To attribute a quote in news writing, put the speaker's name in the sentence that carries their words, give their full name and role the first time and their surname after, and use "said". Then tell readers how the words reached you: an interview, a written statement, a document, a post or another outlet's story. Unnamed sources are the exception, and every newsroom policy we read limits them.
This guide is EdCitation's, compiled on 27 September 2026 from the standards of the Associated Press (AP), The New York Times, the BBC and the Guardian, the SPJ Code of Ethics, the UK Editors' Code, a Poynter column and two journalism-school handbooks. The AP Stylebook is sold, so AP style attribution here comes from AP's free statement of news values; two pages that blocked our tools were read through archived snapshots.
EdCitation writes no part of anyone's story; its job is the sources. Cite a source builds a reference from a news article's address or a report's DOI, Verify references checks each one is real, and Find sources turns up the research a claim rests on, at no cost. Studies have their own guide, how journalists cite scientific studies; the lead is in how to write a news report.
How do you attribute a quote in a news story?
Name the speaker in the same sentence as the words, with enough about them for readers to judge why they matter. AP attributes anything that could reasonably be disputed and gives the full name, adding age, title, organisation or hometown where they explain the person's credibility (Associated Press, 2026). A journalism textbook chapter by Roberts (2023) gives the pattern for how to quote someone in an article: full name plus a qualifier such as a job title or "eyewitness" first, surname alone after, with the attribution before or after the statement.
Once readers know who is speaking, you need not tag every sentence: the Guardian lets reported speech run on without a fresh "said" while it stays in the past tense (The Guardian, 2021a).
Keep the words exact
Outlets differ on how much tidying quotation marks allow. The New York Times does not "clean up" quotations: it drops "um" and false starts, sets spelling and punctuation to house style, and paraphrases what is ungrammatical (The New York Times, n.d.). AP will not alter a quotation even to fix grammar (Associated Press, 2026). The BBC's style guide warns against exposing a speaker's slips to ridicule and suggests indirect speech (BBC News, n.d.-b). All three agree: if a quotation needs repair, paraphrase it. Quoting dialect and non-standard speech covers the harder cases.
Punctuate the attribution
The BBC introduces a full quoted sentence with a colon, as in Francis Franklin said: "This is a farce." (BBC News, n.d.-b); Roberts' American examples use a comma. Where the full stop goes is in full stops inside or outside quotation marks.
How to attribute quotes in journalism: a table of cases
| Situation | How to attribute | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Someone you interviewed | Full name and role first, surname after, "said" | Roberts (2023); Associated Press (2026) |
| An email reply or written statement | Say it was written, where that matters | The New York Times (n.d.); Associated Press (2026) |
| A news release | Say the quotation comes from a release | Associated Press (2026) |
| A document | Name it; if the story rests on it, say how you got it | Associated Press (2026) |
| A social media post | Name the account and platform; say if unverified | BBC (n.d.) |
| Another outlet's facts, unconfirmed | "…, the newspaper reported"; a quote given to them, "told" that outlet | The New York Times (n.d.); Penenberg (2020) |
| Another outlet's scoop, confirmed | Your own facts, but credit who broke it | The New York Times (n.d.) |
| A pool report | Scenes you did not see go to the pool reporter | The New York Times (n.d.) |
| An unnamed source | Their position and why they are unnamed, never "a source" | Associated Press (2026); Society of Professional Journalists (2014) |
| Common knowledge | No attribution | Associated Press (2026) |
| A study or report | Name and link it; build a fact-box reference with Cite a source | Our run below |
Said or says: which verb should a news story use?
Use "said" in a news story. It is neutral, and the Guardian calls it normally preferable to "added", "commented", "declared" or "pointed out" (The Guardian, 2021b). Roberts (2023) offers "reported", "claimed" and "stated" for documents, yet the BBC and Reuters warn that "claimed" signals doubt, as our news report guide shows. "Said" for people and "reported" for documents stay neutral anywhere.
When "says" is right
Said vs says in news is a question of tense and genre. Scanlan (2007), answering a reader on Poynter, concluded that it depends on the writer's intent, the paper's style and the editor. Of the editors he asked, one kept "says" for a view a person holds generally, another valued it for keeping a reader inside a narrative scene, and a third warned that writers who start in "says" often slip into "said". Headlines use the present: the BBC's example, I've had enough, says Smith, needs no quotation marks because the attribution is clear (BBC News, n.d.-a). Whichever you choose, keep it throughout.
Reported speech
In indirect speech, shift the tense back. The Guardian turns "I ate too much chocolate" into "she said she had eaten too much chocolate" (The Guardian, 2021a).
How do you attribute documents, statements and news releases?
Say what kind of source the words came from. AP says so when it quotes a report, an email or a news release, and describes how documents were obtained when a story hinges on them (Associated Press, 2026). The Times separates personal interviews from telephone or email interviews and written statements when it matters whether the reporter was there (The New York Times, n.d.).
Email answers carry a risk: NYU's handbook for journalism students warns that a publicist may be replying for the boss and that emailed answers tend to be scripted (Penenberg, 2020). Write "said in an emailed statement". A news release is raw material that AP credits and never publishes as it stands; for the other side of that exchange, see how to write a press release.
How do you attribute a social media post in a news story?
Name the account holder and the platform, and treat the post as a claim until checked. The BBC says user-generated material should not be assumed accurate, should always be clearly identified and, if the newsroom did not gather it, attributed; when material cannot be verified, it usually says so (BBC, n.d.).
Tidy a post, or leave it?
Here the outlets differ most. The BBC's style guide removes minor slips in posts, avoids "(sic)", leaves a post full of errors as it stands, and paraphrases one too garbled to follow (BBC News, n.d.-c). The Times and AP apply their no-cleanup rules to every quotation. For a class assignment, quote the post exactly and paraphrase anything unclear.
Pictures need permission as well as credit: NYU's handbook asks students to request it, and to ask how the owner wants to be credited, except for the accounts of public figures and government agencies (Penenberg, 2020). More is in citing sources in a blog, newsletter or video.
Our example of attributing social media posts, about an invented council: The council said in a post on X on Tuesday that the bridge would reopen on Friday. A resident posted photographs of the flooding on Facebook; we could not confirm when they were taken.
How do you credit another outlet's reporting?
Attribute facts taken from another outlet, and credit a scoop even after confirming it. The Times attributes facts from newspapers, broadcasts and agencies, AP included, attributes scenes from a pool report to the pool reporter, and credits the outlet that broke a story it has since verified; attributing a rumour, it adds, does not make it fit to print (The New York Times, n.d.).
AP credits the first outlet when its reporting took significant effort. If AP uses another outlet's anonymously sourced material, it names that outlet and repeats its description of the source (Associated Press, 2026). NYU's handbook adds the case students meet most: a quotation someone gave another outlet is attributed to that outlet (Penenberg, 2020).
What do on the record, on background and off the record mean?
They are the terms of a deal struck before the source speaks, and newsrooms define them differently. On background vs off the record, as AP and NYU's student handbook put them:
| Term | AP (Associated Press, 2026) | NYU handbook (Penenberg, 2020) |
|---|---|---|
| On the record | Usable, with the source's name | Publishable; the default |
| On background | Publishable on negotiated terms, usually describing the source's position | Name left out; veterans confirm it elsewhere first |
| Not for attribution | No separate term | Identified only by job or position, as agreed |
| Deep background | Usable, with no attribution at all | No such term; "on guidance" is a road map to follow independently |
| Off the record | Cannot be published | Not used unless another source confirms it |
AP's "background" is close to NYU's "not for attribution", and they part company on "off the record": unusable at AP, usable at NYU once another source confirms it. NYU's handbook itself warns that five journalists may give five definitions.
Agree the terms before the interview
AP assumes an interview is on the record, negotiates conditions at the start, and tries at the end to move background material onto it (Associated Press, 2026). NYU says a deal is made beforehand, never after (Penenberg, 2020). The UK Editors' Codebook, quoting the old Press Complaints Commission, warns that a conversation not clearly declared off the record may be treated as on it. In an IPSO case it describes, a recording showed a professor had put only one part of an interview off the record; that part was not published, and the complaint failed (Editors' Code of Practice Committee, 2026).
What does an anonymous sources policy require?
Every anonymous sources policy we read allows an unnamed source only for information that matters and cannot be had on the record; our news report guide compares those conditions. Here: who approves, and the wording.
Who must know, and who approves
At AP a news manager approves and must know the source, and AP routinely seeks a second source (Associated Press, 2026). At the Times at least one editor besides the reporter must know, and a department head approves, or someone more senior when anonymity is central (Corbett, 2018). The UK Editors' Code gives journalists a moral obligation to protect confidential sources (Editors' Code of Practice Committee, 2025); the Guardian says never to betray one and to avoid anonymous pejorative quotes (The Guardian, 2021b). NYU students give the source's name and contact details to their professor (Penenberg, 2020).
How to describe an unnamed source
AP forbids a bare "a source", asks for descriptions such as "a senior official in the British Foreign Office", says why anonymity was requested, and will not report that someone declined to comment after quoting them anonymously (Associated Press, 2026). The Times wants attribution "literally truthful, and not coy": one person is never "sources", and it states briefly what was agreed rather than a stock phrase about a source who "insisted on anonymity" (The New York Times, n.d.). The SPJ Code reserves anonymity for sources facing danger, retribution or other harm and asks journalists to explain it (Society of Professional Journalists, 2014). AP wants the reason every time; the Times distrusts the formula.
How can EdCitation help with the sources behind a news story?
For the checkable part of a story, whether a cited article or report exists and is described correctly, EdCitation is the best tool we know: it takes each detail from the page or the publisher's record instead of composing it, something a chatbot cannot guarantee. These are its results from 27 September 2026.
Cite a source on a news article
Given the Times article's address, Cite a source read the page, recognised a newspaper article and returned, in APA 7:
Corbett, P. B. (2018, June 14). How the times uses anonymous sources. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/reader-center/how-the-times-uses-anonymous-sources.html
and in MLA 9:
Corbett, Philip B. “How the Times Uses Anonymous Sources.” The New York Times, 14 June 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/reader-center/how-the-times-uses-anonymous-sources.html.
Author, date, headline and address are right, and the APA entry follows APA's newspaper format: headline in sentence case and plain type, the newspaper in italics (American Psychological Association, 2020). One fix by hand: sentence case lowered "Times", which here is the paper's name, so restore the capital, as in "How the Times uses anonymous sources" or, keeping the paper's own style, "How The Times uses anonymous sources". The MLA entry needs no change.
Cite a source on a report's DOI
Given the DOI 10.60625/risj-8qqf-jt36, it read the DOI registry's record for the Reuters Institute's 2025 report and returned, in APA 7:
Newman, N., Ross Arguedas, A., Robertson, C. T., Nielsen, R. K., & Fletcher, R. (2025). Reuters Insitute digital news report 2025. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. https://doi.org/10.60625/risj-8qqf-jt36
and in MLA 9:
Newman, Nic, et al. Reuters Insitute Digital News Report 2025. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, 2025, https://doi.org/10.60625/risj-8qqf-jt36.
All five authors, the year, publisher and DOI came through, and no retraction. "Insitute" is the record's own misspelling, carried faithfully: correct it by hand (Newman et al., 2025).
Verify references on the list
Verify references then checked the corrected article, the corrected report and AP's statement. The article and AP's PDF came back verified. The report came back "check this", showing the record's title, because our spelling no longer matched it: the check marking where entry and record part. Here the record is wrong, so keep "Institute".
None of the three needs an account or payment; the Pro plan ($8 a month) brings References from a file for a whole document (Pricing). The quotes and every sentence of the story stay yours.
Quick questions
Should a news story use said or says?
"Said", for a news story told in the past tense. "Says" suits present-tense features and headlines; keep whichever you choose throughout.
What is the difference between on background and off the record?
At AP, background material is published without the source's name; off-the-record material is not published. NYU's student handbook allows it once another source confirms it, so agree the meaning first.
How do you quote a social media post in a news article?
Name the account holder and platform, check the post, and say if it could not be verified. The BBC tidies minor slips; The New York Times and AP quote exactly or paraphrase.
Can a student journalist use anonymous sources?
NYU's handbook allows it only as a last resort, with the instructor's permission, and the instructor must have the source's name and contact details.
Does EdCitation write news articles or quotations?
No. EdCitation finds, cites and checks sources: Cite a source builds a reference from an article's address or a report's DOI, and Verify references confirms it exists.
References
- American Psychological Association. (2020). Newspaper article references. APA Style. Archived September 16, 2026, at http://web.archive.org/web/20260916121949/https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/newspaper-article-references
- Associated Press. (2026). The Associated Press statement of news values and principles [PDF]. https://www.ap.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/THE-ASSOCIATED-PRESS-STATEMENT-OF-NEWS-VALUES-AND-PRINCIPLES-1.pdf
- BBC. (n.d.). Section 3: Accuracy: Guidelines. BBC Editorial Guidelines. https://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/guidelines/accuracy/guidelines
- BBC News. (n.d.-a). News style guide: H. https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsstyleguide/h
- BBC News. (n.d.-b). News style guide: Q. https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsstyleguide/q
- BBC News. (n.d.-c). News style guide: S. https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsstyleguide/s
- Corbett, P. B. (2018, June 14). How The Times uses anonymous sources. The New York Times. Archived October 28, 2025, at http://web.archive.org/web/20251028050657/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/reader-center/how-the-times-uses-anonymous-sources.html
- Editors' Code of Practice Committee. (2025). The Editors' Code of Practice. https://editorscode.org.uk/the-code/
- Editors' Code of Practice Committee. (2026). The Editors' codebook [PDF]. https://editorscode.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/codebook-2026.pdf
- The Guardian. (2021a, April 30). Guardian and Observer style guide: R. https://www.theguardian.com/guardian-observer-style-guide-r
- The Guardian. (2021b, May 4). Guardian and Observer style guide: S. https://www.theguardian.com/guardian-observer-style-guide-s
- Newman, N., Ross Arguedas, A., Robertson, C. T., Nielsen, R. K., & Fletcher, R. (2025). Reuters Institute digital news report 2025. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. https://doi.org/10.60625/risj-8qqf-jt36
- The New York Times. (n.d.). Guidelines on integrity. https://www.nytimes.com/editorial-standards/guidelines-on-integrity.html
- Penenberg, A. L. (2020). NYU journalism handbook for students: Ethics, law and good practice. Carter Journalism Institute, New York University. https://journalism.nyu.edu/about-us/resources/ethics-handbook-for-students/nyu-journalism-handbook-for-students/
- Roberts, J. (2023). Attribution. In Introduction to journalism I. Northern Virginia Community College. https://pressbooks.nvcc.edu/eng121/chapter/attribution/
- Scanlan, C. (2007, August 18). Ask Chip: Says vs. said. Poynter. https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2007/ask-chip-says-vs-said/
- Society of Professional Journalists. (2014). SPJ code of ethics. Archived September 17, 2026, at http://web.archive.org/web/20260917181518/https://www.spj.org/spj-code-of-ethics/