USING SOURCES

SIGNAL PHRASES AND QUOTATIONS

Wrong:

“Every bit of learning takes you further from your parents, says Southwest Texas State University history professor Gregg Andrews, himself a Straddler.”

Right:

“‘Every bit of learning takes you further from your parents,’ says Southwest Texas State University history professor Gregg Andrews, himself a Straddler.”

Why? Because when you have a quotation within a quotation, you use single quotation marks to enclose the inner quotation. See page 79 of A Pocket Style Manual.

Wrong:

“‘Every bit of learning takes you further from your parents,’ says Gregg Andrews, himself a Straddler.”

Right:

“‘Every bit of learning takes you further from your parents,’ says…Gregg Andrews, himself a Straddler.”

Why? Because when you leave some words out of a quotation, you have to use an ellipsis (the three periods) to indicate that something is missing. See page 86 of A Pocket Style Manual.