H-69

Use brackets to insert editorial notes into a quotation and to enclose parenthetical material within text that is already in parentheses. In a quotation, the brackets tell the reader that the added material is yours, not the original author’s. (See also P10.)

If the original quotation includes a mistake, add [sic], the Latin word for “so,” in brackets to tell the reader that the error occurs in the source. Often you can reword your sentence to omit the error.

Replace inappropriate brackets with parentheses.

P10 Ellipsis Marks

Use ellipsis marks to indicate a deliberate omission within a quotation or to mark a dramatic pause in a sentence. Type ellipsis marks as three spaced periods (. . .), with a space before the first period and following the last period.

If you omit the end of a quoted sentence or if you omit a sentence or more from the middle of a quoted passage, add a sentence period and a space before the first ellipsis mark.

Do not use opening or closing ellipsis marks if the quotation is clearly only part of a sentence.

P11 Slashes

Use a slash to separate quoted lines of poetry and to separate word pairs that pre-sent options or opposites.

H-70

Note: When you use a slash to show the lines in poetry, leave a space before and after the mark. If you quote four lines or more, omit the quotation marks and slashes and present the poetry line for line as a block quotation.