One should avoid using direct quotations, and if used, these should be as short as possible. Primarily direct quotes are used when referring to laws or quoting definitions. When a direct quotation is needed, it should be separated from the rest of the text by using a 2.3 cm indentation on the left-hand side. The spacing in the direct quotation is 1. In this case, the direct quote does not need quotation marks. If the direct quotation is longer than three lines it is always indented.
An example of an indented quotation:
The abstract is best written in the past tense, if possible, especially when describing the author’s own research work.
The abstract should give a full understanding of the thesis even without reading the whole thesis. (Guide for Thesis and Academic Writing, 2020.)
If the direct quotation is short, on the other hand, for example one sentence of a part of it, this can be quoted inside the text using quotation marks. An example of a short direct quotation:
Often it is wise to leave out unnecessary parts of direct quotations. Two hyphens are added instead of the words left out.
Direct quotations from the research material can also be necessary for the thesis. For example, part of an interview done for the research can be included as a direct quotation. This quotation is done in the same way as the quotations from sources above, but the quoted text is written in italics.