Quotation Marks

Quotation Marks in Research Papers

Direct Quotations
Direct quotations are another person's exact words--either spoken or in print--incorporated into your own writing.

• Use a set of quotation marks to enclose each direct quotation included in your writing.  For example: Mr. and Mrs. Allen, owners of a 300-acre farm, said, "We refuse to use that pesticide because it might pollute the nearby wells."
• Use a capital letter with the first word of a direct quotation of a whole sentence. Do not use a capital letter with the first word of a direct quotation of part of a sentence.  For example: Mr. and Mrs. Allen stated that they "refuse to use that pesticide" because of possible water pollution.
• If the quotation is interrupted and then continues in your sentence, do not capitalize the second part of the quotation.  For example: "He likes to talk about football," she said, "especially when the Super Bowl is coming up."

Quotation within a quotation
Use single quotation marks for a quotation enclosed inside another quotation. For example: The agricultural reporter for the newspaper explained, "When I talked to the Allens last week, they said, 'We refuse to use that pesticide.' "

Omitted words in a quotation
If you leave words out of a quotation, use an ellipsis mark to indicate the omitted words.  For example: The welfare agency representative said, "We are unable to help every family . . . because we don't have the funds to do so."  If you need to insert something within a quotation, use a pair of brackets to enclose the addition. For example: The welfare agency representative explained that they are "unable to help every family that [they would] like to help."

Block quotations
In some styles, quotations that extend more than four typed lines on a page should be indented and punctuated differently.  Punctuation and documentation for these “block quotes” varies according to the style you’re writing in, so consult a style guide or handbook for details.

Poetry quotations
When you quote two or more lines of poetry, use slash marks within your quotation marks to indicate the end of each line. For example: "Something there is that doesn't love a wall, / That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it."

Quotation Marks in Dialogue

Write each person's spoken words, however brief, as a separate paragraph. Use commas to set off dialogue tags such as "she said" or "he explained." Closely related narrative prose can be included in a paragraph with dialogue. If one person's speech goes on for more than one paragraph, use quotation marks to open the speech and at the beginning--but not the end--of each new paragraph in the speech. To close the speech, use quotation marks at the end of the final paragraph.

Quotation Marks for Titles of Minor Works and Parts of Wholes

Use quotation marks for:

• titles of short or minor works, such as songs, short stories, essays, short poems, one-act plays, and other literary works that are shorter than a three-act play or a complete book.
• titles of parts of larger works, such as chapters in books; articles in newspapers, magazines, journals, or other periodical publications; and episodes of television and radio series.

Use underlining or italics for titles of major works or of works that contain smaller segments such as books; plays of three or more acts; newspapers, magazines, journals, or other periodical publications; films; and television and radio series.

Do not use quotation marks for referring to the Bible or other sacred texts or to legal documents.

Quotation Marks for Words

Use quotation marks to indicate words used ironically, with reservations, or in some unusual way.

For words used as words themselves or for technical or unfamiliar terms used for the first time (and defined), use italics.

Punctuation with Quotation Marks

Use a comma to introduce a quotation after a standard dialogue tag, a brief introductory phrase, or a dependent clause, for example, "He asked," "She stated," "According to Bronson," or "As Shakespeare wrote." Use a colon to introduce a quotation after an independent clause.

Put commas and periods within closing quotation marks, except when a parenthetical reference follows the quotation.

Put colons and semicolons outside closing quotation marks.

Put a dash, question mark, or exclamation point within closing quotation marks when the punctuation applies to the quotation itself and outside when it applies to the whole sentence.

 Unnecessary Quotation Marks

• Do not put quotation marks around the titles of your essays.
• Do not use quotation marks for common nicknames, bits of humor, technical terms that readers are likely to know, and trite or well-known expressions.
• Indirect quotations are not exact words but rather rephrasings or summaries of another person's words. Do not use quotation marks for indirect quotations.

You can practice these rules by doing the accompanying exercise at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_quoteEX1.html.