How to Quote Yourself in an Essay
Yes, you can quote yourself, and if you’re reusing wording or ideas from your own earlier work, you have to cite it, just like any other source. Quoting yourself means putting your own previously written words in quotation marks and citing the earlier paper. The reason is that failing to cite your own prior work counts as self-plagiarism, especially when a paper has already been submitted or published. How you format the citation depends on whether that earlier work was published and on the style you’re using.
Can you quote yourself?
You can, but do it deliberately. Self-citation is appropriate when you’re building on your own earlier research, contrasting a new finding with a past one, or reusing a definition you wrote before. It is not a way to pad a paper or recycle an old assignment as a new one. The key idea is that your reader should be able to tell the earlier work exists somewhere else and find it. If the previous piece was an unsubmitted draft that no one can access, quoting it formally makes little sense; just write the sentence fresh.
How to cite yourself in APA
If your earlier work was published (a journal article, a book, a thesis in a repository), cite it exactly as you’d cite any other author: your surname and the year, with a page number for a direct quote, and a full entry on the reference list. As I argued previously (Silko, 2023), the pattern held across samples (p. 8).
If the earlier work was not published, an unsubmitted class paper, APA treats it as personal communication or unpublished work. For unpublished material you generally cite it in text and, where possible, include it in the references as an unpublished manuscript. The point is that unpublished self-quotes are still marked as coming from a distinct earlier document. General APA quoting rules are in APA quote citation and the APA direct quote in-text citation.
How to cite yourself in MLA
MLA handles a self-citation like any other source: your name as author, the title of the earlier work, and the container and date. In text, cite by your last name and page number, or just the page number if you’ve named yourself in the sentence. On the Works Cited page, list the earlier paper using the format for its type, a published article, a book, or an unpublished manuscript. The full MLA quoting mechanics are in how to quote in MLA and MLA quote citation.
Quoting versus paraphrasing yourself
Most of the time you don’t need to quote your own past words verbatim, you can rewrite the idea for the new context and cite the earlier work as the source of the idea. Reserve a direct self-quote for when the original phrasing matters, the same standard you’d apply to any source. Either way, the citation is what keeps it honest. If you’re reworking rather than quoting, see how to paraphrase a quote.
When you should not quote yourself
Don’t resubmit substantial parts of an old assignment as new work without your instructor’s permission, even with a citation; many courses treat that as self-plagiarism regardless of attribution. Check the assignment’s policy. Quoting a sentence or two from prior published work to build an argument is standard; recycling whole sections of a graded paper is not. When in doubt, ask the instructor before reusing.
Why self-plagiarism is treated seriously
Reusing your own work without disclosure is a problem for the same reason as any misrepresentation: it presents old material as if it were produced fresh for this assignment or publication. In academic publishing, it can also breach copyright when a journal holds the rights to your earlier article, and it distorts the record by making one piece of work look like two. In coursework, instructors expect each submission to reflect new effort for that class. The fix in every case is disclosure: cite the earlier work so the reuse is visible. Attribution turns recycling into legitimate self-citation.
A quick decision guide
Ask two questions. Was the earlier work submitted or published anywhere? If yes, treat it as a real source and cite it whenever you quote or closely reuse it. Are you reusing more than a sentence or two? If yes, get your instructor’s or editor’s sign-off before proceeding, because large-scale reuse is where policies tighten. For a single borrowed definition or a short passage you wrote before, a citation is enough. For whole sections, permission plus citation is the safe path. When neither applies, because the idea is genuinely new here, just write it without a self-citation.
FAQ
Can you quote yourself in an essay?
Yes. Put your earlier words in quotation marks and cite the earlier work. Not citing your own reused material can count as self-plagiarism.
How do you cite yourself in APA?
If the work was published, cite it with your surname, year, and page as you would any author. If it was unpublished, cite it as an unpublished manuscript or personal communication.
Is quoting yourself plagiarism?
Not if you cite it. Reusing your own work without citation, or resubmitting an old paper as new, is self-plagiarism. A proper citation avoids that.
Do you need to cite an unpublished paper you wrote?
If you’re quoting or closely reusing it, yes. Cite it as unpublished material so it’s clear the wording comes from a separate earlier document.