Quoting Rules

When using material from sources, here are some important things to know:

• Three options for including source material in your story:
  • Quoting: WORD-FOR-WORD material from your source to add context to a story. 
    • Note: Filler words such as “um” or “you know” can be omitted. Words like “gonna” or “kinda” should always be spelled out, unless including the slang terms is important to the story.
  • Paraphrasing: rewording information from a source to be more concise or to be stated quicker. This is best for long-winded quotes or quotes just summarizing information.
  • Summarizing: similar to paraphrasing, but this is more broad. Instead of paraphrasing sentences, summarizing has to do with summing up larger pieces of or an entire conversation.
• Quote information that matters. Don’t quote something you can report on yourself.
• It’s important to note that the AP prefers Source said, rather than said Source, unless the source’s title is included in the quote and is too long. (That’s a judgment call the writer has to make.) Example:
  • Correct: “Organizing the event was so much fun,” said John Smith, president of the Student Production Board and student liaison to the OU Board of Trustees.
  • Incorrect: “Organizing the event was so much fun,” John Smith, president of the Student Production Board and student liaison to the OU Board of Trustees, said.
    • The “said” is included before the source’s name because if it were to be at the end, the “said” would get lost.

There are a few quote formats. Pay attention to the punctuation in each:

Full quote with two or more sentences

“I have had cats for as long as I can remember,” Doe said. “Getting to open an animal shelter has always been a dream of mine.”

Note the attribution included between the two sentences; also pay attention to the punctuation here. It’s a good rule-of-thumb to place attribution at the break between the first two sentences of a quote, unless the quote is more than two sentences and the attribution would sound better at a different point.

One-sentence quote

Option one: Attribution after quote

“I love getting to work with the people I love, but they get on my nerves sometimes,” Smith said.

Option two: split attribution

“I love getting to work with the people I love,” Smith said, “but they get on my nerves sometimes.”

Note the comma after “said” and the lowercase letter at the next part of the quote.

Option three: Attribution before quote (avoid if possible)

Smith said, “I love getting to work with the people I love, but they get on my nerves sometimes.”