Ellipses In Quotes Bluebook

Ellipses save space or remove material that is less relevant.

Ellipses in quotes bluebook. Most people understand that when you include a quote in legal writing any deletions from the original quote must be replaced with the standard seven character ellipsis. Inserted into a quotation to indicate the omission of material from the original quotation. They are useful in getting right to the point without delay or distraction. Use ellipses to make a quote say something other than what the author originally intended.

Ellipses an ellipsis is a set of three periods indicating an omission. This sheet is to serve as a ready reference. The following information regarding the bluebook citation format is an adapted version of the style and for matting guidelines found in the bluebook 20th ed. According to this rule you should ask yourself whether the beginning middle or end of the sentence is being omitted.

An ellipsis is a series of three points with spaces between them. Ellipses is a punctuation mark consisting of three dots. Properly used ellipses are perfectly respectable and often necessary to avoid both the reproduction of extraneous words a time waster and any suspicion that the writer has tampered with the quotations meaning a credibility waster. Leave out the spaces before and after the ellipsis points or between them.

Judges expect punctilious accuracy even in the minutest details. Insert a space before and after the ellipsis points. Just as a quick refresher a seven character ellipsis is four non breaking spaces and three periods. If an ellipsis ends the sentence then there are three dots each separated by a space followed by the final punctuation.

Sometimes when youre quoting a case or other source you want to leave out some words. A non breaking space can be created in word by using the command crtlshiftspace. In legal writing in the united states rule 53 in the bluebook citation guide governs the use of ellipses and requires a space before the first dot and between the two subsequent dots. Include the sentences ending punctuation followed by the ellipsis points when the dots are inserted after a complete sentence.

Each period should have a single space on either side except when adjacent to a quotation mark in which case there should be no space. There are quite a few simple rules for the proper use of ellipses which are used more often in legal writing than most forms of writing since lawyers often generally too often quote material from other sources. Most style guides define ellipses as 1 the three points representing an omission in a quotation eg text deliberately removed because it is repetitive or irrelevant and as 2 the three points representing a disruption in dialogue eg when the speaker pauses or stops speaking midsentence. This is called an omission and the bluebook rule for it is 53.