Citing

What is citing?

To cite is to literally take over part of a text. This text is usually written by someone else, but you may also quote from your own publications. You must always indicate where the quote comes from: the acknowledgement of the source.

In the text, you make a short reference by mentioning the author’s name, the year of publication and the page number. The complete list of sources must be included at the end of your report. See Reference list.

How do you construct a citation?

You must clearly indicate in your text that it is a quotation: put the quotation in inverted commas. Do you use 40 or more words (long quotation)? Then place your quote between two blank lines and indent.

A quote cannot be too long. You can use a quote to reinforce your own argument or to give examples to refute your own argument. Your report should not consist solely of quotations, nor should you include quotations several paragraphs long. Do you have doubts about the length of a quote? Ask your lecturer for advice.

Example (APA style):

Jansen says: “De tevredenheid van studenten neemt toe als de bibliotheek ook op zondag open is ” (Jansen, 2004, p. 32).