Handling Quoted Material

• Short quotations (fewer than 40 words) are incorporated into the text and enclosed by double quotations marks (").
• Long quotations of 40 or more words are displayed in a double-spaced block of typewritten lines with no quotation marks. The APA suggests that you do not single space; however, some instructors will require that indented quotations be single-spaced, especially when quoting poetry, which loses some of its formal characteristics when double-spaced. Check with your instructor before single-spacing quotations. Indent five spaces from the left margin and type the entire quotation on the indented margin without the usual opening paragraph indentation. If the quotation is more than one paragraph, indent the first line of the second and additional paragraphs five spaces from the already indented margin, approximately an inch from the left margin.
• If you have a quotation within a block quotation, enclose it in double (") quotation marks. If you have a quotation within a short quote (one incorporated within the text), enclose it within single quotation marks (').
• Ellipsis points are used to indicate omitted material. Type three periods with a space before and after each period to indicate omission within a sentence (…). To indicate an omission between sentences type a punctuation mark for the sentence followed by three spaced periods (. …) (? …) (! …). Your date processing software probably provides especially typed characters that will create ellipses that will not be broken, inappropriately, at the end of a line.
• When a period or comma occurs with closing quotation marks, place the period or comma within the closing quotation mark. Put any other punctuation mark outside the quotation marks unless that mark is part of the quoted material.