Quoting conventions

Avoid using a quote as the last part of a paragraph or essay – it's always better to end with your own words.

When using quotes, you need to follow certain conventions so that your reader can tell where the quote begins and ends. Quotes are usually referenced like this:

To quote a word, phrase or short passage, use single quotation marks ['...'] at the beginning and end of the quote. If you're quoting a passage that contains another quote, use double quotations marks ["..."] around the second quote.

To quote a long passage or speech:
- begin on a new line
- indent the quote
- don't use quote marks
- start the sentence following the quote on a new line.

See also

Edit quotes

See an example

[See an example]

For example

This example is from a piece written about Erosion, in the Explore history section of this site.

[...] When John Murray first entered Port Phillip Bay in 1803, he wrote in his log book: 'the ground was hard and pleasant to walk on ... the soil is good as far as we may be judges'.

For example

All the quotes in the Explore history section of this site are quoted in this way, like in the piece below about Ernest Shackleton, Antarctic explorer;

[...] The strain caused by that ill-fated expedition was clear in Shackleton's descriptions of the event:

Death is a very little thing - the smallest thing in the world. I can tell you that, for I have come face to face with death...

See an example

[See an example]

For example

Squatters

Fight for retail hours

Women's right to vote

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