how to use quotes in dissertation

Dissertation & Doctoral Project Formatting & Clearance: Citing In Text

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In-Text Citation Basics

Author/Date Citation Method

APA publications use the author/date in text citation system to briefly identify sources to readers.  Each in-text citation is listed alphabetically in the reference list.  All in-text citations referenced in the body of work musr appear in the reference list and vice versa.

The author-date method includes the author's surname and the the publication year.  Do not include suffixes such as Jr., Esq., etc.

(Jones, 2009)

The author/date method is also used with direct quotes.  Another component is added in this format:

(Jones, 2009, p.19)

When multiple pages are referenced, use pp.

(Jones, 2009, pp.19-21)

Variations of author/date within a sentence

Here are some examples of how the author/date citation method are formatted within different parts of a sentence. Please note the author, publication date, and study are entirely fictional (see APA, p.174).

Beginning of a sentence:

Jones (2009) completed a study on the effects of dark chocolate on heart disease.

Middle of a sentence:

In 2009, Jones's study on the effects of dark chocolate and heart disease revealed...

End of a sentence:

The study revealed that participants who ate dark chocolate bars every day did not develop heart disease (Jones, 2009).

Citing a specific part of source (chapter, tables, figures, or equations)

When citing a particular part of a source, it is important to indicate the page, chapter, figure, table, or equation.  Remember to always give page numbers for direct quotations (see APA, section 6.19, p. 179). 

Correct abbreviations continue to be used (see APA, sections 4.22 - 4.30).

(National Chocolate Lovers Association, 2007, p.17)

(Jones, 2009, Chapter 8)

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is great because it allows you to use your own words and your own voice.  It demonstrates that you truly understand what the author is saying. Word of caution: Avoid changing the author's meaning and/or plagiarizing the author.  Looking up certain words within the thesaurus is not paraphrasing.  It is also important to cite the author while paraphrasing.

Here is an example of paraphrasing:

Original citation:

"With rates of childhood obesity climbing over the last decade, some parents and policy-makers have thought to consider whether the availability of endless soda and junk food in school vending machines might be contributing to the problem—and if banning those foods in schools might help solve it" (Price, 2012).

Paraphrase:

Price discusses the possibility that the availability of unhealthy, sugary snacks and drinks in school vending machines has contributed to the rising epidemic of obesity in children.  In an effort to eliminate the source of the problem, some of have proposed implementing a ban (2012).

Direct Quotes: the Short and Long

Direct quotations are sometimes necessary to truly convey the author's meaning to the reader.  When directly quoting an author(s),  (a) the quote must be relevant to your argument, (b) it needs to smoothly transition between what comes first and move to what comes later, (c), it must fit logically and make grammatical sense, and (d) it should be no longer than absolutely necessary.

When reproducing an author's word directly, it is extremely important to quote and cite.  Direct quotations with citation prevents plagiarism and gives the author credit for his/her work. The parenthetical cite should always contain the author's surname, the publication year of the work, and the page citation or paragraph number (for nonpaginated material).

Direct quotations can vary in length.  Quotes fewer than 40 words should be incorporated into the text of the paragraph.  Quotes comprised of 40 or more words, need to be formatted in block quotes.  (see APA, section 6.03, pp.170 - 173; and APA Style Blog , "How to Cite Direct Quotations" or APA Style Blog , "You Can Quote Me on This").

Short, direct quotes (less than 40 words):

Author and quote separated

Bell and Shank (2007) identify that "[a]t least one survey identified library instruction as the type of collaboration mentioned most frequently by librarians" (p.67).

Article retrieved online (see APA, section 6.05, p.171-172)

Price (2012) notes "[t]he results aren't huge, but apparently these laws have a real—and positive—effect on students' health" (para.4).

Author and quote together

"Design is designed in many ways.  By one definition it is the conscious examination of objects and processes to determine how they can be made better" (Bell & Shank, 2007, p. 23).

" The books, sold in the United States, share a piece of a foreign culture, while profits are put back into the country the story came from" (Anthony, 2012, para. 2).

Long, block quotes (40 words or more):

Formatting rules:

• Indent the block quote five spaces or half an inch. • Do not use quotation marks. • Double space the quote unless your school has a rule about single spacing block quotes. • Do not include any additional lines or spaces before or after the block quote. • Notice that in block quotes, the period goes before the parentheses, not after.

Michelli (2007) uses the coffee chain, Starbucks, as example on how to become extraordinary.  He discusses in detail various principles he discovered during his research on the renowned company.  One of the principles focuses on "making it your own."  He writes,

Like most companies, Starbucks has wrestled with ways to invite its partners to fully engage their passions and talents everyday in every interaction at wor.  Simultaneously, the leadership has to ensure that individual partners' differences are blending into a generally uniform experience for customers.  Finding a balance between these two important, yet somtimes divergent, leadership responsibilities can be awkward.  Yet through its principle of Make It Your Own, Starbucks has succeeded in creating a unique model that encourages partners at all levels to pour their creative energy and dedication into everything they do. (p. 20)

This principle does not only apply to businesses; it can be part of anyone's personal beliefs.

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Direct Quotations in Theses – Presentation, Integration and Accuracy

Posted by Rene Tetzner | Nov 11, 2021 | PhD Success | 0 |

Chapter 8: Direct Quotations: Presentation, Integration and Accuracy

  Not all doctoral candidates will make use of direct quotation in their theses, but many theses will include one or a few quoted passages, while others will feature a wide variety of quoted text and/or speech. The idea behind using the exact words of another person (or of other people in the case of sources with more than one author) is that those words contribute to your argument: they may support or contradict your methods, results or conclusions; they may be selected from a text or texts that your thesis analyses in detail; they may be exemplary, pithy or perfect expressions of ideas you introduce and discuss. Whatever your reasons for quoting the words of others in your own writing may be, you need to quote them accurately, remembering that ‘a direct quotation presents the exact words spoken on a particular occasion or written in a particular place’ (Ritter, 2005, Section 9.1). It is also essential that you observe with precision the appropriate scholarly techniques for quoting sources and that you make it absolutely clear to your readers how you are using direct quotations by introducing them effectively and discussing their significance in relation to your argument. In most cases, it is not enough simply to quote a passage and assume that your readers (and examiners) will know why you have quoted it: you need to let them know what you expect them to read or understand in the borrowed words. Any quotations you use should be integrated correctly into the syntax of your own prose as well, and all direct quotations must be acknowledged with precise references to the sources from which they have been taken. If your university or department has provided you with guidelines, they may offer instructions on the quotation practices appropriate for your thesis, in which case those instructions should be prioritised and used in conjunction with the more general advice provided in this chapter. The sections that follow focus on the scholarly practices and formats associated with quoting sources in acceptable ways in formal English prose, beginning with the most practical aspects of presenting quoted material – namely, laying it out on the page and providing the necessary references to the sources quoted.

8.1 Formatting and Acknowledging Quotations

There are two main ways to present quoted material in scholarly prose: it can be formatted as run-on or run-in quotations that are embedded in the main text, or it can be laid out as displayed or block quotations that are set off from the text. Short prose quotations, particularly those of less than a single sentence, are generally embedded, which means that they become a part of your own sentences and paragraphs. They therefore appear in the same font size as the surrounding text and are enclosed in quotation marks (The results of my investigation did not show ‘the negative effect of poor lighting’ (Bennett, 2007, p.197) revealed in an earlier study of the problem). Single quotation marks (‘ ’), as I use in this book, or double quotation marks (“ ”) can be used, but the same type must be used to mark all quotations in a thesis. Traditionally, single quotation marks tended to be used in British English and double quotation marks in American English, but this distinction is no longer as consistent or widespread as it once was. If the university or department guidelines you are using give any indication of the kind of quotation marks desired, you should follow that advice; otherwise, you may want to prefer one type of mark over the other based on whether British or American English is required or used, or you may want to follow your own preferences.

Whichever type of quotation mark is adopted for embedded quotations, the opposite type will be needed to enclose any quotations that appear within those quotations, as double quotation marks are used to enclose the word ‘novelty’ (a quote within a quote) in the following sentence: The results of my investigation did not show ‘the negative effect of poor lighting’ that surprised Bennett ‘due to its “novelty” in trials of this kind’ (2007, p.197). Were the main quotation enclosed in double quotation marks instead, the word ‘novelty’ would be marked by single quotation marks. In both cases the pattern of alternation continues if there is, by chance, a quote within a quote within a quote: single marks for the main quote with double marks enclosing the quote within it and a return to single marks to enclose the quote within that, or double marks for the main quote with single marks enclosing the quote within it and a return to double marks to enclose the quote within that. The two types could theoretically alternate indefinitely to provide many layers of quotation, but it is rare that more than three layers are used. Since errors often creep into the layered use of quotation marks, quotations featuring them require especially careful checking to ensure that each opening quotation mark has a matching and appropriately placed closing mark.

Longer prose quotations are usually displayed or set off as block quotations, but exactly what length quotations should be to justify such treatment varies considerably from style to style: quotations of forty words or more are displayed as block quotations in some styles, while in others a quotation should be longer (100 words or more in some cases) to receive such treatment. There is, then, no firm rule based on the length of the passage, though if university or department guidelines indicate that quotations over a particular word count should be displayed, do observe them. Alternate criteria can be used, however, to determine the format of quotations in the absence of such instructions. You might, for example, choose to display a short quotation that is central to your argument or to embed a long quotation in order to comment on parts of it in more detail; you might decide to display a series of quotations of varying length in order to highlight them and facilitate comparison, or to embed the same series of quotations to make the text more readable; or you might embed quotations that are central to the argument of your thesis, but display those cited as examples or illustrations. It is therefore essential to determine exactly what criteria you will use to make this distinction before formatting quotations and then to stick to those criteria as consistently as possible, making exceptions only when they serve your argument or your reasons for quoting in the first place.

When quotations are displayed, they are not enclosed in quotation marks, but they should start on a new line and they often feature a slightly smaller font size than that used in the main text of a document (in this book, for instance, I use a 12-point font for the main text, but an 11-point font for block quotations). The line spacing around and within a block quotation may also differ from that used in the main text of a thesis, and the same may be the case with indentation and justification, with all of these differences enabling the quotations to stand out effectively from your own prose. If your university or department provides specific instructions for laying out block quotations, they should be followed, but, in most cases, indentation (left or both left and right) and a smaller font size will suffice for marking displayed quotations. The following passage shows a simple but effective layout for prose quotations:

His manuscript project underwent various changes as it proceeded, however, and among these developments was the transformation of this meditation designed for readers into twin ‘meditational dramas’ that enact that reflective experience and could well have been performed, in the author’s priory perhaps, or the hall of a local gentleman, or the streets of a nearby Yorkshire community.

                                                                                                                   (Olson, 2012, p.338)

Since quotation marks are not required around the entire quotation, single quotation marks are used for quotations within the quotation, which results in a different alternation pattern than that for embedded quotations: single marks for quotations within the block quotation, double marks for quotations within those quotations and so on, with the reverse the case if double quotation marks are the predominant marks used in the thesis (double marks for quotations within block quotations, single marks for quotations within those quotations and so on).

When quoting more than a single line of poetry or any text (whether long or short) for which retaining the exact format of the original is important, such as lists, letters, interviews and passages from plays, and when quoting prose passages of more than a single paragraph, displaying the quotation is in almost all cases a much better choice than embedding it. Here, for instance, is a passage of the Middle English poem Piers Plowman (B-Text) formatted as a block quotation:

      For if heuene be on þis erþe, and ese to any soule,

      It is in cloistre or in scole, by manye skiles I fynde.

      For in cloistre comeþ no man to carpe ne to fiȝte

      But al is buxomnesse þere and bokes, to rede and to lerne.

          (Kane & Donaldson, 1975, X.305–308)

Notice that the indentation at the left is set so that the longest line is more or less centred on the page, although each line starts in the same position (not centre justified), and the passage is formatted to represent as faithfully as possible the layout of the poem in the source text. If the poem’s indentation varies in the source, this should be represented by extra indentation in the format of the block quotation. If any line is too long to fit on a single line in the block quotation and thus runs over onto the next line, the runover line should be indented a space or two beyond the usual indentation to distinguish it from new lines. If any quotations appear within the quoted lines, they should be enclosed in quotation marks exactly as they are in prose block quotations. Finally, if the quotation begins part way through a line, a space representing the length of the omitted material should be inserted before the quotation:

                             comeþ no man to carpe ne to fiȝte

                                              (Kane & Donaldson, 1975, X.307–308)

The layout of a letter or list, the dialogue of a play including speaker tags and stage directions, the exchange during an interview and the breaks between paragraphs in a long prose quotation can be reproduced in similar ways in the formatting of a block quotation, as is the case in this example:

INTERVIEWER: Were you able to move easily when connected to the equipment?

RESPONDENT 1: Yes, most of the time, but a few of the exercises were more difficult.

INTERVIEWER: Do you remember which ones presented movement problems?

If two or more block quotations appear one after the other, make sure that the spacing between them leaves no ambiguity about where one quotation ends and the next begins. It should also be made clear whether the paragraph that precedes a block quotation continues after the quotation or not, so if a new paragraph begins immediately after displayed material, indentation and/or spacing should indicate that this is the case.

Although embedding such specifically formatted quotations should be avoided if at all possible, there are instances in which more than one line of poetry, more than one paragraph of prose or the parts of a letter, list or play will need to be presented as run-on quotations within your own sentences and paragraphs. In such cases, the original formatting should be represented as accurately as possible while maintaining effective sentence and paragraph structure and a tidy page layout. For lines of poetry, for instance, the font should be the same size as the main text, capitalisation should be retained and line breaks should be marked by either a forward slash or a vertical line (see Section 5.6.5) with a space on either side, as in the following example: ‘For if heuene be on þis erþe, and ese to any soule, | It is in cloistre or in scole, by manye skiles I fynde. | For in cloistre comeþ no man to carpe ne to fiȝte | But al is buxomnesse þere and bokes, to rede and to lerne’ (Kane & Donaldson, 1975, X.305–308). When a quotation of more than one paragraph is embedded, quotation marks should appear at the beginning of the quotation and at the beginning of each new paragraph, but only at the end of the final paragraph (or the end of the quotation if the final paragraph is not quoted in its entirety). The same approach should be used when quoting dialogue in which a single speaker’s words extend over more than one paragraph.

Representing lists, the dialogue in plays (along with stage directions) and the questions and answers in interviews as embedded quotations will be a little more challenging, and it is always best to format them as block quotations if possible, but short passages of this kind can be successful (if not ideal) when careful and creative formatting is used: ‘INTERVIEWER: Were you able to move easily when connected to the equipment? RESPONDENT 1: Yes, most of the time, but a few of the exercises were more difficult. INTERVIEWER: Do you remember which ones presented movement problems?’ I have not used quotation marks around the actual speech of the two parties in this example, which is an acceptable approach for such dialogue (when quoting a play as well) whether it is embedded or displayed, but the additional quotation marks can certainly be added around those bits of direct speech to avoid confusion when using an embedded format: ‘WILL: “Where did she go?” ROB, looking from side to side : “She was just here.” WILL, looking up and pointing : “She’s there.”’ Embedding quotations of this kind may be particularly necessary in footnotes and endnotes, because the font used in notes is usually smaller than that in the main text, which means that block quotations become smaller still, so even long quotations with complicated formatting are often embedded in notes.

When the quotation is displayed, the same source information is required, but the parenthetical reference is positioned a little differently: after the closing punctuation of a block quotation, for instance, and usually oriented to the right on the line directly below the quotation, as it appears in the block quotations from Olson and Piers Plowman that I provided above. If there is room for the reference on the final line of the quotation, that is usually an acceptable position as well, and certainly it is on that line immediately after the closing punctuation of the block quotation that a note number or numerical reference would appear instead if that is the system you are using:

                                But al is buxomnesse þere and bokes, to rede and to lerne. 1

As with embedded quotations, an explanation of your referencing practices can be offered in the first relevant note to facilitate shorter references and avoid numerous notes if the same text is quoted frequently, and, as a general rule, regardless of which quotation format or system of referencing you use, subsequent references to the same text can be shortened to provide only the information absolutely necessary for the reader to locate the quotation accurately. If, for example, you are discussing Langland for several paragraphs in which you quote repeatedly from his poem, it is not necessary to identify the author, poem, editors and publication date with each quotation unless it is unclear which text is being cited; only if a different author or text, or perhaps a different edition or version of the poem is quoted in the midst of the discussion would a full reference be required to reorient the reader. Shortening references to a bare minimum is noted as desirable in most style guides, but do be sure that you provide enough information in each instance for your readers to identify and locate your quotations, remembering that offering too much information is preferable to offering too little.

Why PhD Success?

To Graduate Successfully

This article is part of a book called "PhD Success" which focuses on the writing process of a phd thesis, with its aim being to provide sound practices and principles for reporting and formatting in text the methods, results and discussion of even the most innovative and unique research in ways that are clear, correct, professional and persuasive.

The assumption of the book is that the doctoral candidate reading it is both eager to write and more than capable of doing so, but nonetheless requires information and guidance on exactly what he or she should be writing and how best to approach the task. The basic components of a doctoral thesis are outlined and described, as are the elements of complete and accurate scholarly references, and detailed descriptions of writing practices are clarified through the use of numerous examples.

The basic components of a doctoral thesis are outlined and described, as are the elements of complete and accurate scholarly references, and detailed descriptions of writing practices are clarified through the use of numerous examples. PhD Success provides guidance for students familiar with English and the procedures of English universities, but it also acknowledges that many theses in the English language are now written by candidates whose first language is not English, so it carefully explains the scholarly styles, conventions and standards expected of a successful doctoral thesis in the English language.

Individual chapters of this book address reflective and critical writing early in the thesis process; working successfully with thesis supervisors and benefiting from commentary and criticism; drafting and revising effective thesis chapters and developing an academic or scientific argument; writing and formatting a thesis in clear and correct scholarly English; citing, quoting and documenting sources thoroughly and accurately; and preparing for and excelling in thesis meetings and examinations. 

Completing a doctoral thesis successfully requires long and penetrating thought, intellectual rigour and creativity, original research and sound methods (whether established or innovative), precision in recording detail and a wide-ranging thoroughness, as much perseverance and mental toughness as insight and brilliance, and, no matter how many helpful writing guides are consulted, a great deal of hard work over a significant period of time. Writing a thesis can be an enjoyable as well as a challenging experience, however, and even if it is not always so, the personal and professional rewards of achieving such an enormous goal are considerable, as all doctoral candidates no doubt realise, and will last a great deal longer than any problems that may be encountered during the process.

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Rene Tetzner

Rene Tetzner's blog posts dedicated to academic writing. Although the focus is on How To Write a Doctoral Thesis, many other important aspects of research-based writing, editing and publishing are addressed in helpful detail.

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APA Style 7th Edition: Citing Your Sources

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About Block Quotes

Block quote example.

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• Any quotation containing 40 or more words should be formatted as a Block Quote
• Do not use quotation marks to enclose block quotations.  Do use double quotation marks to enclose any quoted material within a block quotation
• Place period at the end of the quote rather than after the citation
• Block quotes should start on a new line and indent the block about ½ inch from the left margin
• If there are additional paragraphs within the block quote, indent the first line of each an additional half inch.

For further information and examples, consult pages 92 and 171 of the APA Manual.

Accord to Siegel and Hartzell (2004)            

trauma and loss requires an understanding of the low road and its connection to patterns of experiences from the past. The passing of unresolved issues from generation to generation produces and perpetuates unnecessary emotional suffering. If our own issues remain unresolved, there is a strong possibility that the disorganization within our minds can createdisorganization in our children’s minds. (p. 183)

During gestation, the numerous genes in the nucleus of each cell become expressed and the genes determine what proteins become produced and when and how to shape the body’s structure.  In utero brain development enables neurons to grow and move to their proper locations in the skull and begin to set up the interconnections that create the circuitry of this complex organ of the nervous system.  (Siegel & Hartzell, 2004)

***Disclaimer- screen size may distort orientation of block quote view

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Writing about others works: using direct quotations

USING OTHERS' WORK

Direct quotations can support your arguments and back up your work, but you need to show who said them

You'll use direct quotes to support your arguments throughout your degree. Learn how to reference your sources properly and show who said what to save you time and stress later on.

Using direct quotes in your writing improves your work and shows evidence of research and ideas in your assessments. Here, we explore how to use different quotes in your assessments. 

What is the difference between direct quotes, paraphrasing, citing and referencing?

You'll need quoting, paraphrasing, citing and referencing to use work produced by other people in your assignments and support or challenge your arguments. You'll use a combination of these steps in your studies so it's important to understand the differences between them.

These phrases mean: 

• Quoting : copying the exact words of the original text, using quotation marks and the author's name, for example, when taken from a book or an article on a reading list.
• Paraphrasing : rephrasing and shortening the original text into your own words without using quotation marks, then writing the author’s surname, year of publication.
• Citing : writing the author’s surname, year of publication and, for direct quotations, page number to show where you found your direct quotation or paraphrased information.
• Referencing : refers to publications included in the list of references at the end.

When to use direct quotes

There are various reasons to use direct quotations in academic writing. You'll usually use them as an example of ideas in your assignment, but exactly how you use them varies depending on your discipline. History or Sociology students use quotes differently to Biology or Computing students, for example. You should consult your course handbook, speak to your tutors and learn from your previous assignment feedback to explore how direct quotations are used on your course. Reading around your subject will also help you understand how academics in your field write. 

Direct quotes are useful for defining or describing specific concepts, whereas paraphrasing or summarising information from other sources shows that you understand the content and general idea. Try to summarise sources in most of your work and use direct quotes when they'll have a strong impact. Make it clear to the reader that you understand the quote and its context, and why you've used a quote instead of paraphrasing.

Using quotes properly will support your points and improve your assignments. Use quotes that back up your argument rather than quotes that 'look good' or sound impressive. Make sure you understand what a quote is saying in its context and explain its meaning in your work. Using quotes out of context or misinterpreting them to support your point won't improve your marks. 

Plan your work, its structure and the key points and then choose which quotes to include. Choosing quotes beforehand means you're more likely to let your quotes shape your writing as you try to link one quote to another. Trying to link unrelated ideas because they sound good in isolation won't help you draw accurate conclusions, and could negatively impact your assessment. 

Using direct quotations

You'll often use direct quotes in the middle of a paragraph. Use double quotation marks at the beginning and end of the quote, use the exact words from the original text and show your source, or your work being could be considered as plagiarism. For example: 

According to Gross it is ( open direct quotation marks ) "not only the vocabulary of a language that determines how and what we think and perceive, but also the grammar."( close direct quotation marks ) (1996, p. 317).  

Quotes must sit logically in your writing and make sense. Your marker shouldn't feel like the quote stands out. Consider commenting on the quotation by discussing its meaning or adding more information to it if you need to. For example:  

But it is not only the vocabulary of a language that determines how and what we think and perceive, but also the grammar. In the Hopi language, no distinction is made between past, present and future; it is a ( open direct quotation marks ) "timeless language" ( close direct quotation marks ) (Gross, 1996, p. 324) , compared with English. In European languages, time is treated as an objective entity, as if it were a ruler with equal spaces or intervals marked off. There is a clear demarcation between past, present and future corresponding to three separate sections of a ruler.

Short quotes

Include short quotations of less than three lines in your main text. Use quotation marks to separate the quote from your own writing. This could look like: 

Furthermore, it is ( open direct quotation marks ) "not only the vocabulary of a language that determines how and what we think and perceive but also the grammar" ( close direct quotation marks ) (Gross, 1996, p. 317).

Longer quotations

Separate direct quotations that are more than three lines from your text by leaving a line space above and below the quote and indenting it. These quotes should be single line spaced (unlike the rest of your text, which is probably double or 1.5 line spaced). Indented quotes don't need quotation marks. This could look like:

Writing about Hopi, a native American language, Gross writes:

In the Hopi language, no distinction is made between the past, present and future; it is a timeless language’ compared with English, although it does recognise duration, i.e., how long an event lasts. In European languages, time is treated as an objective entity (Gross, 1996, p. 317).

(end of indent)

The distinction drawn between the languages and their treatment of time is interesting and relevant to the argument because...

Omitting parts of a quotation

Use an ellipsis (three dots) to omit or remove parts of a quote and show where you've removed text. Don't change the meaning of the quote when you do this. For example:  

Gross (1996, p.137) points out that in the language it is ( open direct quotation marks ) "not only in the vocabulary…( dot dot dot ), but also the grammar" ( close direct quotation marks ) that influences how and what we understand.

Clarifying a quotation

You can add words to a quote in square brackets to make its meaning clearer. This is known as interpolation. For example: 

Gross emphasises the contrast: ( open the direct quotation marks ) "In the Hopi language, no distinction is made between past, present and future ( open square brackets ) [whereas] ( close square brackets ) in European languages …( dot dot dot ) there is a clear demarcation between ( open square brackets ) [them] ( close square brackets )."( close direct quotation marks ) (Gross, 1996, p. 317).

Gross, R. (1996). Psychology: The science of mind and behaviour (3rd ed.). Hodder & Stoughton

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A Quick Guide to Harvard Referencing | Citation Examples

Published on 14 February 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 15 September 2023.

Referencing is an important part of academic writing. It tells your readers what sources you’ve used and how to find them.

Harvard is the most common referencing style used in UK universities. In Harvard style, the author and year are cited in-text, and full details of the source are given in a reference list .

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Table of contents

Harvard in-text citation, creating a harvard reference list, harvard referencing examples, referencing sources with no author or date, frequently asked questions about harvard referencing.

A Harvard in-text citation appears in brackets beside any quotation or paraphrase of a source. It gives the last name of the author(s) and the year of publication, as well as a page number or range locating the passage referenced, if applicable:

Note that ‘p.’ is used for a single page, ‘pp.’ for multiple pages (e.g. ‘pp. 1–5’).

An in-text citation usually appears immediately after the quotation or paraphrase in question. It may also appear at the end of the relevant sentence, as long as it’s clear what it refers to.

When your sentence already mentions the name of the author, it should not be repeated in the citation:

Sources with multiple authors

When you cite a source with up to three authors, cite all authors’ names. For four or more authors, list only the first name, followed by ‘ et al. ’:

Sources with no page numbers

Some sources, such as websites , often don’t have page numbers. If the source is a short text, you can simply leave out the page number. With longer sources, you can use an alternate locator such as a subheading or paragraph number if you need to specify where to find the quote:

Multiple citations at the same point

When you need multiple citations to appear at the same point in your text – for example, when you refer to several sources with one phrase – you can present them in the same set of brackets, separated by semicolons. List them in order of publication date:

Multiple sources with the same author and date

If you cite multiple sources by the same author which were published in the same year, it’s important to distinguish between them in your citations. To do this, insert an ‘a’ after the year in the first one you reference, a ‘b’ in the second, and so on:

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A bibliography or reference list appears at the end of your text. It lists all your sources in alphabetical order by the author’s last name, giving complete information so that the reader can look them up if necessary.

The reference entry starts with the author’s last name followed by initial(s). Only the first word of the title is capitalised (as well as any proper nouns).

Sources with multiple authors in the reference list

As with in-text citations, up to three authors should be listed; when there are four or more, list only the first author followed by ‘ et al. ’:

Reference list entries vary according to source type, since different information is relevant for different sources. Formats and examples for the most commonly used source types are given below.

• Entire book
• Book chapter
• Translated book
• Edition of a book

Journal articles

• Print journal
• Online-only journal with DOI
• Online-only journal with no DOI
• General web page
• Online article or blog
• Social media post

Sometimes you won’t have all the information you need for a reference. This section covers what to do when a source lacks a publication date or named author.

No publication date

When a source doesn’t have a clear publication date – for example, a constantly updated reference source like Wikipedia or an obscure historical document which can’t be accurately dated – you can replace it with the words ‘no date’:

Note that when you do this with an online source, you should still include an access date, as in the example.

When a source lacks a clearly identified author, there’s often an appropriate corporate source – the organisation responsible for the source – whom you can credit as author instead, as in the Google and Wikipedia examples above.

When that’s not the case, you can just replace it with the title of the source in both the in-text citation and the reference list:

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Harvard referencing uses an author–date system. Sources are cited by the author’s last name and the publication year in brackets. Each Harvard in-text citation corresponds to an entry in the alphabetised reference list at the end of the paper.

Vancouver referencing uses a numerical system. Sources are cited by a number in parentheses or superscript. Each number corresponds to a full reference at the end of the paper.

A Harvard in-text citation should appear in brackets every time you quote, paraphrase, or refer to information from a source.

The citation can appear immediately after the quotation or paraphrase, or at the end of the sentence. If you’re quoting, place the citation outside of the quotation marks but before any other punctuation like a comma or full stop.

In Harvard referencing, up to three author names are included in an in-text citation or reference list entry. When there are four or more authors, include only the first, followed by ‘ et al. ’

Though the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, there is a difference in meaning:

• A reference list only includes sources cited in the text – every entry corresponds to an in-text citation .
• A bibliography also includes other sources which were consulted during the research but not cited.

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Caulfield, J. (2023, September 15). A Quick Guide to Harvard Referencing | Citation Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 6 May 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/referencing/harvard-style/

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Quotation rules to avoid plagiarism: how to properly cite your sources

When writing your internship report , dissertation , thesis or research paper , you’ll use quotations. Indeed, much of the information you provide has been proven and verified by other writers and scholars. Citations add value to your academic work.

This is why the sources you use must be mentioned and cited correctly in the body of the text, a footnote and/or an endnote in your document. A bibliography appears at the end of the document and shows a detailed list of sources.

There are several ways to cite authors using various citation standards. It is up to you to choose one that suits your needs best or the one that is required in your school or university. But how exactly do we do that? Let’s go through some do’s and don’ts in this article.

Summary Definition of a bibliographic source Definition of a citation standard 4 Good reasons to quote your sources The basic rules for well-cited quotes Which citation standard to choose? The APA standard is actively adapted to academic work MLA standards for the social sciences The Harvard Style Reference or author-date system The Chicago Style standard is published by the University of Chicago Press The ABNT standard, Brazilian use above all

Definition of a bibliographic source

A bibliographic source is a set of information that allows the reader to look up a quotation . In order to ensure the authenticity of a cited passage, the bibliographic source usually includes at least: 

• The name of the document (from which the quotation was taken)
• The publication date

The source is sort of the cited quotation's DNA.

A bibliographic reference follows a clearly defined citation standard . As such, the information is stated in a specific format and order. Regarding the location of the source, it can be found in the body of the text, in a footnote or in the bibliography . Furthermore, it can appear in various forms: in italics, parentheses, square brackets, quotation marks.

Remember that indicating the source helps you avoid plagiarism . 

Definition of a citation standard

A bibliographic standard or citation standard is a set of rules and conventions for describing the bibliographic references of a document in a systematic and standardised way. 

It aims to provide complete and accurate information about the sources cited in an academic or scientific work, such as books, journal articles, websites, theses, etc.

Citation standards are important because they make bibliographic references and sources consistent and easily identifiable to readers and researchers, while facilitating the retrieval and management of information. Some of the most commonly used bibliographic standards include:

• APA : American Psychological Association
• MLA Format : Modern Language Association
• Chicago Style Citation
• Harvard Referencing Style
• ABNT : Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas

4 Good reasons to quote your sources

It is possible and even recommended to take ideas or quotations from an author's work . We use copy and paste, paraphrase , translation of certain passages from books , images , graphics ... Be careful to avoid plagiarism . For this, you must absolutely cite the bibliographic sources . Indeed, citing a source, whether in the text or at the end of your document, is evidence of your integrity . 

Among others, here are 4 good reasons to cite your sources:

1/ Respect copyright laws and avoid plagiarism

Penalties for plagiarism are heavy and not worth the risk. Moreover, citing an author shows respect for ideas and knowledge and lets them be shared freely.

2/ Depict the quality of your work

Bibliographic references demonstrate that you have done extensive research on your subject. In this way, citations contribute to the grade your academic work receives.

3/ Verify the facts presented

In an academic assignment, you are asked to prove your argument . Other authors, scholars and researchers have carried out studies with which you should dialogue to validate the ideas shared in your writing.

4/ Give the reader the opportunity to develop further research the subject matter 

If they want more information, the reader can do so by consulting your bibliography .

It is therefore essential not to copy/paste texts without indicating your sources , and you must cite other authors correctly to convey your creativity and originality.

The basic rules for well-cited quotes

Formatting the bibliographic reference.

You can emphasise a citation through its formatting. Firstly, you must use quotation marks . Italics can be used at the student writer's discretion and can help the reader quickly find a citation. Use of parentheses and square brackets depends on the citation standard used. Abbreviations are often used to shorten bibliographic references .

Choosing the right citation standard

Regardless of the format used, the citation in the text must be in this form: "Author's name + year of publication". 

Only one rule should be implemented: You cannot switch from one style to another. You must follow the same format throughout the document. 

Find out if a citation standard is enforced at your academic institution . If not, it's up to you to decide which standard works best for you.

All authors must be mentioned in the text or in a footnote and referenced again in the bibliography or webography .

Which citation standard to choose?  

The APA Book Citaton is actively adapted to academic work

The APA Book Citation or APA Standard  is the most used by students in the world. This format is ideal for scientific, academic and psychological writing. It is defined by the American Psychological Association .

How to cite with the APA Book Citation?

• Bibliography citations : Author's name + first initial + year of publication + title of the work + date of consultation.
• Online newspaper article: Author + year of publication + title of the article + name of the article + name of the newspaper + volume + leaflet + pages + mention "online" + URL.
• Printed journal article: Author + year of publication + title of the article + title of the journal + volume + booklet + pages.
• Email: Author + mention "email" + date.
• Blog : Author + date of publication + title of the article + mention "blog post" + consultation date + URL.

Example of a citation with APA standard in the body of the text: "Plagiarism in a thesis, dissertation, or other research work is punishable by a penalty. Indeed, academic integrity is an essential element of graduation." (Compilatio, 2022). APA standard in bibliography: Compilatio (2022, 09 12). How to Write a Research Methodology step by step? Available at the following url: https://www.compilatio.net/en/blog/thesis . Sources: " Basic Rules of APA Format ", Very Well Mind, Kendra Cherry, 25/08/2020, consulted on 01/06/2023. " APA : Frequently Asked Questions ", Writting center, Antioch University, Santa Barbara, consulted on 01/06/2023.

MLA standards for the humanities and social sciences

The MLA standards represent the most widely used citation style in the world, after the APA standards. These citation standards are proposed by the Modern Language Association of America. They have been adapted for use in the humanities and social sciences.

How do I cite using MLA bibliographic standards?

• Cite in the bibliography : Author's name + title of work + title of publication + publishing house + date of publication.
• Citing an online scientific article : Author's name + page or article title + website name + publication date + URL.
• Cite a printed press article : Author's name + article title + newspaper title + publication date.

Example of a citation with MLA standards in the body of the text: "Plagiarism in a thesis, dissertation or any other research work is punishable by a penalty. Indeed, academic integrity is an essential element in obtaining one's degree". (Compilatio). MLA standards in bibliopgraphy : "Plagiarism during your studies: what are the risks and penalties?" Compilatio. 19 April 2023, available at the following url: https://www.compilatio.net/blog/plagiat-etudes-risques. Sources: " Everything you need to know about the MLA standards ", Compilatio, consulted on 24/10/2023. " Quote according to MLA standards " University of Alberta, consulted on 24/10/2023.

The Harvard Style Reference or author-date system

The Harvard Style Reference or  Harvard Referecing Style is the most complete citation style and also the most used in Europe.

How to use Harvard style of referencing?

• Bibliography citation : Author's name + first initial + year of publication + title of the work + date of consultation.
• Online newspaper article: Author + year of publication + title of the article + name of the newspaper + mention "online" + page + URL + date of consultation.
• Printed newspaper article: Author + year of publication + article title + newspaper title + pages.
• Image: Author + year of publication + title + format + URL + consultation date.
• Video : Name of the film + year of publication + format + director.
• Interview : Interviewer + interviewee + year of interview + title.

Example of a citation with the Harvard Reference System standard in the body of the text: "Plagiarism in a thesis, dissertation, or other research paper is punishable by a penalty. Indeed, academic integrity is an essential element of graduation." (Compilatio 2022). Example of Harvard Reference Standard in Bibliopgraphy: Compilatio, 2022. Suspected plagiarism in student work... how should you react? [Online]. Available at the following url: https://www.compilatio.net/en/blog/suspected-plagiarism-how-to-react Sources: " Harvard referencing ", The University of Sheffield, consulted on 01/06/2023. " Harvard Format Citation Guide ", Mendeley, consulted on 01/06/2023.

The Chicago Style standard is published by the University of Chicago Press

This citation style mainly focuses on digital sources . 

“The Chicago citation style gets its name from the fact that the University of Chicago Press publishes the standards and keeps them up to date. This style is widely used by publishers of scientific journals. The manual is in its 17th edition.” “How to cite your sources using the Chicago citation style",  University of Saint-Boniface, Alfred-Monnin Library .

How to use the Chicago Style citation standard?

• Bibliography citation : Author's name + year of publication + work title + country + publisher.
• Online newspaper article: Name of the newspaper + date of publication + title of the article + URL.
• Printed newspaper article: Name of the newspaper + date of publication + title of the article.
• Email: Author's first and last name + "email" mention + year of sending + title / subject.
• Interview : Interviewer + year of publication + title + interviewee.

“There are two Chicago-style citation systems: the classic method and the author/date method. The classic (or traditional) method uses references, placed in footnotes or endnotes, which direct the reader to a bibliography . “ Citer selon le style Chicago ”, Université de Montréal, les bibliothèques.

This style is generally applied in disciplines related to the humanities. The author/date method shows references in parentheses within the text. The references direct the reader to a bibliography at the end of the document, and the bibliography must contain all the sources used in the document.

Example of a citation with the Chicago Style standard in the body of the text: "Plagiarism in a thesis, dissertation, or other research paper is punishable by a penalty. Indeed, academic integrity is an essential element of graduation." (Compilatio, 2022). Chicago Style Standard in Bibliography: How to write a university thesis step by step? 19 01 2022. https://www.compilatio.net/en/blog/thesis Sources: " The Chicago Manual of Style Online " Consulted on 01/06/2023. " Chicago Style Guide ", Menlo School Library, 24/05/2021, consulted on 01/06/2023. " Chicago Manual of Styles (CMS) Notes and Bibliography Interactive Module ", Germanna Community College,  consulted on 01/06/2023.

The ABNT standard, Brazilian use above all

The ABNT standard (Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas) can only be used in the footnotes at the bottom of the page . This standard is seldom used because it is considered too complicated.

How to use the ABNT citation standard?

• Bibliography citation : Author + work title + location + publisher + publication date.
• Online newspaper article: Author + article title + newspaper name + location of publication + volume/ issue + pages + month and year + URL.
• Printed journal article: Author + title of the article + name of the journal + place of publication + volume/ issue + pages + month and year.
• Email: Author + Recipient + "personal message" mention + receipt date.
• Blog : Author + year of publication + blog title + article title + URL + consultation date.

Example of a citation with ABNT in the body of the text: "Plagiarism in a thesis, dissertation or other research work is punishable by a penalty. Indeed, academic integrity is an essential element of graduation." (Compilatio, 2021). ABNT standard in bibliopgraphy: Compilatio, Your Ultimate Guide to Academic Ghostwriting, Compilatio blog, available at https://www.compilatio.net/en/blog/ghostwriting, 02/01/2023. Source:  " Citing Articles in ABNT Style ", EBSCO Connect, 11/2019, consulted on 01/06/2023.

In academic writing (dissertation, thesis, internship report, research paper, etc.), a citation standard must be applied. Students should learn how to implement a bibliographic system so that their written work can be validated. Respect for copyright and intellectual property adds value to written work and validates the ideas discussed in it. Citing sources also contributes to the final grade received on an assignment. Whether used to further your doctorate , your university studies or your secondary education , you now have all the tools needed to use these citation standards correctly.

If you want to know more about this subject, Compilatio presents different citation rules and offers you a closer look at each one of them:

Compilatio Studium also helps you detect poorly referenced sources in your academic reports. Adjust these problematic passages by adapting to the citation standard of your choice or that recommended by your institution .

Learn more about quotation rules: " APA Format Citation Guide " Mendeley.com, consulted on 01/06/2023. " Technical Standards: Citing standards " Université at Buffalo, University Libraries, consulted on 01/06/2023. " Quotations " APA Style, 12/2021, consulted on 01/06/2023. " Citing standards " The University of IOWA libraries, 13/09/2021, consulted on 01/06/2023. Additionnal resources :  " What Is A Heading In A Book " Whenyouwrite.com, 21/08/2021, consulted on 01/06/2023.

How to tackle the PhD dissertation

Finding time to write can be a challenge for graduate students who often juggle multiple roles and responsibilities. Mabel Ho provides some tips to make the process less daunting

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Writing helps you share your work with the wider community. Your scholarship is important and you are making a valuable contribution to the field. While it might be intimidating to face a blank screen, remember, your first draft is not your final draft! The difficult part is getting something on the page to begin with. 

As the adage goes, a good dissertation is a done dissertation, and the goal is for you to find balance in your writing and establish the steps you can take to make the process smoother. Here are some practical strategies for tackling the PhD dissertation.

Write daily

This is a time to have honest conversations with yourself about your writing and work habits. Do you tackle the most challenging work in the morning? Or do you usually start with emails? Knowing your work routine will help you set parameters for the writing process, which includes various elements, from brainstorming ideas to setting outlines and editing. Once you are aware of your energy and focus levels, you’ll be ready to dedicate those times to writing.

While it might be tempting to block a substantial chunk of time to write and assume anything shorter is not useful, that is not the case. Writing daily, whether it’s a paragraph or several pages, keeps you in conversation with your writing practice. If you schedule two hours to write, remember to take a break during that time and reset. You can try:

• The Pomodoro Technique: a time management technique that breaks down your work into intervals
• Taking breaks: go outside for a walk or have a snack so you can come back to your writing rejuvenated
• Focus apps: it is easy to get distracted by devices and lose direction. Here are some app suggestions: Focus Bear (no free version); Forest (free version available); Cold Turkey website blocker (free version available) and Serene (no free version). 

This is a valuable opportunity to hone your time management and task prioritisation skills. Find out what works for you and put systems in place to support your practice. 

• Resources on academic writing for higher education professionals
• Stretch your work further by ‘triple writing’
• What is your academic writing temperament?

Create a community

While writing can be an isolating endeavour, there are ways to start forming a community (in-person or virtual) to help you set goals and stay accountable. There might be someone in your cohort who is also at the writing stage with whom you can set up a weekly check-in. Alternatively, explore your university’s resources and centres because there may be units and departments on campus that offer helpful opportunities, such as a writing week or retreat. Taking advantage of these opportunities helps combat isolation, foster accountability and grow networks. They can even lead to collaborations further down the line.

• Check in with your advisers and mentors. Reach out to your networks to find out about other people’s writing processes and additional resources.
• Don’t be afraid to share your work. Writing requires constant revisions and edits and finding people who you trust with feedback will help you grow as a writer. Plus, you can also read their work and help them with their editing process.
• Your community does not have to be just about writing!  If you enjoy going on hikes or trying new coffee shops, make that part of your weekly habit.  Sharing your work in different environments will help clarify your thoughts and ideas.

Address the why

The PhD dissertation writing process is often lengthy and it is sometimes easy to forget why you started. In these moments, it can be helpful to think back to what got you excited about your research and scholarship in the first place. Remember it is not just the work but also the people who propelled you forward. One idea is to start writing your “acknowledgements” section. Here are questions to get you started:

• Do you want to dedicate your work to someone? 
• What ideas sparked your interest in this journey? 
• Who cheered you on? 

This practice can help build momentum, as well as serve as a good reminder to carve out time to spend with your community. 

You got this!

Writing is a process. Give yourself grace, as you might not feel motivated all the time. Be consistent in your approach and reward yourself along the way. There is no single strategy when it comes to writing or maintaining motivation, so experiment and find out what works for you. 

Suggested readings

• Thriving as a Graduate Writer by Rachel Cayley (2023)
• Destination Dissertation by Sonja K. Foss and William Waters (2015)
• The PhD Writing Handbook by Desmond Thomas (2016).

Mabel Ho is director of professional development and student engagement at Dalhousie University.

If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,  sign up for the Campus newsletter .

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How to present quotes from interview transcripts: the ‘tidying up’ dilemma (including: what do with your own less-than-perfect sentences)

Two members of the DEPTH team, Cicely Marston (supervisor) and Shelly Makleff (PhD student) discuss how best to present quotations from interview transcripts when writing up. We talk about how to present ‘untidy’ speech (e.g. ‘um’, ‘er’, repetition), how much to ‘tidy up’ quotes, and the implications of any ‘tidy up’.

Shelly’s interviews and analysis have been done in Spanish and the quotes she presents in the final write up are translated into English. Here we present a lightly edited version of a supervisory email interchange we thought might be useful to others. And we would love to hear your views in the comments – we certainly don’t have all the answers.

To leave a comment, make sure you’ve clicked on this article’s headline so you are reading the post itself, not the DEPTH blog homepage.

SM: How do you clean up a transcribed quote to present it in an article? Every time I cut some words, even just filler words, should I mark these omissions with an omission marker (such as […])? Or do I have the liberty to just cut those fillers without a […], in order to create a clean and readable quote?

CM: In my opinion all cuts should be marked with an omission marker (e.g. […]). I have argued about this with a journal before because newspapers use  ellipses to indicate omissions (rather than a specific omission marker that only indicates omissions). The issue is that when you do this, there is no obvious way to mark pauses in someone speaking so you would need to find another pause marker that won’t be confused with an omission marker. You could do this by writing [pause] every time, but this also makes quotes hard to read if there are a lot of pauses. When you are using translated quotations, it is less clear what to do because for instance, you might keep the translation ‘clean’ by not including every single one of the filler words (though I would recommend you keep them as much as possible where th ere is a direct translation (e.g. in Mexican Spanish, hesitation where people say ‘este…’ can be translated as ‘um…’ in English), or at least if there is no direct equivalent, make sure you keep the spirit of the original which might have involved hesitations).

For translations, where it is good practice to provide the original language version in an appendix, one way to get around this is to present the original language quotations with all the pause markers etc included, and then present ‘tidied up’ translations in the body of the article. If you do this, you should mention it in the methods section so the reader knows they can refer to the original language quotations. Note that ‘tidying up’ is particularly challenging when you are working in your non-dominant language, which is all the more reason to present the original language tra nscript excerpts verbatim.

SM: Ok, so sounds  like you’d always use […] to signify eve ry piece of cut text in the article. For a conference poster, do you think it’s ok to leave out the […] for filler words so it’s smoother to read?

CM: I would keep it precise i.e. show where you have edited – I assume you won’t cut all the ums and errs. I get quite suspicious when I see a perfect quote because very very few people speak in complete sentences with no hesitations. if you genuinely think the hesitations are unimportant in any given instance, then you *can* edit them, but make sure there is a note that you have done this somewhere on the poster, for transparency.

SM: If I’m adding clarifying info in [], do I do that instead of or as well as the words that are being replaced? In other words, would it be “So for them [the students]” or “So for [the students]”?

CM: I would go with the longer version so that it is clear what they actually said versus what is your interpretation/explanation.

SM: Can I add punctuation and make sentences to create more clarity, when the speech was transcribed as a long run-on sentence?

CM: Yes, definitely improve the punctuation – transcriptions are almost always badly punctuated, especially when the narrative includes reported speech, in which case transcribers often give up on attempting to punctuate it altogether – and to be fair it can take a while to get it right even if it is quite obvious without punctuation what the speaker has said. It is worth doing because it does make it much harder to read when transcripts not properly punctuated. If you are not sure how to punctuate the sentence from the transcript alone (e.g. it is unclear where the emphasis in the sentence was), you will need to go back to the original audio to ensure your ‘new’ punctuation correctly represents what was said.

SM: I wish there were guidelines for this! In a quick internet search, I didn’t find any, at least not that are clear per discipline. While looking for guidelines I did see an article about the diversity of perspectives among academics about how they edit qualitative quotes. One perspective in favour of editing out the filler words pointed out that if participants saw their own quote with all the filler words, they’d feel embarrassed, and it isn’t an expectation that everyone speaks perfectly but that as researchers we should present their ideas as clearly as possible in a way they’d feel comfortable with. And actually, in Mexico when we shared the transcribed quotes with the health educators, they felt embarrassed about it, joking that they needed diction classes. They even made a meme of their horrified reactions when they read their words on paper and heard how they talked (see below). For the presentation of the data, we hadn’t really cleaned up the quotes, it was mainly verbatim, but the idea still stands- the way we represented them didn’t make them sound eloquent, and that embarrassed them.

CM. I agree that if the quotes have names attached to them, the person might prefer a ‘cleaned’ version, but your quotes are anonymised and so from an individual perspective I don’t think that is too much of a concern.

Having said that, it’s true that origi nal, not tidied-up quotations might contribute to  a discourse of the ‘other’ being inarticulate. People who are looking for ways to find others inferior will likely find them regardless and so I’m not sure that compromising the integrity of the transcript will help (although I’m open to arguments to the contrary).

Overall, though, going along with the idea that there is a ‘better’ way to s peak brings its own problems. Should we all speak in perfect sentences? Who determines what is ‘perfect’ or ‘best’? This is especially difficult if you are trying to ‘tidy up’ sentences that were spoken in another language than our dominant language. As researchers we should commit to transparency. Interviewers who worry about their sentences should probably listen back to the interviews – they will hear that it sounds very normal, even if they hesitate, repeat words, use filler words, reframe questions and so on. It’s important to build rapport – if you don’t naturally speak in 100% full sentences in real life, why would you do so in an interview? Being inauthentic, or struggling to present a more perfect self, may well have a negative impact on the interview overall.

What do you think? How have you handled these issues? Let us know in the comment section below. If you can’t see where, click on this article headline and scroll to the bottom.

3 Replies to “How to present quotes from interview transcripts: the ‘tidying up’ dilemma (including: what do with your own less-than-perfect sentences)”

Thanks for the interesting article! Indeed I have always found it hard to know when to edit a quote or not…and I feel academics do not all agree on this! Personally I have a tendency to ‘tidy it up’ depending on the audience (e.g. PowerPoint presentation).

Really interesting points here that have got me thinking. There’s a good article by Baxter and Eyles (2004) called ‘Evaluating Qualitative Research in Social Geography: Establishing ‘Rigour’ in Interview Analysis’ about how readers (or examiners!) view ‘rigour’ in qualitative research. This is the link: https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.0020-2754.1997.00505.x

Thanks for the blog!

I agree with your points, excellent post.

Comments are closed.

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Ten things I wish I'd known before starting my dissertation

The sun is shining but many students won't see the daylight. Because it's that time of year again – dissertation time.

Luckily for me, my D-Day (dissertation hand-in day) has already been and gone. But I remember it well.

The 10,000-word spiral-bound paper squatted on my desk in various forms of completion was my Allied forces; the history department in-tray was my Normandy. And when Eisenhower talked about a "great crusade toward which we have striven these many months", he was bang on.

I remember first encountering the Undergraduate Dissertation Handbook, feeling my heart sink at how long the massive file took to download, and began to think about possible (but in hindsight, wildly over-ambitious) topics. Here's what I've learned since, and wish I'd known back then…

1 ) If your dissertation supervisor isn't right, change. Mine was brilliant. If you don't feel like they're giving you the right advice, request to swap to someone else – providing it's early on and your reason is valid, your department shouldn't have a problem with it. In my experience, it doesn't matter too much whether they're an expert on your topic. What counts is whether they're approachable, reliable, reassuring, give detailed feedback and don't mind the odd panicked email. They are your lifeline and your best chance of success.

2 ) If you mention working on your dissertation to family, friends or near-strangers, they will ask you what it's about, and they will be expecting a more impressive answer than you can give. So prepare for looks of confusion and disappointment. People anticipate grandeur in history dissertation topics – war, genocide, the formation of modern society. They don't think much of researching an obscure piece of 1970s disability legislation. But they're not the ones marking it.

3 ) If they ask follow-up questions, they're probably just being polite.

4 ) Do not ask friends how much work they've done. You'll end up paranoid – or they will. Either way, you don't have time for it.

5 ) There will be one day during the process when you will freak out, doubt your entire thesis and decide to start again from scratch. You might even come up with a new question and start working on it, depending on how long the breakdown lasts. You will at some point run out of steam and collapse in an exhausted, tear-stained heap. But unless there are serious flaws in your work (unlikely) and your supervisor recommends starting again (highly unlikely), don't do it. It's just panic, it'll pass.

6 ) A lot of the work you do will not make it into your dissertation. The first few days in archives, I felt like everything I was unearthing was a gem, and when I sat down to write, it seemed as if it was all gold. But a brutal editing down to the word count has left much of that early material at the wayside.

7 ) You will print like you have never printed before. If you're using a university or library printer, it will start to affect your weekly budget in a big way. If you're printing from your room, "paper jam" will come to be the most dreaded two words in the English language.

8 ) Your dissertation will interfere with whatever else you have going on – a social life, sporting commitments, societies, other essay demands. Don't even try and give up biscuits for Lent, they'll basically become their own food group when you're too busy to cook and desperate for sugar.

9 ) Your time is not your own. Even if you're super-organised, plan your time down to the last hour and don't have a single moment of deadline panic, you'll still find that thoughts of your dissertation will creep up on you when you least expect it. You'll fall asleep thinking about it, dream about it and wake up thinking about. You'll feel guilty when you're not working on it, and mired in self-doubt when you are.

10 ) Finishing it will be one of the best things you've ever done. It's worth the hard work to know you've completed what's likely to be your biggest, most important, single piece of work. Be proud of it.

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How to Use Quotations in Your Thesis

This entry was posted in Category Dissertation , Editor , on September 21 , 2015 .

A thesis is the last step towards your destination of the degree in which candidates may show their knowledge of the specific area of interest and their achievement by identifying and proposing solutions to problems within their field.

Thesis, on the other hand, is the transition from a research candidate to the contributor within their area of research by engaging in original research and adding to the body of knowledge.

The thesis requires demonstration of thorough understanding from a candidate’s end.

Quotations amassed from previously written work are one of the ways to show the thorough understanding in a specific area of research though inappropriate, or overuse of quotations may affect the impact of your thesis.

Therefore, candidates must use quotation judiciously in their thesis.

The length and number of quotation vary depending upon the academic field.

Eg: If a research candidate is working on Shakespeare’s contribution in figurative language will need to include a number of quotations from his plays.

And if a candidate is working on qualitative studies based on extensive interviews with different participants then he will also need to use quotations from the conducted interviews.

Once the researcher has decided to include quotation, he has to be careful how is going to handle.

Here are some tips:

1. Introduce Quotations:

Many university guidelines require candidates to introduce quotations in their thesis.

In that scenario, use any of the following methods:

i) Use any short introductory phrase such as ‘According to’, followed by the authors name, a comma and the quotation.

According to John, “Computer science is a practical approach to computation and its application”.

ii) Mention person’s (author’s) name, an appropriate verb such as ‘said’, ‘stated’ followed by the quotation Smith stated, “No work is small.” 2. Reproduce Quotations:

The fact is that the quotation should be written the same way it is in the source, however, depending upon the guidelines or in some exceptions, candidates can make changes in the quotation for the grammatical corrections only, but those corrections should not change the meaning of the quotation.

Grisham stated, “The books are in the table.” Grisham stated, “The books are on the table.”

3. Don’t Use Single Word Quotation: Avoid using single-word quotation.

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How To Use Quotations In Dissertations

Dissertations serve a two-fold purpose.  They are the final projects for doctoral candidates, the last step before degree conferral, in which these individuals may show their knowledge of their specific areas of interest and of their ability to identify and propose solutions to problems within their fields.  Dissertations are simultaneously the transition from students to contributors within their fields by engaging in original research and adding to the body of knowledge.

In writing dissertations, authors must demonstrate their thorough understanding of their particular areas of study.  One way to show that understanding is through the use of quotations garnered from previously written works in their field or in related areas.  However, overuse or inappropriate use of quotations may have the opposite effect, suggesting a lack of understanding.  Therefore, authors must use quotations judiciously.

The number and length of quotations may vary from one academic field to another.  For example, students examining Shakespeare’s use of figurative language in his various plays will need to include specific quotations from the plays for each type of figurative language discussed.  Such quotations may range from one word to several lines.  Students conducting qualitative studies based on extensive interviews of research participants will also need to use numerous quotations from those interviews to support whatever themes they discover through their analysis of those data.  However, inclusion of quotations from other experts in the field of study should be handled differently.

In the proposal, concept paper, and the final dissertation, candidates must demonstrate their familiarity with the research in their field.  This is the primary purpose of chapter 2 in most dissertations.  Some of that background material is also revealed in the first chapter to set up the problem and to show the significance of the study.  Additional background material is revealed in chapter 3 to show an understanding of the chosen research methodology and its appropriateness for the study in question.

In these chapters, authors are not only giving information pertinent to their studies but also showing their ability to grasp ideas, analyze material for its strengths and weaknesses, and synthesize material from various sources to create the foundation for their particular study.  Therefore, quotations should be used only when that is the best and clearest way to provide information to the reader.

Consider the following two examples:

Example 1:   According to John Smith, “The best thing about this concept is that it is easy to understand compared with other concepts in this field.”  He went on to say that “scientists will be able to use this new knowledge to create new technology for this field” and that “people will embrace this technology very quickly.”  Therefore, “companies that wish to increase their profitability” should begin investing in “this new scientific venture” so that they “will not lose out” on this “golden opportunity.”

Example 2:   According to John Smith, this new concept is easier to understand compared to others in the same field.  Because of this, new technology will be forthcoming, which people will be eager to purchase.  Therefore, he advises businesses to invest in this research as soon as possible.  Failure to do so may result in their decreased profitability.

Although not taken directly from actual dissertations, the formats of these two examples shows what editors often find in dissertations.  Both examples deal with the same topic and make the same essential points.  Yet the second one clearly shows the writer understands the material drawn from John Smith’s work; the first does not.  The first one is simply a copy of John Smith’s words interspersed with innocuous connecting phrases.  The writer in the first example has not attempted to analyze, synthesize, or summarize the meaning of Smith’s words.  Instead, the writer has found material that fits the topic being discussed and quotes from that material, expecting the reader to figure out what it all means.  Unfortunately, many candidates use this type of format.  Variations include inserting block quote after block quote, often from the same source, and quoting single words that, in and of themselves, hold no special significance.

Authors who use quotes judiciously reduce verbiage and redundancy, demonstrate their thorough grasp of the material, and often show the connection of their original research to the rest of the field more clearly.  If they include quotations at all, they do so to emphasis a particular point.  Using quotations in this way is ultimately more powerful.

After deciding to include quotations, authors must also handle them correctly.  The following points are not all inclusive but represent some of the more common problems editors find in dissertations.

1.     Introduce most quotations.

Seldom should a paragraph begin with a direct quotation.  Many university style guides require authors to introduce quotations, although there are exceptions.  However, when in doubt, error on the side of introducing the quotation to prevent any misinterpretation of the material.  Use one of the following constructions:

• a full sentence with the quotation placed after a colon;
• a short introductory phrase such as “according to” followed by the person’s name, a comma, and the quotation (e.g., According to Smith, “Businesses must take advantage of this golden opportunity”);
• the person’s name, an appropriate verb such as “stated,” and the quotation (e.g., David stated, “I am hungry”).

2.     Reproduce the quotation accurately.  

The quotation should be written the same way it is written in the source from which it is being taken.  However, there are exceptions to this rule, depending on the style guide candidates are required to follow.  For example, writers may correct minor grammatical problems within a quotation as long as those corrections do not change the meaning or are not needed to demonstrate a particular point.  This avoids overuse of [ sic ] to show that the author knows the errors are there and makes it easier for the reader to follow.  It also acknowledges that the errors may or may not have been in the original quotation but are the result of transcription by a third party.

3.  Alter the capitalization of the first word of the quotation to fit the syntax of the sentence in which it is placed.  

Generally, if the quotation follows direct attribution, the first word is capitalized (e.g., David said, “He goes to my school”).  However, if the word that is included, the first word is not capitalized unless it is a proper noun (e.g., David said that he goes to my school).  If the quotation is a block quotation and comes after a colon, capitalize the first word (see Example 1).  If it is a block quotation used as a continuation of the sentence, do not capitalize the first word unless it is a proper noun (see Example 2).

He recited the Gettysburg Address:

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.  

Example 2. 

The new law states that

any person entering another individual’s domicile without the express permission of that individual is trespassing and is subject to the fines and levies as defined in Section 3 subsection 1 paragraph 1.

4.     Use appropriate punctuation.

Be sure to punctuation the quotation correctly as it is used within the dissertation.

• All run-in quotations must begin and end with quotation marks.  Block quotations are not placed within quotation marks.
• Periods and commas always go inside the closing quotation marks (e.g., Patty bought “The Isle of Man,” the bestselling mystery novel).
• Other forms of punctuation go outside the closing quotation marks unless they are part of the actual quotation (e.g., Did he just say, “I’m going home”?  I asked, “What do you have for lunch?”)
• If a quotation contains a quotation, be sure to enclose the secondary quotation in single quotation marks (e.g., He stated, “I have just read the story, ‘The Scarlet Ibis,’ for the tenth time”).  Note that in block quotations, secondary quotations are punctuated with double quotation marks, not single, because the doubles are not used to define the beginning and ending of the major quotation.

5.     Use ellipses correctly.

Ellipses (. . .) are used to show the omission of wording from a quotation.  However, ellipses are not needed if an author chooses to delete the first portion of a sentence being quoted or the last part of a sentence being quoted.  Only material deleted from the middle of a quotation is noted by an ellipsis.

• Correct: He began reciting the Gettysburg address:  “Four score and seven years ago . . . perish from the earth.”
• Incorrect: He began reciting: “. . . and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal . . . .”

6.     Use attributions correctly.

Here, attributions refer to the verbs used to indicate how the speaker is speaking (e.g., said, stated, noted, etc.).  Be sure the verb used is possible.  For example, a person can shout words but cannot grimace words.  In dissertations, stick with simple verbs that allow the reader to move into the quotation as quickly as possible without having to consider if the verb makes sense.

7.     Cite, cite, cite.

Citations are attributions of a different kind.  Be sure that each quotation is cited accurately.  Citations should include the author of the source, the year of publication, and the page number in the source on which the wording may be found.  Although it is possible that a quotation may split between two contiguous pages (e.g., pp. 9–10), seldom will a quotation span more than two pages unless it is an extremely long block quotation.  (If it is, see the previous discussion about appropriate use of quotations.)

8.     Avoid single word quotations.

Generally, these are terms and should be italicized in their first use in text and not punctuated at all in subsequent use in the paper.  If a word was coined by the author of the source being quoted, incorporate a phrase or a sentence in which the word appears as a quote rather than using the single word.  This assists in eliminating the tendency to place the term in quotation marks every time it is used in the paper.

Finally, remember that overuse of almost anything minimizes its effectiveness.  This is as true with quotations as with any other writing technique.  Use quotations sparingly.  Be sure that the information cannot be conveyed as effectively or as accurately through paraphrasing, summarizing, or synthesizing it with other material.  Be accurate, use appropriate punctuation, and cite the source properly. If you’re in need of assistance, consider hiring an excellent dissertation editing service, such as Edit911 , to check everything for you.

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Thesis and Dissertation Formatting Hybrid Workshop: Mac Session

June 17, 2024 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, about this event.

This hybrid (in person or online) workshop covers the submission process for format review and demonstrates how to use the automated templates on Mac computers to format MSU theses and dissertations to the requirements set forth in the Standards for Preparing Theses and Dissertations: 8th edition. These templates were designed to help an author organize and format their document with minimal effort so that their focus can be on the content of their document. Those who have already started writing or have already defended are welcome to bring their current documents (either on flash drive or email attachment) to start the process of placing their content into the template.

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"promises between men like us are meaningless": 10 lord zedd quotes that power rangers fans need to see.

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The Power Rangers' New Member Will Blow the Mind of Every 90s Kid

8 best power rangers characters who didn’t appear in the original show, power rangers debuts new green ranger honoring tommy oliver's memory.

• Zedd's triumphs and defeats redefine him in the BOOM! Studios Power Rangers comics, making him more than a one-dimensional villain.
• Zedd transforms his incompetent minions into the Dark Rangers using the powerful Chaos Crystal, nearly securing world domination.
• Through various story arcs, Zedd's complex character is explored, showcasing his past, victories, defeats, and enigmatic quotes.

Lord Zedd has etched himself in the history books as one of the most diabolical forces that the Power Rangers have ever faced. Ever since making his debut in the three-part opener of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers season 2, "The Mutiny," Zedd has given the Rangers some of the toughest challenges they would ever face.

It's no wonder that Lord Zedd remains such an essential part of the franchise to this day, becoming a prominent part of the comics. The Power Rangers comics published by BOOM! Studios have notably expanded upon Zedd's origin story and redefined him as more than a one-dimensional villain. The comics have revealed that he was once known as Zophram, and was a longtime former friend to Zordon when they were on Eltar together. In addition, the comics have showcased Zedd in his most shocking victories, definitive defeats, and most of all, his most wicked moments. Ever the wordsmith, some of the most terrifying and enigmatic quotes from Lord Zedd are featured in these comics.

10 "You are merely tinder for the fires of time..."

Mighty morphin power rangers #55 by ryan parrott, moises hidalgo, igor monti, sabrina del grosso, and ed dukeshire.

After one too many defeats at the hands of the Power Rangers, Lord Zedd decides to finally fight fire with fire. Using a recharged version of the Chaos Crystal that gave Tommy Oliver his Green Ranger powers years beforehand, Zedd is able to transform Goldar, Baboo, Squatt, Finster, and a Putty clone of Rita Repulsa into the Dark Rangers . Fueled by the all-powerful Chaos Crystal, the usually infantile and incompetent minions manage to overwhelm the Rangers, bringing Lord Zedd the closest he ever comes to world domination.

If not for the emergence of Matthew Cook, the new Green Ranger , the world would be lost to Lord Zedd. Before his defeat, Zedd takes the opportunity to gloat about his pre-determined victory atop a rooftop. " All your hopes and dreams ... nothing but sparks and dust, " he says while peering down upon helpless civilians. " You are merely tinder for the fires of time ... and it's taken me far too long to set you ablaze ." These are the words of a man who is not only confident that he's won, but confident that his win is long overdue. Zedd is ready to punish everyone in his path for delaying the victory he feels he deserves .

9 "You've lost. Just fall."

Justice league/mighty morphin power rangers #1 by tom taylor, stephen byrne, and deron bennett.

The first issue of the crossover between the Justice League and the original Power Rangers team kicks off with a bang as Lord Zedd invades the Command Center, blowing his way through the doors. Only Zack Taylor, the Black Ranger, is present to defend Zordon and Alpha. Zedd's forces prove too overwhelming for him to handle. Almost immediately after Zack morphs into action, Lord Zedd declares, "You've lost. Just fall."

A Power Ranger never gives up, but the effort seems so futile in this scenario that Lord Zedd suggests surrendering, practically out of pity . It's almost bone-chilling because this is a Lord Zedd who is so in control that he doesn't even take complete delight in winning. His tone suggests he thinks it's pathetic to see Zack even trying to win a losing battle. It's like watching a sports team try to fight back when they're down 50 points at halftime.

8 "...I am NOT Rita Repulsa."

Mighty morphin power rangers #40 by ryan parrott, daniele di nicuolo, walter baiamonte, daniele ienuso, and ed dukeshire.

This issue marks Lord Zedd's first proper introduction into the continuity of the main comics, officially debuting and replacing Rita Repulsa as the main antagonist against the Rangers. After banishing Rita Repulsa, Zedd makes it clear that he will not settle for constant failure from his henchmen in the same way that Rita did in the past. The pep talk that he gives his henchmen to usher in this new era on the Moon Palace is more than just a monologue or even a lecture. It is a warning.

"That path only leads to failure," he utters. " That was Rita's way ... and I am not Rita Repulsa ." There is no better way to begin this new regime at Bandora Palace than with an ominous, threatening warning that seems to chill even the coldest of villains.

7 "All of my demons are returning...and we shall welcome them with open arms."

Mighty morphin #1 by ryan parrott, marco renna, walter baiamonte, katia ranalli, and ed dukeshire.

After his defeat in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #55, Zedd is absent for a long time, but he finally makes a grand return in Mighty Morphin #1. Upon his return he utters these words that serve as foreshadowing in ways that not even Zedd can comprehend at the time. His demons do come back to bite him, but not in the form of the Rangers, as fans might expect. The demons from his past prove to manifest in the form of warriors from Eltar, his home world. With Mighty Morphin #1 marking the start of the "Eltarian War" arc , this line foreshadows the reveal of Lord Zedd's origin as an Eltarian before he lost his skin.

Beyond the foreshadowing, this is also just a defiant way for the Emperor of Evil to return to his kingdom. At this point in time for Zedd, he has accepted the defeat he suffered, and he welcomes the aftermath. He knows his enemies are awaiting his inevitable return, and he's eagerly anticipating going another round with his opposition .

6 "I am the fire that purifies the universe."

Go go power rangers #27 by ryan parrott, sina grace, francesco mortarino, raul angulo, and ed dukeshire.

This entry might be cheating because it technically isn't Lord Zedd who says this. This conversation between Zedd and Tommy takes place in a simulation orchestrated by Saba, the talking sword of the White Ranger. So, in reality, this is a perfect carbon copy of Lord Zedd and what he would likely say if he were actually there. But regardless of whether or not it's really Zedd himself who makes this declaration, it is an accurate representation of how he sees his role in the universe .

This simulation is part of the trials that Tommy Oliver must endure in order to prove himself worthy of the White Light and, ultimately, worthy of becoming the White Ranger. "Lord Zedd" tempts Tommy with great power, only to be refused. In his rebuttal, Zedd gives a speech about how he exists in an iron-sharpens-iron sense. He tells Tommy that the reason why the future White Ranger is becoming the warrior he is, is because Zedd is so despicable. Zedd burns through anyone unworthy, and those who survive through his embers walk through the fires a little stronger for it. As much as people hate him, the universe needs him , as far as Zedd is concerned at least.

5 "You think me weak?! How weak am I now?"

"only the strong" from trey moore, terry moore, hi-fi, and jim campbell in mighty morphin power rangers annual (2016) #1.

First introduced as the antagonist of Power Rangers in Space, Dark Specter is the greatest force of evil in the Power Rangers universe. Lord Zedd's hatred of Dark Specter is well-documented. Before Zedd was introduced as the original show's antagonist — before he even became Lord Zedd and was simply Zophram of Eltar — he preached for thousands of years to anyone who would listen to his warnings about Dark Specter . Of course, no one listens until the franchise's ultimate villain is unleashed in Darkest Hour , when it is too late.

But when Goldar's brother, Silverback, implies that Dark Specter would make a better leader than him, Zedd unleashes a fury unlike any ever seen before at that point in time. Not one to take kindly to threats, Zedd makes it clear that not only is he no weakling, but he'll prove exactly how strong he is by making someone else feel small, both verbally and physically . As if his words aren't harsh enough, Zedd forces Goldar to finish his brother off before hiring his new loyal soldier to " keep an eye on The Witch ."

4 "You think I fear pain?"

Mighty morphin power rangers #106 by melissa flores, simona di gianfelice, raul angulo, and ed dukeshire.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #106 is a pretty prolific issue for Lord Zedd. It isn't just because this is the issue in which he becomes a Power Ranger , but because it's the issue where Zedd finds a way to reclaim his inner power. In a prior issue, Rita Repulsa uses her newest power upgrade as Mistress Vile to beat Zedd within an inch of his life. His defeat is so intense that he is forced to send a distress signal to the Power Rangers, of all people. Even when they rescue him, he is quite literally a broken shell of himself, injured and his face mask torn off.

As the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers face an unprecedented threat, they're recruiting the one ally that 90s fans never imagined they'd accept.

Gone is the uber-confident and regal Lord Zedd of old, replaced by a defeated and injured prisoner at the mercy of his greatest foes. But he starts to find his old self again while in captivity at Promethea. One too many taunts from the soldier guarding him convinces Zedd to remind this human just how much he's "lived," "thrived," and ultimately survived the worst horrors. He won't stand for a mere human downplaying his accomplishments, and he reaches through the laser grids of his cage. After his lifetime of agony, the pain of these bars is nothing, and Zedd chokes the life out of his captor before making his escape.

3 "Promises between men like us are meaningless"

Mighty morphin #13 by ryan parrott, marco renna, walter baiamonte, sara antonellini, katia ranalli, and ed dukeshire.

This issue sees Zedd conspiring with an old friend from Eltar named Zartus, the Supreme Guardian of Eltar and main antagonist of the Eltarian War arc. The former Zophram warns Zartus not to underestimate the Power Rangers. Zartus tries to promise otherwise, but Zedd reminds him that "promises between men like us are meaningless." What makes that first line so interesting is that it paints Lord Zedd as someone who, unlike Zartus, knows he's a villain. Most evildoers try to justify their actions, but Zedd is fully aware that his deeds aren't just. That doesn't stop him from partaking, and even enjoying, the fact that he's committed to such atrocious misdeeds .

Truthfully, this entire interaction is littered with quotable lines from Lord Zedd, especially when Zartus insinuates that he won't be as easily defeated as Zedd has in the past. In response, Zedd makes it clear that if Zartus was brave enough to threaten him in person instead of using a hologram, this interaction would turn out very, very differently. He is also fully aware that, if Zartus somehow manages to succeed in taking down the Power Rangers, then Zedd will be the next one he comes after. Zedd is clearly not worried about this, though, and ends the conversation with a mocking farewell: " Happy hunting, old friend... "

2 "You call yourself Empress of Evil? You have been defeated by infants! You are not fit to destroy a cockroach!"

Mighty morphin power rangers saga #3 by don markstein, steve stiles, john heebink, aaron mcclellan, joseph allen, john clark, and gary leach.

This is a rare instance on this list of an entry that is not from any of the Power Rangers series published by BOOM! Studios. Instead, this lost '90s relic is something of an adaptation or recap of the earliest seasons of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers , justified in-story as Zordon ensuring that the legacy of the Rangers is all recorded and available in Alpha 5's memory banks. The third issue recalls Lord Zedd's arrival at the Moon Palace, where he immediately makes his brutal presence known to Rita Repulsa.

The sequence makes it clear that Zedd refuses to be defeated as easily or frequently as Rita has on a week-to-week basis. Moreover, unlike Rita, Lord Zedd will absolutely not tolerate failure . He immediately punishes Rita for her lack of consistency by imprisoning her and taking her place as the Emperor of Evil once he determines that the Empress of Evil is "unfit to destroy a cockroach."

1 "...I was never that man."

Power Rangers #16 by Ryan Parrott, Francesco Mortarino, Christian Prunesti, Raul Angulo, and Ed Dukeshire

When he was still Zophram, former Supreme Guardian of Eltar, Lord Zedd was a proud mentor, confidante, and most of all, friend to Zordon . That all changed when the conniving Eltarian Zartus drove a wedge between them with his lies, convincing Zedd for eons that Zordon betrayed him. Once the truth is revealed, the two former friends battle Zartus in the present to vanquish him once and for all. Despite still being on opposite sides of good and evil, Zedd and Zordon develop a new appreciation for each other, with Zordon wishing he could turn back time to turn Zedd into the Zophram he used to be.

What's so bittersweet about this moment is that Zedd doesn't think that he was ever the good-hearted man that Zordon remembers him to be. Even worse, there's a chance that he could be right . While feelings of betrayal and jealousy sparked his turn to evil, perhaps it merely nudged forward the inevitable. Perhaps Lord Zedd was always destined to play the opposing force to the Power Rangers .

Power Rangers

2024 Theses Doctoral

Precise Identification of Neurological Disorders using Deep Learning and Multimodal Clinical Neuroimaging

Park, David Keetae

Neurological disorders present a significant challenge in global health. With the increasing availability of imaging datasets and the development of precise machine learning models, early and accurate diagnosis of neurological conditions is a promising and active area of research. However, several characteristic factors in neurology domains, such as heterogeneous imaging, inaccurate labels, or limited data, act as bottlenecks in using deep learning on clinical neuroimaging. Given these circumstances, this dissertation attempts to provide a guideline, proposing several methods and showcasing successful implementations in broad neurological conditions, including epilepsy and neurodegeneration. Methodologically, a particular focus is on comparing a two-dimensional approach as opposed to three-dimensional neural networks. In most clinical domains of neurological disorders, data are scarce and signals are weak, discouraging the use of 3D representation of raw scan data. This dissertation first demonstrates competitive performances with 2D models in tuber segmentation and AD comorbidity detection. Second, the potentials of ensemble learning are explored, further justifying the use of 2D models in the identification of neurodegeneration. Lastly, CleanNeuro is introduced in the context of 2D classification, a novel algorithm for denoising the datasets prior to training. CleanNeuro, on top of 2D classification and ensemble learning, demonstrates the feasibility of accurately classifying patients with comorbid AD and cerebral amyloid angiopathy from AD controls. Methods presented in this dissertation may serve as exemplars in the study of neurological disorders using deep learning and clinical neuroimaging. Clinically, this dissertation contributes to improving automated diagnosis and identification of regional vulnerabilities of several neurological disorders on clinical neuroimaging using deep learning. First, the classification of patients with Alzheimer’s disease from cognitively normal group demonstrates the potentials of using positron emission tomography with tau tracers as a competitive biomarker for precision medicine. Second, the segmentation of tubers in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex proves a successful 2D modeling approach in quantifying neurological burden of a rare yet deadly disease. Third, the detection of comorbid pathologies from patients with Alzheimer’s disease is analyzed and discussed in depth. Based on prior findings that comorbidities of Alzheimer’s disease affect the brain structure in a distinctive pattern, this dissertation proves for the first time the effectiveness of using deep learning on the accurate identification of comorbid pathology in vivo. Leveraging postmortem neuropathology as ground truth labels on top of the proposed methods records competitive performances in comorbidity prediction. Notably, this dissertation discovers that structural magnetic resonance imaging is a reliable biomarker in differentiating the comorbid cereberal amyloid angiopathy from Alzheimer’s disease patients. The dissertation discusses experimental findings on a wide range of neurological disorders, including tuberous sclerosis complex, dementia, and epilepsy. These results contribute to better decision-making on building neural network models for understanding and managing neurological diseases. With the thorough exploration, the dissertation may provide valuable insights that can push forward research in clinical neurology.

• Biomedical engineering
• Computer science
• Nervous system--Degeneration
• Nervous system--Diseases--Diagnosis
• Nervous system--Imaging
• Alzheimer's disease
• Deep learning (Machine learning)
• Biochemical markers
• Magnetic resonance imaging

More About This Work

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UT for Me – Powered by Dell Scholars: Meet Melany Rodriguez

Majors: international relations and global studies, and government with a business spanish certificate, student organizations: first-generation living learning community, queer and trans student alliance – student government, melany rodriguez, a member of the 2020 cohort of ut for me students originally from fort worth, reflects on the community she found on campus and what’s in store after graduation and beyond., what made you decide to come to the university of texas at austin.

I decided on UT because it is the best public university in my home state and I wanted to receive my education from the best in Texas.

How did UT for Me shape your college experience?

What most impacted me about UT for Me was realizing how many of us there are in the program. Seeing others wear their backpacks with the logo or seeing the stickers around campus really showed me how many of us there, and it made me feel a lot less alone when I was struggling; despite facing economic challenges, we still made it this far and put in the work to pursue our dreams.

What surprised you the most about your experience with UT for Me?

I was so surprised about how UT for Me made everything so much more accessible for me. Students have so many expenses already, and not having to worry about the burden of fully paying for my textbooks lifted a huge weight off my shoulders. Also, the fact that we could buy actual supplies at the Co-op meant so much because even affording materials like notebooks seems so trivial, but it’s extra costs I no longer had to worry about paying.

What accomplishment from your time at UT are you most proud of?

My biggest accomplishment will always be seeing my residents thrive as a resident assistant at Dobie Twenty21. Being someone who others can lean on in times of need and then seeing them learn to adapt and overcome on their own brings me so much pride.

What is your favorite memory on campus?

My favorite memories on campus will always be watching the sun set as I walk near the six pack. There’s nothing that compares to the feeling of pride when seeing the sky turn a soft orange behind the Tower.

What are you going to miss the most about UT?

What I’m going to miss the most is the people. The support system I have here is like no other I’ve had before, and it’s going to be hard leaving that here.

What are your plans after you graduate?

I am taking a gap year to study for the LSAT and participate in an internship, and then I plan to start law school in fall of 2025.

What are you looking forward to most after you graduate?

While graduating can be bittersweet, I’m looking forward to starting this new chapter of my life. My lifelong dream has always been to finish college, and now that I’m accomplishing this dream, I can begin searching for a new dream. This isn’t the end, it’s only the beginning.

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