Direct Quote

A direct quote includes the exact word-for-word sentences or phrases that you found in a source. When you copy and paste text into your paper, you are directly quoting that source. A direct quote must have quotation marks around it and it must include a citation to show the reader where those words came from.

Example

Quoting from a Source

A magazine article by Tracy Mayor in Computerworld titled “Women in IT: How Deep is the Bench?” is the featured source for this example.

Women in IT excerpt Download Women in IT excerpt

In a MLA Style paper, a direct quote from this source would be written as follows:

“In contrast, the industry shift away from nuts and bolts and toward hybrid skill sets - including higher-level analytics, process and project management, and user-centric social and mobile computing - could open up opportunities for women to move laterally into tech departments from other specialties” (Mayor 18).