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Last Updated on: 2nd February 2024, 05:30 am
In APA, a block quote contains a direct quotation that consists of 40 or more words. When writing papers, keep in mind that you should use block quotations in moderation. A summary or paraphrase of the information from your sources is preferred. In this article, we’ll show you how to properly format APA block quotes.
Format for APA Block Quotes
- Introduce the quotation
- Indent five spaces from the left margin
- Double-space
- Do not enclose it in quotation marks
- If there is a quotation within the block quotation, put it in double quotation marks
Block Quotes from Print Sources
Most long quotes you’ll need to cite will be from print sources. Here’s how to cite APA block quotes according to the 7th edition of the manual.
In-text citation
(Author’s Last Name, Year, Page number)
Example
(Borodulin, 2017, p. 52)
The following format is for a block quote with the in-text citation directly after it. The in-text citation goes after the period or any other punctuation mark at the end of the quote. If the source does not have page numbers, then provide a paragraph number (e.g., para. 2) or other section identifiers, such as a chapter number or section number.
There were two medical organizations that played a significant role in forming the first clinical elite:
The first specialized scientific organization was the surgical society in Moscow, which was established in 1873 and consisted of 22 surgeons, medical doctors from teaching hospitals and city hospitals. In 1881 the N. I. Pirogov Surgical Society was established in Saint Petersburg. National congresses on specialties within clinical practice were held beginning in the late 19th century. (Borodulin, 2017, p. 52)
Get Your Dissertation Accepted On Your Next Submission
The following is for a block quote with a narration citation. Provide an introductory signal phrase with the author’s last name and year of publication.
Borodulin (2017) reported that there were two medical organizations that played a significant role in forming the first clinical elite:
The first specialized scientific organization was the surgical society in Moscow, which was established in 1873 and consisted of 22 surgeons, medical doctors from teaching hospitals and city hospitals. In 1881 the N. I. Pirogov Surgical Society was established in Saint Petersburg. National congresses on specialties within clinical practice were held beginning in the late 19th century. (p, 52)
The following is for a quotation within a block quote:
The role of scientific schools in forming the elite derived from their function of preserving and passing on knowledge from one generation to the next. Separate links binding them together can be identified “by the creativity of particular personalities and the bonds by the interaction between them.” Therefore, students who have overcome the school establishment and have broken the mold in the development of science are evidence not of the collapse of the scientific school, but in fact of its triumph. (Borodulin, 2017, p. 52)
Reference List
Author’s Last Name, First Initial. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy
When providing the URL from a source, you no longer have to write “Retrieved from” before it.
The DOI, or Digital Object Identifier at the end of the reference is used to identify a document and link to it on the web. In most articles, the DOI will be printed with the article.
Example
Borodulin V.I. (2017). The scientific elite in the history of the nation’s internal medicine clinical practice. History of Medicine. 4(1), 51–59. https://doi.org/10.17720/2409-5834.v4.1.2017.06f
Quote From an Audiovisual Source
When you have a block quote from a video or other audiovisual source, see if it provides a time stamp, (a timeline window that displays the hour, minute, and second). If it has a timeline window, provide the time the quote began in the in-text citation.
In-text citation
(Author’s or Speaker’s Last Name, Year, Hours: Minutes: Seconds)
Example
(Wallace-Wells, 2019, 08:15)
There are several ways to ensure a positive future for the planet:
We would need a new kind of infrastructure, poured by a different kind of cement, because today, if cement were a country, it would be the world’s third biggest emitter. And China is pouring as much cement every three years as the US poured in the entire 20th century. We would need to build seawalls and levees to protect those people living on the coast, many of whom are too poor to build them today, which is why it must mean an end to a narrowly nationalistic geopolitics that allows us to define the suffering of those living elsewhere in the world as insignificant, when we even acknowledge it. (Wallace-Wells, 2019, 08:15)
Reference list
Author’s Last Name, First Initial (Year, Month Day). Title of audiovisual. [Type of audiovisual]. Names of website. URL
Wallace-Wells, D. (2019, September 21). How we could change the planet’s climate future. [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/david_wallace_wells_how_we_could_change_the_planet_s_climate_future
APA Block Quote Citation Summary
Hopefully, this article showed you how to cite a long quote in APA. For more information about the guidelines for a block quotation, refer to Section 6.22 and pages 92 and 171 of the APA Manual 7th edition.
