Quoting and referencing: basic principles
How it works
When quoting and referencing, the aim is to reproduce other people’s ideas, statements or passages correctly and to indicate the source clearly. A distinction is made between a verbatim (direct) and a paraphrased (indirect) quotation. A verbatim quotation reproduces the wording exactly, for example: ‹„Lesen erweitert den Horizont.“ (Meyer 2021, S. 14)›. A paraphrased quotation gives the content in your own words, for example: ‹Vgl. Meyer 2021, S. 14: Lesen kann den Blick auf die Welt vergrößern.› Every adopted passage must be supported by a source reference, which can look different depending on the requirements, for example with author, year and page number. Errors in quoting can lead to misunderstandings or accusations of plagiarism.
When quoting, it must be clearly recognisable what was taken over and where it comes from. Verbatim quotations are placed in quotation marks and reproduced exactly, for example: ‹„Lesen erweitert den Horizont.“ (Meyer 2021, S. 14)›. Paraphrased quotations are reworded and marked accordingly, for example: ‹Vgl. Meyer 2021, S. 14: Lesen kann den Blick auf die Welt vergrößern.› Every adopted passage requires a complete source reference.
An example
Which version is a correct verbatim quotation: ‹„Lesen erweitert den Horizont.“ (Meyer 2021, S. 14)› or ‹Lesen erweitert den Horizont (vgl. Meyer 2021, S. 14).›?
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50 Exercises
To the learning unit →Own explanation and own practice exercises by AmyMath. Subject reference framework: German. The topic assignment may vary by federal state.