When to quote and when to paraphrase
When
using external information for your assignments, it is generally better to
paraphrase or summarize material rather than quoting it
word-for-word. Using your own words allows you to:
- frame the information to make the point you want to make,
- maintain a consistent style.
But even when summarizing you must acknowledge the author, and give enough information your reader to reach your source of information through:
- An in-text citation next to each paraphrased idea or borrowed image, and
- A reference in the bibliography by the end of the text.
In-text citations
In-text citations should include the author's last name and the publication year enclosed in parenthesis.
Examples:
...Carter et al. (2012) found that the incidence of credit card fraud had been underestimated by at least 50 per cent...
...The main use of mobile phone is exchanging e-mail between friends and relatives (Ishii, 2002) ...
Tables and figures

Include a figure number and a title on top and if needed a legend and caption below the image or table.
Example:
Figure 4. Yemen crisis.
Include a figure number and a title on top and if needed a legend and caption below the image or table.
Example:
Figure 4. Yemen crisis.
Note:Baby with a heart disorder gasps for air in an intensive-aid unit at a yemeni hospital. By Tugnoli (2019)
Bibliography
Bibliography
At the end of your assessment task, provide a list of references in alphabetical order. Here are some samples on how to write references based on their sources:
Books
Example:
Stevenson, R. L. (1975). Treasure Island. Atheneum.
Articles
Example:
Duby, G. (1993). L'invention de l`histoire au mon médiéval. Cahiers d'Etudes Medièvales, 126, 910-924.
Web pages
Example:
Plagiarism. (2015, February 28). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved February 28, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism
Images
Example:
Tugnoli, L. (2019). Yemen crisis [Image]. https://i.blogs.es/fee2b8/yemen-lorenzo-tugnoli-02/1366_2000.jpg
Missing information
Sometimes, certain data may be missing, making it challenging to create a complete reference.
- If the author is missing, start the reference by the title
Title. (Date of publication). https://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
- If the date is missing, write "n.d." for "no date".
Author, A. A. (n.d.). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.
- If the title is missing, describe the document inside square brackets, and provide the source
Here's a sample of all of them combined:
[Picture of a smart guy][Image]. (n.d.) . http://www.biblio.sek.es/catalunya/opac/
Direct quotations
If you must quote word-for-word, then you will write the text:
- Enclosed by quotation marks if they are shorter than 40 words or,
- Placed in a free-standing "block quotation" on a new line,
indented five spaces, when
longer than forty words.
Example:
According to Miguel de Cervantes ¨Truth will rise above falsehood as oil above water. ¨ (as cited in BrainyQuote, 2015)
For more examples and extended information on how to cite with APA check the APA Style website.