Should I cite a source for a direct quotation separately if it is inside a paragraph with the same source?

Question

Assuming that Adam conducted an interview with John Doe and Adam is the only source.

Should I source the direct quotation separately?

The chocolate rain machine was invented by John Doe in 1980 and was regarded by Doe as "the most significant invention of the 20th century" (Adam, 2017). He constructed it from wooden bars that were...[several sentences] (Adam, 2017)
Or is the source at the end of the paragraph enough?

The chocolate rain machine was invented by John Doe in 1980 and was regarded by Doe as "the most significant invention of the 20th century". He constructed it from wooden bars that were...[several sentences] (Adam, 2017)

Your quoting Adam (2013) for a citation by Doe ??? Surely, Adam (2013) is not the original source, so you should either quote the original, or explicitly specify that (for example by see Adam (2013) for a recent summary, or similar), or both. — Walter, Jun 07 '17 at 14:36
@Walter What if Adam conducted an interview with Doe and thus is the primary source? I will change the year examples to accommodate for that. I did not anticipate that this would become relevant. — problemofficer - n.f. Monica, Jun 07 '17 at 14:49
Possible duplicate of Should I reference the book I got a formula from, or the source that book got the formula from? — astronat supports the strike, Jun 07 '17 at 15:00

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 08 '17 at 01:13

The objective of citation is to provide clarity in attribution. In the case where something might be unclear, it is generally better to err on the side of over-citation rather than under-citation.

In this case, I would judge the direct quote to definitely need a citation, because the source of a direct quotation should always be crystal clear.

It is the second part of the paragraph that might go without a citation. If it was short and you began it with a connector like "Adam further reports..." then it might be clearly enough linked with the quote citation to not need a separate citations. In this case, however, where it appears there is quite a bit of additional material, a second citation is likely to provide more clarity.

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 08 '17 at 10:22

Dissertation writing instructor here. I completely agree with jakebeal. His suggestion about connecting to the next sentence using "Adam further reports" is what writing teachers refer to as citation boundaries (for googling more info). Connectors (aka transition words) generally refer to words like therefore, and, & however.

Not to be annoying, but your example includes a quotation and a paraphrase, not 2 quotations. This affects the answer to your question bc you could have however many paraphrased sentences in a row, and only need to cite the final one -- as long as it's clear that all the info in them came from the same source (Adam further reports).

Quite honestly, I'd tell my student to avoid the situation because 1) it's awkward, and 2) there are several easy edits that would alleviate the problem.

However, if you have 2 actual quotes (with " "), you would have to cite each. But again, the reader will find it awkward & weird most likely.

Should I cite a source for a direct quotation separately if it is inside a paragraph with the same source?

2 Answers2