QUOTATIONS
See also COPYRIGHT, LANGUAGE AND DIALECT, ELLIPSIS, FOOTNOTES, FAIR USE, and PULL QUOTES.
Styling follows the original's capitalization, punctuation, and spelling exactly in legal or academic papers. In most other uses, some changes are permissible: The initial letter may be changed from a cap to lowercase, or lowercase to cap, depending on how the quotation is used within a sentence.
The use of ellipses is optional at the beginning or end of a quotation. Double quotation marks may be changed to single, and single quotation marks to double. Insignificant misspellings may be corrected without the use of sic in modern quotations, but in quotations from older sources, the flavor of the original spelling should be retained.
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Interruptions in quoted matter: Interpolations such as comment by editor, translation, page reference, or conversion of foreign currency to U.S. equivalent are in brackets.
Punctuation: A comma introduces a quotation of normal length (two sentences or less). However, a very short quotation may not need one:
He yelled "Fire!"
A colon introduces a quotation that is longer, more formal, or more involved. It also introduces a quotation that is not introduced by "he said" or an equivalent phrase. See COMMA, section 10.
Closing quotation marks are preceded by a comma or period but followed by a colon or semicolon. A dash, question mark, or exclamation mark precedes if it belongs to the quoted matter but follows if it belongs to the entire sentence.
For a quotation within a quotation, the comma or period falls within the single quotation mark.
When the source of a quotation follows within parentheses, the comma or period follows the parenthetical material: On the land where "his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat" (Luke 6:1), vegetables now flourish.
Poetry or song: A few lines are usually put within quotation marks, set in roman, and run in with the text without the original line breaks. If slash marks are used to indicate line breaks, a space should be placed on either side of the slash mark.
Three or more lines may be indented and set in italics (no quotation marks). Follow the original line breaks; do not use slashes. In all cases, retain capitalization of the original.
Work with the design editor if neither of these approaches is suitable.
Prose quotations are normally set in roman within quotation marks. (Exceptions may be made for diaries and journals.)
Pull quotes: Direct quotations pulled from the text and used as display type retain quotation marks and should be exact, although words may be omitted without the use of ellipses as long as the meaning is not altered. Choose pull quotes that do not need brackets, added words, ellipses. If quoted material from text is paraphrased in display type for readability or because of space limitations, omit quotation marks.
Attribution should be used for direct quotes whenever possible. If the author or speaker of the quotation is not well known, the attribution may include an affiliation or a generic description with or without a personal name. If the quotation is from a published work by a well-known author, the attribution may include the work.