Direct Quotations

Adapted from “Chapter 5: The Research Process” of An Introduction to Technical Communication, by David Murray, Michelle Miller, and Sherena Huntsman. Copyright © Sherena Huntsman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

In most technical reports, direct quotation is needed only for the following situations:

Statements by important or well-known authorities or leaders
Controversial statements you do not want attributed to you
Statements expressed in unusual, vivid, or memorable language

There are essentially two types of direct quotation: “block” quotations and “running” quotations.

Here is an example of a block quotation (any quotation over 3 lines long):

In Myers’ view, the nuclear power industry has every reason to comply with the NRC’s regulations to the very letter:

The NRC issues an order to shut down or imposes civil fines only after repeated violations have indicated what the NRC considers “a pattern of non- compliance.” The NRC argues that, particularly with power plants, civil penalties are unnecessary for the most part. “The greatest penalty,” one official said, “is to require the plant to shut down, forcing it to buy replacement power (often at a cost of $100,000 to $200,000 per day) elsewhere. A civil penalty’s largest cost—the NRC is limited to a $5,000-per-violation ceiling per 30 days—is the stigma attached to it.” (8:46)

The “stigma” refers to the fact that, once a nuclear power plant is fined, it will likely be the target of public concern and even more stringent and frequent NRC inspection.

“Running” quotations are direct quotations that are trimmed down and worked into the regular sentences of a report. Notice how much smoother and more efficient the running quotation is in the revised version below:

Ineffective Direct Quotation

There are two types of light water reactors: the pressurized water reactor and the boiling water reactor. “LWRs of both types convert heat to electricity with an efficiency of about 32 percent—significantly less than the best fossil-fueled plants, although about equal to the national average for all thermal electricity generation” [13:438]. As for harnessing the energy potential of uranium, LWRs are estimated to average only between 0.5 and 1.0 percent.

Revision with Running Quotation

There are two types of light water reactors: the pressurized water reactor and the boiling water reactor. According to Paul Ehrlich, who has been a consistent critic of nuclear power, both these types of LWRs “convert heat to electricity with an efficiency of about 32 percent—significantly less than the best fossil-fueled plants, although about equal to the national average for all thermal electricity generation” (13:438). As for harnessing the energy potential of uranium, LWRs are estimated to average only between 0.5 and 1.0 percent.

Guide for Using Direct Quotes

When you use direct quotations in your report, keep these guidelines in mind.

Never use free-floating quotations in reports. Always &attribute direct quotations; that is, explain who made the quoted statement.
Always provide adequate introduction for direct quotations and explain their meaning and importance to your readers. Notice how the block quotation above on NRC penalties (a) prepares the reader for the quotation, and, afterwards, (b) provides interpretive comment, on the meaning of the word “stigma” in particular.
Use indented or block quotations whenever a direct quotation goes over three lines long. With any lengthy quotation, make sure that it is important enough to merit direct quotation.
Whenever possible, trim the quotation so that it will fit into your own writing.
If necessary, modify the phrasing of the quotation to fit your writing. Use brackets [ ] to indicate changes you make.
Punctuate direct quotations correctly. You can see the rules for punctuating direct quotations.
Use ellipses to shorten direct quotations. The three dots … show that words are omitted from the sentence. When you do, however, make sure that the resulting quotation reads clearly and smoothly.
Use direct quotations only when necessary: if the passage doesn’t fit one of the reasons for direct quotation cited at the beginning of this section, paraphrase or summarize it instead.