Quotes and quotation marks

Use single quotation marks. Use double quotation marks only for quotes within quotes.

Use quotation marks for:

• material quoted from other sources
• direct speech
• enclosing  the title of certain works, including chapters, journal articles, essays, lectures, poems and songs
• drawing attention to certain words (do this sparingly).

Punctuation occurs inside quotation marks if:

• it is part of the quoted text

Example

She asked, ‘Is it raining?’

• it is used with directly quoted speech followed by attribution

Example

‘I run fast,’ she said.

• the quotation is a sentence in its own right.

Example

She said, ‘It’s time to go home.’

Punctuation occurs outside quotation marks if it is part of the sentence outside the quoted text.

Example

She said that it was ‘time to go home’.

Format quotes 30 words or longer as block quotes without quotation marks. This can be shown in your manuscript by indenting the quote and separating it from the text above and below with a paragraph space.

Make sure all quoted material is sourced in the text and included in your list of references (see References).