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Cite your ressources
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Mentioning the source of information used in writing work can take different forms. This section explores the general principles and shows concretely how to insert and format quotes.
Objective
- Know the different methods for properly citing your sources.
Quotation is the “action of quoting, reporting someone’s words or sentences; words, passages borrowed from an author or someone who is an authority.” Little Robert
Above all, to avoid ending up with an academic infraction sanction ranging from probation to expulsion and seeing a permanent mention in the university record. But also for :
- Respect Canadian copyright law.
- Give credibility to the work.
- Demonstrate scientific rigor.
- Allow the reader to go back to the source.
The source must be cited whenever an idea or research result of which we are not the author directly influences the content of our work.
To quote:
- Paraphrasing as well as word-for-word quotations
- It does not matter whether the medium of the citation is paper or digital or online.
Do not quote:
- The idea or fact which is common knowledge ie known to a large majority of people and identifiable in various sources of information.
Ex.: Under normal conditions, water boils at 100 C. - Dates of important events as well as certain expressions.
Ex.: The Great Darkness, The attacks of September 11, 2001.
In research work, you must indicate the source of citations in 2 places:
- In the text, cite abbreviatedly.
- At the end of the text, create a bibliography and fully cite all sources.
The method chosen, either author-date, classic or numbered, always determines the formatting of the source.
Paraphrasing is when an author's idea is reported in our own words.
- The source must be mentioned in an abbreviated manner at the beginning or end of the paraphrase.
- Don't forget to put the full reference in the bibliography.
Click on a method to view the corresponding citation practice.
In the case of a quote copied verbatim, the formatting must take into account the length of the extract.
Short quote (less than three lines)
- Place it inside the text between French quotation marks (“ ”);
- Follow it with mention of the source (without forgetting the bibliography).
Long quote (three lines or more):
- Present it indented with margins of 1 cm on either side of the main text;
- Separate it from the main text by double spacing;
- Use single spacing for the extract quoted verbatim;
- Follow it with mention of the source (without forgetting the bibliography).
Golden rule
Each line quoted verbatim should be associated with at least two lines of analysis ( plagiarism.org )
To cite a quotation for which the original source is not available, credit not only the source from which it was taken, but also the original source. Use phrases like “cited in” or “cited by.” However, only the source actually consulted will appear in the bibliography. The original source is integrated into the text or as a footnote. See the following examples.
Text content
In the bibliography, indicate only the source that was consulted and not the source of the quote already cited by someone.
Tables and/or graphs
Use the formula “taken from” to introduce mention of the source.
Language understood by readers
There is no need to translate the passage when it is reasonable to believe that our readers understand the original language of the quoted extract.
The same rules as for text quoted verbatim apply.
Original language that cannot be understood by readers
Knowing that the original language is misunderstood by readers, find a translation of the extract already published and cite it. If there is no translation, translate the extract yourself and put it in quotation marks. Add the mention [My translation].
When the text contains an error, do not correct it. Any doubtful term (mistake, typo, etc.) must be followed by [sic] to indicate that the original text is indeed worded this way.
Separate verses with an oblique slash preceded and followed by a space.
- When writing a text, opt for one of the three citation methods: author-date, numbered and classic. Use the same formatting until the job is finished. Take into account cases requiring a special presentation.
Infosphère / https://infosphere.uqam.ca 
When first experiencing scholarly writing, there may be discomfort about how to fluidly insert a citation into the body of the text. There are classic turns of phrase that we can use to get started. With experience, introductory formulas will gain in variety and style.
Objective
- Learn some introductory quotation formulas in the body of the text.
A citation must be included. To do this we use different forms of introduction. The most common forms are presented here.
All textual examples are taken from Matthieu Ricard's book, Plea for altruism: the force of benevolence, published by NiL in 2013.
The most common formula is the use of the prepositions for and according to.
Other expressions are used equivalently such as “In the opinion of X…”, “As for X…”, “From the point of view of X…”, “According to X…”.
The quotation is commonly introduced by the name of the author(s) as the subject of the sentence, followed by an appropriate verb.
The subject (i.e. the author) and the verb can also be inverted by using the conjunctive phrase as well as or the conjunction like.
A final, fairly common strategy is to start the sentence with the preposition in followed by the title or type of work that is cited (e.g.: the investigation, the article, the research, the work, the study, the analyzes, experiences).
Other prepositions or adverbs can obviously be used. Ex: According to the article by…; Following the experiences of…
Three common writing practices were presented. They are based on the use of:
- Usual expressions for introducing opinions;
- Appropriate verbs describing the purpose of the cited author;
- Primers exploiting the type of work cited
With practice and time, using these formulas will become second nature. More personal and more creative twists will then become possible.
Infosphère / https://infosphere.uqam.ca
