quotation into the grammar of your sentence:

Political leaders should learn from history, but Diamond points out that the “lesson for the modern world” in the history of the Fertile Crescent and China is that “circumstances change, and past primacy is no guarantee of future primacy” (417). So one lesson from history is that you can't count on it to repeat itself.

To make a quoted sentence mesh with yours, you can modify the quotation, so long as you don't change its meaning and you clearly indicate added or changed words with square brackets and deletions with three dots (called ellipses). This sentence quotes the original intact:

Posner focuses on religion not for its spirituality, but for its social functions: “A notable feature of American society is religious pluralism, and we should consider how this relates to the efficacy of governance by social norms in view of the historical importance of religion as both a source and enforcer of such norms” (299).

This version modifies the quotation to fit the grammar of the writer's sentence:

In his discussion of religious pluralism, Posner says of American society that “a notable feature . . . is [its] religious pluralism.” We should consider how its social norms affect “the efficacy of governance . . . in view of the historical importance of religion as both a source and enforcer of such norms” (299).

(See chapter 25 for more on integrating quotations with your text.)

When you refer to a source the first time, use his or her full name. Do not precede it with Mr., Mrs., Ms., or Professor (see 24.2.2 for the use of Dr., Reverend, Senator, and so on). When you mention a source thereafter, use just the last name:

According to Steven Pinker, “claims about a language instinct . . . have virtually nothing to do with possible genetic differences between people.”¹ Pinker goes on to claim that . . .

Except when referring to kings, queens, and popes, never refer to a source by his or her first name. Never this:

According to Steven Pinker, “claims about a language instinct . . . ” Steven goes on to claim that . . .