While academic writing encourages paraphrasing over quoting, there are instances when it is necessary to cite a direct quotation. When doing so, follow the corresponding rules for the in-text citation type and add a page number to the end of the citation.
When using the author or authors’ names within the text (also called a narrative citation), the year citation comes after the author’s name, and the page number citation should be placed after the direct quotation. Be sure to put quoted material inside quotation marks. Place the period after the citation for all quotes shorter than 40 words.
Prose
According to Smith (2018), “the number of birds in North America has declined by 2.9 billion since 1970” (p. 31).
“The number of birds in North America has declined by 2.9 billion since 1970” (Smith, 2018, p. 31).
Poetry and Verse
When directly quoting a poetic, classical, or religious work in the text, the APA manual says to use “canonically numbered parts common across editions (e.g., books, chapters, verses, lines, cantos)” (p. 303) instead of page numbers.
“Art is History’s nostalgia, it prefers a thatched roof to a concrete factory, and the huge church above a bleached village” (Walcott, 1990, Omeros, Book 3, Chapter X, Lines 8-9).
As he retells the story of the Odyssey in his book Omeros, Derek Walcott explains that “Art is History’s nostalgia, it prefers a thatched roof to a concrete factory, and the huge church above a bleached village” (Book 3, Chapter X, Lines 8-9).
No Page Numbers
To cite quotations of material without page numbers, the American Psychological Publication Manual recommends providing section names, heading names, or paragraph numbers—essentially providing readers with necessary information to locate the quotation.
According to Williams (2019), “gravity is actually the bending of space” (para. 5).
Social Media
To directly quote material from social media, simply use the writer’s last name and the date of the post. A more robust citation of the social media post should be included on your References page. Visit our APA References section for examples of how to create entries for popular social media platforms.
Power users have described the performance of X as “[getting] worse every single day. Someday it will degrade beyond the point of usability” (Doctorow, 2024).
If you’re quoting directly from a YouTube video (or video in general), you should use a timestamp in lieu of page numbers.
In the video essay When Movie Stars Become Brands, it’s noted how the Deadpool character’s way of speaking has consumed the actor. “That voice, pitched-up and sarcastic, that’s just Ryan Reynolds’ voice now, in everything” (Willems, 2024).
