APA Style Blog: Punctuating Around Quotation Marks

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August 11, 2011

Punctuating Around Quotation Marks

Dear APA,
Im quoting from a couple of different sources in my APA Style paper, and I cant figure out what to do with all the quotation marks and periods
and commas. Do I put the period inside or outside the quotation marks? What about question marks and quotation marks? Ive been told so
many different things over the years that the answers have just blurred together. Please help!
Quizzical in Queens
Dear Quizzical,
Were not surprised that you have been told different ways to punctuate over the years, because there do indeed exist different practices in the world. On the
upside, if you are writing an APA Style paper, we have some nice, straightforward solutions for you.
To begin, lets take a brief look at the two punctuation systems youve probably encountered, which are called American style (or North American Style) and
British style.
Here is a quick chart of the differences:
Style issue

American Style

British Style

To enclose a quotation, use

Double quotation marks

Single quotation marks

To enclose a quotation within a quotation, use

Single quotation marks

Double quotation marks

Place periods and commas

Inside quotation marks

Outside quotation marks

Place other punctuation (colons, semi-colons, question marks,

Outside quotation marks*

Outside quotation marks*

etc.)
*Place other punctuation inside quotation marks when that punctuation is part of what is being quoted, such as a quoted question.

As you might guess from our name, APA Style uses American style punctuation (see p. 92 of the 6th ed. Publication Manual), as do several other major style
guides (such as AP, Chicago, and MLA). The table below elaborates, with examples for each punctuation mark.
Punctuation mark

In relation to

Example

Notes

closing quotation
mark, place it
Period

Inside

Participants who kept dream diaries described themselves as

introspective and thoughtful.

Comma

Inside

Many dream images were characterized as raw, powerful,

and evocative.

Parentheses

Outside

Barris (2010) argued that dreams express and work with the

See more examples of how to cite

logic of gaining a sense of and a relation to ourselves, our

direct quotations here.

lives, or our sense of reality as a whole (p. 4).

Semi-colon

Outside

At the beginning of the study, participants described their

dream recall rate as low to moderate; at the end, they
described it as moderate to high.

Colon

Outside

Question mark or

Inside

Participants stated they were excited to begin: We

controlled for participants' expectations in our study.
The Dream Questionnaire items included How often do you

When a quotation ending in a

exclamation point (part of

remember your dreams? and What do you most often

question mark or exclamation point

quoted material)

dream about? We found intriguing results.

ends a sentence, no extra period is

needed.

Question mark or

Outside

How will this study impact participants who stated at the

exclamation point (not part

outset, I never remember my dreams? We hypothesized

of quoted material)

their dream recall would increase.

Quotation within a quotation

+ period or comma

Inside

Some participants were skeptical about the process: I dont

When multiple quotation marks are

put any stock in these dream diaries.

used for quotations within

quotations, keep the quotation marks
together (put periods and commas

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inside both; put semi-colons, colons,

etc., outside both).

As a final note, wed like to say that we realize APA Style is used in many places across the world that may not usually follow American style punctuation rules
and that not all fields or publishers in the United States and Canada use American style punctuation. Does this mean that you should change to American style
punctuation when youre writing an APA Style paper? If youre writing for publication with APA or youve been told to follow the APA Publication Manual, then
the answer is yes. However, if you typically use British style punctuation (or some other style) and you have doubts about what to do, check with your publisher
or professor to find out their preference.
We hope that this clears up how to punctuate around those quotation marks in your APA Style paper.
Quotably yours,
Chelsea Lee
Posted by Chelsea Lee at 01:58:49 PM in Grammar and usage, Punctuation

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Comments

Ingrid Castro Lazo said...

Good evening
I would like to know what the importance about the "footers".
According to APA 6th Edition, they dont mention the topic about the "footers", however I have seen in some articles where the "footers". are used. My question
is: Should I use the "footers". or not?
Please send me your reply the soon as possible, please.
Thanks a lot.
Greetings from Peru.
September 13, 2011 at 09:12 PM

Johnny Fang said...

Hi, I have a question about where to put the question marks in the following sentences:
In response to the question, "Which graph did you take most into account?", students replied: ....
Questions, such as "How useful is the information of the graphs?", "How much did the graphs help you?" and "Would you use the graphs next time?" are
answered in this study.
Would you please kindly tell me how to include the question marks in the above sentences and if the commas used are correct? Many thanks.
November 16, 2012 at 03:27 AM

Chelsea Lee said in reply to Johnny Fang...

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When a question mark is part of the material being quoted, then you put the question mark inside the quotation marks. Otherwise, it goes outside. Youve done
this correctly in your examples. To list a series of quoted questions, put the question mark and comma inside quotation marks, like this: information of the
graphs?, How much did the graphs help.

November 19, 2012 at 09:41 AM

what said...
Does APA Style prescribe the type of quotation mark to be used? May we use either " (quotation marks / dumb quotes) or (double quotation marks / curly
quotation marks / smart quotes / inverted commas) or (double angle quotation marks / guillemets)? Or must we use a specific type?
April 11, 2013 at 04:32 AM

SusanH said...
How do you punctuate quotations within a list defined by lowercase letters? Specifically, if I am using a sentence for the quote, do I end with a period to end the
sentence or a comma because it is in a series. Also then is the first letter of the quotation captialized - only if it is a complete sentence or always?
For example
The themes and corresponding comments from participants were (a) apples: "I like berries, but apples are my favorite," (b) bananas: "I eat bananas with my

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cereal every morning," and (c) oranges: "I love citris...especially oranges."
April 15, 2013 at 03:27 PM

Krasniqi25 . said...
If you have a block quotation and within that quotation there is another quotation, should i then use the double quotation marks or single ones for the latter
(according to the American style)?
May 15, 2013 at 08:30 AM

Chelsea Lee said in reply to Krasniqi25 ....

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For the quotation within a block quotation, use double quotation marks. Do this even if its not written that way in the original---its okay to change from double
to single quotation marks as needed (like in this situation) because theres no impact on meaning.
May 15, 2013 at 09:12 AM

Leon Cooper said...

The American style is something I just cannot get behind. It's completely illogical and senseless. Nothing should be inside of quotation marks unless it's directly
part of that quote. Perhaps it's because I'm a software engineer and so I think of quotation marks a bit differently than others might. All the same, as an
instructor I would never enforce the APA spec for putting periods and commas inside of quotation marks or keeping multiple marks together if it would
otherwise make sense to put punctuation between them; it defies the entire point of the symbols and serves no purpose.
The British style just makes entirely more sense; it's as if we decided to do it differently just to spite them.
August 28, 2014 at 01:42 PM

Jule said...
Hi. I'm trying to figure out where to put the punctuation and the quotation mark when citing more than one sentence and then only need the page indication
after. Do I need the fullstop within the quotation and after the page indication?
So it's:
However, Levine (2004) noted that in developed countries, exercise-related activity thermogenesis is negligible or zero. NEAT, even in avid exercisers, is the
predominant component of activity thermogenesis. (p. 2).
September 08, 2014 at 12:13 PM

normgd557 said...
There is another kind of punctuation uncertainty (at least for me) that I need advice on. When you write a sentence in which you segue into a quote what sort of
punctuation, if any, should preceded the quoted part? A few examples may illustrate my uncertainty:
Scott (1988) was of the view that (punctuation?) "the vast majority of dodos were of keener intelligence than the name implied" (p.45).
Scott (1988) described his feelings about dodo intelligence thus (punctuation - my guess is colon) : "the vast majority of dodos were of keener intelligence than
the name implied" (p.45).
I am further wondering if there is any difference in punctuating when the quote is long enough to be a block one (i.e. 40 words or more, as in
Scott (1988) was of the view that (punctuation?)
the vast majority of dodos were of keener intelligence than the name implied. Many of the early
journal-writers who travelled to Mauritius in the 18th century found that often they would come
across flocks of dodos keenly discussing the latest news about local and world affairs. (p.45)
Thanks,
Norman
April 30, 2015 at 09:16 AM

Chelsea Lee said in reply to normgd557...

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It depends on what the quotation marks are signifying. If the quotation marks refer to speech, then there is often a comma preceding them. For example, Mary
Anne said, I enjoy psychology. However, if the quotation marks are to signify a quoted passage, then you should punctuate around the quotation marks as if
they were not there. Your first example indeed does not need any punctuation before the quotation and
your second example correctly does need a colon. There are no differences if the quotation is long enough to be a block quotation; however, many writers feel that
it looks a little bare to break a sentence for the block quotation without any punctuation mark
(even though this is correct) and so they reword their sentence to use a colon before the block quotation. However, this is a question of personal style, not of APA

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Style requirements.

April 30, 2015 at 10:37 AM

normgd557 said...
Another question about question marks and subsequent punctuation. If I quote a question and, then after want to put the attributed source in parentheses, is
that attribution followed by a period before the next sentence? Example But others question the idea: "Are we really to believe that dodos possessed so keen a wit?" (Billroppy,1999, p.45) It appears that this controversy will continue to
rage.
OR
But others question the idea: "Are we really to believe that dodos possessed so keen a wit?" (Billroppy,1999, p.45). It appears that this controversy will continue
to rage.
September 13, 2015 at 09:25 AM

Chelsea Lee said in reply to normgd557...

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Yes, put a period after the parentheses to show its the end of a sentence
J.

September 14, 2015 at 11:00 AM

Jaimie Goodwin said...

I'm having some trouble finding the information on how to properly use quotations inside of a direct quote. I swear I've seen it before but I'm not having any luck
today. Maybe it's lack of sleep combined with hours on top of hours on the computer writing a paper. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you
Jaimie
October 06, 2015 at 04:08 PM

Chelsea Lee said in reply to Jaimie Goodwin...

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Hi Jaimie, The information you seek is right here in the top table
J. When you have a quotation within a quotation, use double quotation marks on the outside and single
quotation marks on the inside.

October 07, 2015 at 09:48 AM

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