Quotation Guide (from The Chicago Manual of Style, 16

th
Ed.)
6.9 Periods and commas in relation to closing quotation marks
Periods and commas precede closing quotation marks, whether double or single. (An apostrophe
at the end of a word should never be confused with a closing single quotation mark; see 6.115.)
This is a traditional style, in use well before the first edition of this manual (1906). For an
exception, see 7.75. See also table 6.1.
Growing up, we always preferred to bear those ills we have.
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, she replied.
In an alternative system, sometimes called British style (as described in The Oxford Style Manual;
see bibliog. 1.1), single quotation marks are used, and only those punctuation points that appeared
in the original material should be included within the quotation marks; all others follow the
closing quotation marks. (Exceptions to the rule are widespread: periods, for example, are
routinely placed inside any quotation that begins with a capital letter and forms a grammatically
complete sentence.) Double quotation marks are reserved for quotations within quotations. This
system or a variation may be appropriate in some works of textual criticism. See also 7.50, 7.55,
13.78, 13.2829.
6.10 Other punctuation in relation to closing quotation marks
Colons and semicolonsunlike periods and commasfollow closing quotation marks; question
marks and exclamation points follow closing quotation marks unless they belong within the
quoted matter. (This rule applies the logic that is often absent from the US style described in 6.9.)
See also table 6.1.
Take, for example, the first line of To a Skylark: Hail to thee, blithe spirit!
I was invited to recite the lyrics to Sympathy for the Devil; instead I read from the Op-Ed page
of the New York Times.
Which of Shakespeares characters said, All the worlds a stage?
but
Timber!
Whats the rush? she wondered.
6.11 Single quotation marks next to double quotation marks
When single quotation marks nested within double quotation marks appear next to each other, no
space need be added between the two except as a typographical nicety subject to the publishers
requirements. For example, most typesetters will use a thin space between the two marks to
enhance readability (as in the print edition of this manual). In online works, a nonbreaking space
should be used (as in the online edition of this manual). See also 13.28. In the example that
follows, note that the period precedes the single quotation mark (see also 6.9).
Admit it, she said. You havent read The Simple Art of Murder.
13.10 Choosing between run-in and block quotations
In deciding whether to run in or set off a quotation, length is usually the deciding factor. In
general, a short quotation, especially one that is not a full sentence, should be run in. A hundred
words or more (at least six to eight lines of text in a typical manuscript) can generally be set off as
a block quotation. Other criteria apply, however. A quotation of two or more paragraphs is best
set off (see 13.2022), as are quoted correspondence (if salutations, signatures, and such are
included), lists, and any material that requires special formatting. If many quotations of varying
length occur close together, running them all in may make for easier reading. But where
quotations are being compared or otherwise used as entities in themselves, it may be better to set
them all as block quotations, however short. Poetry is set off far more often than prose (see
13.2327).
13.11 Logical and grammatical assimilation
In incorporating fragmentary quotations into a text, phrase the surrounding sentence in such a
way that the quoted words fit into it logically and grammatically, quoting only as much of the
original as is necessary.
The narrators constant references to malicious code and obsolete data detract from a more
fundamental issuethat we are dumping the burden of human history onto computer hard
drives. It is this vision of the future that is most alarming: If (when?) we run out of sources of
electricity, she asks, will we forget who we are?
13.17 Colon preceding a quotation
A formal introductory phrase, such as thus or as follows, is usually followed by a colon.
The role of the author has been variously described. Henry Fielding, at the beginning of his
History of Tom Jones, defines it thus: An author ought to consider himself, not as a gentleman
who gives a private or eleemosynary treat, but rather as one who keeps a public ordinary, at
which all persons are welcome for their money.
13.18 Comma preceding a quotation
When it is simply a matter of identifying a speaker, a comma is used after said, replied, asked,
and similar verbs; a colon, though never wrong in such instances, should be used sparingly (e.g.,
to introduce quotations that consist of more than one sentence).
Garrett replied, I hope you are not referring to me.
Fish writes, What [the students] did was move the words out of a context (the faculty club door)
in which they had a literal and obvious meaning into another context (my classroom) in which the
meaning was no less obvious and literal and yet was different.
13.19 Period rather than colon preceding a quotation
Unless introduced by thus, as follows, or other wording that requires a colon, a block quotation
may be preceded by a period rather than a colon. Such usage should be applied consistently.
He then took a clearly hostile position toward Poland, having characterized it as a Fascist state
that oppressed the Ukrainians, the Belorussians, and others.
Under present conditions, suppression of that state will mean that there will be
one less Fascist state. It will not be a bad thing if Poland suffers a defeat and thus
enables us to include new territories and new populations in the socialist system.
13.65 Frequent reference to a single source cited in a note
In a work containing notes, the full citation of a source may be given in a note at first mention,
with subsequent citations made parenthetically in the text. This method is especially suited to
literary studies that use frequent quotations from a single source. In a study of Much Ado about
Nothing, for example, the note would list the edition and include wording such as Text
references are to act, scene, and line of this edition. A parenthetical reference to act 3, scene 4,
lines 4647, would then appear as in the example below. In references to a work of fiction, page
numbers alone may be given.
Ye light o love with your heels! then, if your husband have stables enough, youll see he shall
lack no barns, says Beatrice (3..!"#$.
Where a number of such sources (or different editions of a single source) are used in the same work, the
title (or edition) may need to be indicated in the parenthetical references; it may be advisable to devise an
abbreviation for each and to include a list of the abbreviations at the beginning or end of the work (see
14.54, 14.55). See also 14.260, 14.267, 14.43.
14.19 Numbers in text versus numbers in notes
Note reference numbers in text are set as superior (superscript) numbers. In the notes themselves,
they are normally full size, not raised, and followed by a period. (In manuscripts, superscripted
numbers in both placesthe typical default setting in the note-making feature of a word
processorare perfectly acceptable.)
Nonrestrictive relative clauses are parenthetic, as are similar clauses introduced by conjunctions
indicating time or place.
1
1. William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White, The Elements of Style, 4th ed. (New York: Allyn and
Bacon, 2000), 3.
14.21 Placement of note number
A note number should generally be placed at the end of a sentence or at the end of a clause. The
number normally follows a quotation (whether it is run in to the text or set as an extract). Relative
to other punctuation, the number follows any punctuation mark except for the dash, which it
precedes.
This, wrote George Templeton Strong, is what our tailors can do.
1
The bias was apparent in the Shotwell series
3
and it must be remembered that Shotwell was a
student of Robinsons.
Though a note number normally follows a closing parenthesis, it may on rare occasion be more
appropriate to place the number inside the closing parenthesisif, for example, the note applies
to a specific term within the parentheses.
(In an earlier book he had said quite the opposite.)
2
Men and their unions, as they entered industrial work, negotiated two things: young women
would be laid off once they married (the commonly acknowledged marriage bar
1
), and men
would be paid a family wage.