Sometimes an author says something so clearly that it's better to quote them directly. If that quote is long, it becomes a block quote.
When to use a block quote
If a quote would take up five or more lines of your text, Turabian asks you to set it as a block quote. Anything shorter stays inside your paragraph, in quotation marks.
Notice the measure: Turabian counts lines on your page, not words (APA counts 40 words). So the same quote might be a block in one paper and run-in in another, depending on the font and margins.
Use block quotes sparingly. Most of the time it's better to paraphrase the source in your own words. But when the original wording really matters, a block quote is the right choice.
How to format a block quote
- Introduce it with your own sentence. If that sentence is complete, end it with a colon.
- Single-space the quote, even though your body text is double-spaced.
- Indent the whole quote half an inch from the left margin, the same distance as a paragraph's first line.
- Leave a blank line before and after it.
- No quotation marks. The formatting itself shows it's a quote.
- Put the note number after the final punctuation of the quote.
- After the quote, if your paragraph continues, start the next line at the left margin with no indent. If a new paragraph starts, indent it as usual.
An example
Here's how that works, quoting page 42 of a made-up article (the authors, journal, and DOI are invented for this lesson):
Long quotations come with a cost:
Researchers caution that long quotations can overshadow a writer's own analysis; however, there are moments when the original language communicates a nuance that paraphrasing would dilute. In those cases, present the passage as a block quote, maintain the source's exact wording, and then explain why it matters to your claim.4
That last step, the explanation, is the one students most often skip.
4. Jonathon Strange and Kathy H. Weber, “An Analysis of Recent Biological Evidence,” Sasquatch Today 14, no. 2 (2020): 42, https://doi.org/10.1000/sasquatch.2020.004.
- Introduced, then set offThe lead-in sentence ends with a colon.
- Single-spaced and indentedEvery line of the quote moves in half an inch. No quotation marks, and a blank line above and below.
- The note number after the final periodThe paragraph then continues at the left margin, with no indent.
- The noteFormatted like any other, with the page quoted.
That's it. Block quotes look a little odd at first, but once you've seen one, they're easy to set up.
Quick checklist
- Five or more lines of quoted text becomes a block quote
- Introduced by your own sentence
- Single-spaced, indented half an inch, blank line before and after
- No quotation marks
- Note number after the final punctuation
- Text that continues the paragraph starts flush left
Block quotes in PERRLA
If you're using PERRLA, the block quote style is one click: select the quote and choose Block Quote in the Text & Heading Style panel. PERRLA single-spaces it and sets the indent and spacing. Type # at the end to add its note.