ISSN 1831-5380
Site map | Legal notice | Cookies | FAQ | Contact | Print page

5.10. Quotations

A quotation is made up of:

(i)
quoted passages from other works;
(ii)
words and thoughts of third parties reported in the text.

Typography offers two alternatives for dealing with quotations:

(i)
use of italics or a smaller type size for longer passages;
(ii)
use of quotation marks for shorter quotations.

Ordinary quotations (those made up of words or phrases quoted directly by an individual) are incorporated into the running text in quotation marks.

Use single quotation marks, with double quotation marks for quotations within quotations (see also Section 4.2.3 (levels of quotation)).

‘Xxxxx xxxxxx “xx xxxx xxx” xxx xxxxx.’

If a word or part of a quotation is omitted from the text, it should be replaced by three points (ellipsis). It is preceded by a hard space and followed by a normal space or relevant punctuation sign.

‘Xxxxx … xxx.’

If the quoted matter already contains an ellipsis any editorial ellipsis should be placed within square brackets.

‘Xxxxx xxxxx … xxx xxxxx […] xxx xxxx.’
NB:
If an author service does not use square brackets to indicate the passages omitted from a quotation, the editorial services of the Publications Office, being unable to distinguish between editorial omissions and ellipses used for effect in the original document, are constrained to adopt a conventional formula: the ellipses are always preceded by a normal space and followed by a normal space or punctuation sign.

Where a line or paragraph is omitted and replaced by an ellipsis, the ellipsis should be placed within square brackets on a separate line.

‘Xxx xxxxx xxx.

[…]

Xxxxxxx xx x xxx.’

Last updated: 17.8.2017
Top of the page
Previous pageNext page