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:

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.