Use brackets [ ] to make alterations to quoted text clearer:

  1. Use brackets when a letter that was upper case in the original must appear as lower case in your document, or vice versa.

    2. EXAMPLE:

    "[M]ost production practices follow well-established procedures."

  2. Use brackets when the author has substituted or inserted words or letters that were not in the original quoted document.

    3. EXAMPLE:

    "Remember that the value of [an administrative] procedure is contained, not in formal statements, but in the real think[ing] that led to its establishment."

  3. Use empty brackets to indicate that letters in the original have been omitted in this document.

    4. EXAMPLE:

    "The decision[  ] carried little significance." (The original document had "decisions.")

  4. Place brackets around words or letters the author has changed to make the words fit the sentence in the document you are proofreading.

    5. EXAMPLE:

    Espinoza charged her former employer with "falsification of [her] coaching record."

  5. Enclose [sic] within brackets to show that misspelled words or inappropriately used words in the quotation are not your typos or blunders; they appeared exactly that way in the source. You may include the correct form within the brackets: "The descision [sic: decision] was clear."

    6. EXAMPLE:

    "Reporters found three mispelings [sic] in the report." or "Reporters found three mispelings [sic: misspellings] in the report."

    (However, it is bad manners to use this device to show that another writer is a poor speller.)

  6. Use brackets around words the author has italicized or underlined within quoted language that were not italicized or underlined in the original.

    7. EXAMPLE:

    "It was the atmosphere of Wall Street that drew Jacobs to finance, not the money or prestige [italics added]."

    ("Italics mine" or "emphasis added" are other acceptable phrases.)

  7. Use brackets to include parenthetical material inside quotations.

EXAMPLE:

"Earl Stokes was mayor-at-large in Sycamore City (a largely honorary position [unpaid]) for ten years."

Use ellipses .  .  . to show that words or sentences have been omitted from quoted text.

An ellipsis is three periods in a row with a space before the first period, a space after the last, and spaces between the periods. Use ellipses to show that words or sentences have been omitted from the quoted text.

EXAMPLE:

    1. If the words or sentences are omitted after the end of a sentence, the text should have the period for the end of the sentence with no space between the last letter and period, then the three ellipsis periods. The result is four periods with spaces before and after the two in the middle. Put the closing quotation mark immediately after the last ellipsis period.

      2. EXAMPLE:

      The report states, "Harry James will determine the number of days Paula Hunt was absent.  .  .  ."

    2. Never begin a quotation with an ellipsis. Instead, if words are left out, make the beginning of the quotation flow from the text, or start the quotation with an uppercase letter in brackets.
    3. Do not insert an ellipsis for an omitted footnote or citation. Instead, immediately following the citation to the quoted source, indicate the omission with these words in parentheses: (footnote omitted) or (citation omitted).
    4. Use an ellipsis to indicate a pause in the flow of a sentence. This is especially useful for quoted speech.

      5. EXAMPLE:

      The student started to speak, then paused .  .  . then started to speak again. Finally, he said "I'm just wondering .  .  ." and paused again.

    5. If you omit a paragraph, place an ellipsis at the end of the paragraph that preceded the omitted paragraph.

      6. It is also acceptable to show that a paragraph has been omitted by putting four periods separated by spaces where the omitted paragraph would be. Indent the four periods on a blank line as though they were the beginning of the omitted paragraph. After the last period, start a new line and type the next paragraph.

      If you omit a large amount of text, you may indicate that by skipping one blank line, typing a row of periods with two spaces between each that stretches from the left margin to the right margin, and skipping another blank line.

      EXAMPLE:

      In this example, a paragraph has been omitted between the two quoted paragraphs:

           Don't apply for a job unless you can make a case for doing it well. If you can make such a case, whet the employer's appetite for wanting to meet you: Be specific, focus on how good you are and don't say anything that might be viewed as a negative. Most important, ask for an interview. . . .

      Aside from going after every advertised job appropriate to your field, make yourself known to recruiters and employment agencies. Apply to every employer whose needs you could make a strong case for meeting.

      You could also indicate that a paragraph has been omitted in this way:

           Don't apply for a job unless you can make a case for doing it well. If you can make such a case, whet the employer's appetite for wanting to meet you: Be specific, focus on how good you are and don't say anything that might be viewed as a negative. Most important, ask for an interview.

      . . . .

      Aside from going after every advertised job appropriate to your field, make yourself known to recruiters and employment agencies. Apply to every employer whose needs you could make a strong case for meeting.

      In this example, several paragraphs have been omitted between the two quoted paragraphs:

      So tailor your application as closely as possible to the known or probable requirements of the job you seek. That may be difficult when you are sending out hundreds of applications. At the least, segregate your targets into groups having similar interests and pursue each group on a tailored basis.

      .   .   .    .   .   .    .   .   .    .   .   .    .   .   .    .   .   .    .

      Keep at it. The foregoing requires an enormous amount of effort and you may not strike a gusher overnight. If your goals are realistic, however, don't let up. Jobs invariably go to those who do the best job of creatively "selling" their services to employers.

 

Use the $ symbol when numerals follow the symbol. Use the % symbol when it appears in a chart or there are many percentages expressed, and the number is a numeral.

  1. When you express dollars in numerals, use $.
  2. Normally write out "percent" even after a numeral. However, when you have a chart, table, or graph, or when you are using many figures in percentages, you may use % if the number is expressed in numerals.
  3. Spell out dollars and percent wherever numbers are spelled out.
  4. Never begin a sentence with a symbol.
  5. Insert no space between $ or % and the numeral.

    6. EXAMPLES

    Incorrect:
    1. The addition resulted in a twenty% increase in expenses to $seven hundred.
    2. We learned that the 5,000 dollars was never recovered.

      3. Correct:
    3. The addition resulted in a 20% increase in expenses to $700.
    4. We learned that the $5,000 was never recovered.