Wikipedia:Quotations

For the Manual of Style on quotes, see WP:MOSQUOTE.

Quotations are a fundamental attribute of Wikipedia. Quotations—often informally called "quotes"—provide information directly; quoting a brief excerpt from an original source can sometimes explain things better and less controversially than trying to explain them in one's own words. This page sets out guidelines for such use in Wikipedia articles.

Comparison with paraphrases

Quotations vs. paraphrases

	Quotations	Paraphrases
Definitions	Verbatim text, set off from its surroundings by either quote marks or formatting elements	Text based on a source but rephrased in the writer's own words
Attribution	Must be attributed to its source
Verbatim text	Yes, usually an unedited, exact reproduction of the original source; any alterations must be clearly marked as such	No, the meaning of the original source must be restated differently
Formatting elements	Yes, quote marks or formatting clearly indicate where the quotation begins and ends	No, paraphrases are not set off from the running text

Example

Quotation

This attitude to art and life can be summarized by Wilde's maxim, "When a truth becomes a fact it loses all its intellectual value."

Paraphrase

This attitude to art and life was expressed by Oscar Wilde, who stated that a truth loses its intellectual value by the time it turns into a fact.

General guidelines

Quotations are a good tool to comply with the no original research policy but must be used with care.

Quotations must be verifiably attributed to a reliable source (see Wikipedia:Verifiability#Burden of evidence). Wikipedia policy for proper attribution of quotes is found in WP:ATTRIBUTEPOV. Other guidelines are found in WP:MOSQUOTE and WP:CITE. Attribution should be provided in the text of the article, not exclusively in a footnote or citation. A reader should not have to follow a footnote to learn whose words a quote is. Any quotation that is not sourced may be removed at any time, however, a good faith search in an effort to find a source before removing a quote is appreciated (see WP:UNSOURCED and WP:PRESERVE).

Where the same quotation has been used elsewhere in the article, avoid duplicating it, which is regarded as poor style.

The quotation should be representative of the whole source document; editors should be very careful to avoid misrepresentation of the argument in the source.

Where a quotation presents rhetorical language in place of more neutral, dispassionate tone preferred for encyclopedias, it can be a backdoor method of inserting a non-neutral treatment of a controversial subject into Wikipedia's narrative on the subject, and should be avoided.

Never quote a false statement without immediately saying the statement is false. See this example ([1]) at Phoenix, Arizona. There is no difference between quoting a falsehood without saying it's false and inserting falsehoods into articles.

For free or public domain material do not use quote marks but the text must be attributed and given a footnote, or given a link to the original text. For copyrighted material, see below.

Formatting

Do not put quotations in italics unless the material would otherwise call for italics, such as for emphasis and the use of non-English words (see the Manual of Style). Indicate whether italics were used in the original text or whether they were added later. For example:

Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince: And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest! [emphasis added]

Quotations must always be clearly indicated as being quotations. For information regarding the use of punctuation with quotations, including the use of quotation marks within quotations, see the Manual of Style: "Quotations".

If not used verbatim, any alterations must be clearly marked, i.e. [square brackets] for added or replacement text, an ellipsis (...) for removed text (see WP:ELLIPSIS for details), and emphasis noted after the quotation as "[emphasis added]" or "[emphasis in the original]". Exceptions are trivial spelling or typographical errors that obviously do not affect the intended meaning; these may be silently corrected or may be retained and marked with " [sic]"—using the template {{sic}}—to indicate that the error is in the original source.

Quotations should generally be worked into the article text, so as not to inhibit the pace, flow and organization of the article. Longer quotes may need to be set apart, generally through the use of wikitext templates such as {{Quote}}, {{Quotation}}, or the HTML blockquote element. Longer quotations may also be hidden in the reference (footnote) to facilitate verification by other editors without sacrificing readability. For pull quotes (quotes of the article text used to highlight a section) the {{Cquote}} template can be used.

Recommended use of quotations

In some instances, quotations are preferred to text. For example:

• When dealing with a controversial subject. As per the WP:ATTRIBUTEPOV policy, biased statements of opinion can only be presented with attribution. Quotations are the simplest form of attribution. Editors of controversial subject should quote the actual spoken or written words to refer to the most controversial ideas. Controversial ideas must never appear to be "from Wikipedia".
• When using a unique phrase or term created by a given author. For example Oscar Wilde's witticism "The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable".

Overusing quotations

While quotations are an indispensable part of Wikipedia, try not to overuse them. Long quotations crowd the actual article and remove attention from other information. Many direct quotations can be minimized in length by providing an appropriate context in the surrounding text. A summary or paraphrase of a quotation is often better where the original wording could be improved. Consider minimizing the length of a quotation by paraphrasing, by working smaller portions of quotation into the article text, or both. Provided each use of a quotation within an article is legitimate and justified there is no need for an arbitrary limit.

Overuse happens when:

a quotation is used without pertinence

This means that a quotation is visually on the page, but its relevance is not explained anywhere.

Examples of overuse of quotations

• Using too many quotes is incompatible with the encyclopedic writing style; see Wikipedia:Writing better articles.
• Quotations that can't be justified for use in an article directly may be placed in Wikiquote and a Wikiquote template put on the article to inform readers that there are relevant quotations regarding the subject.
• As a matter of style, quoteboxes should generally be avoided as they draw special attention to the opinion of one source, and present that opinion as though Wikipedia endorses it. Instead of using quoteboxes to highlight its notability, explain its importance before introducing the quote or in an introduction to the quote.
• Wikipedia is not a list or repository of loosely associated topics such as quotations.
• Do not insert any number of quotations in a stand-alone quote section.
• A quotation that does not directly relate to the topic of the article or directly support the information as it is presented should not be used, to avoid original research.
• Intersperse quotations with original prose that comments on those quotations instead of constructing articles out of quotations with little or no original prose.
• Longer quotations may be hidden in the reference as a footnote to facilitate verification by other editors without sacrificing readability.

Copyrighted material and fair use

When copyrighted text must be quoted, see the plagiarism and non-free content guidelines. Extensive quotation of copyrighted text is prohibited.

Although quoting involves copying of another's work without permission, it is generally considered one of the uses permitted under fair use in the United States. However, just as with fair-use images, fair-use quotation has limitations:

• The copied material should not comprise a substantial portion of the work being quoted, and a longer quotation should not be used where a shorter quotation would express the same information. What constitutes a substantial portion depends on many factors, such as the length of the original work and how central the quoted text is to that work. In one extreme case, Harper & Row v. Nation Enterprises, 400 quoted words from a 500-page book were ruled to be infringement. Editors are advised to exercise good judgment and to remain mindful of the fact that while brief excerpts are permitted by policy, extensive quotations are forbidden.
• The quotation must be useful and aid understanding of the subject; irrelevant quotations should be removed.
• All quotations must be attributed to their source.

Unlike fair-use images, quotations are permitted on talk pages and project pages where they are useful for discussion, but the requirements listed above should still be observed.

A special case is the use of quotations purely for interest or decorative purposes on user pages. By consensus such quotations are acceptable as long as they are limited in extent, particularly if they comment on the attitudes of the user in question; but because the claim of fair use is weaker, the restrictions on extent must be more strictly enforced.

Fair use does not need to be invoked for public domain works or text available under a CC-By-SA-compatible free license, so in such cases the extent of quotations is simply a matter of style.

See also

• Wikiquote
• Wikipedia:Citing sources
• Block quotation
• Template:Quote
• Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Quotation marks
• Category:Articles with unsourced quotes
• Style recommendations for quotes in footnotes
• Wikipedia:Plagiarism
• Wikipedia:Close paraphrasing
• {{Quotefarm}}