Use of Uppercase, Brackets, and Ellipsis Within Quotations
Generally, the first letter of a quotation that reads as a full sentence must be in uppercase, e.g.,
The trial court issued a letter opinion that addressed defendant's motion as follows: "There is no evidence supporting the first change."
The witness testified, "Although I am not a doctor, I play one on TV."
Sometimes this requires changing the initial letter of a quotation to uppercase, e.g.,
The court observed, "[U]npreserved error will ordinarily not be reviewed on appeal."
The examining physician's report declared, "[C]laimant was medically stationary as of February 12, 1992."
In the following example, the use of a bracketed lowercase letter indicates that the initial letter was in uppercase in the original, e.g.,
Incorrect: Defendant argued, "[t]he trial court erred in excluding witnesses from
the courtroom."
Correct: Defendant argued, "The trial court erred in excluding witnesses from
the courtroom."
EXCEPTION: When a quotation that reads as a full sentence is incorporated into the grammatical structure of the sentence (often preceded by "that"), do not uppercase the first letter and use brackets if the first letter of the quotation was uppercase in the original, e.g.,
The court observed that "[u]npreserved error will ordinarily not be reviewed on appeal."
NOTE: For using uppercase after colons, refer to page 79.
The use of brackets in quoted material indicates that something has been changed, modified, or deleted from how it was originally published.
You should "[p]lace commas and periods inside quotation marks."
"Plaintiff place[s] substantial weight on its belief that the legislature intended to restore the common practice of exempting brooder houses."
The prohibition was enacted to "ensure[ ] that dogs will have their day."
The court's "jurisdiction [is limited] to determining whether petitioners' assessment may be spread over a period of at least 10 years."
The standard of care applicable to physicians requires the use of "that degree of care, skill[,] and diligence" as is used by physicians in the same or similar community.
The trial court concluded that "there is no issue of material fact," but it also concluded that defendant was not entitled to judgment as a matter of law. [No comma in original; brackets not needed, because comma is part of larger sentence.]
Punctuation in quoted text can be replaced with other punctuation with the use of brackets:
Original: "The Court of Appeals has 13 members, but they sit in panels of three."
New:
"The Court of Appeals has 13 members[;] * * * they sit in panels of three."
If quoted material ends before the new sentence ends, then punctuation that is appropriate for the new sentence can be included inside the quotation marks:
Original: Defendant's argument is beyond reproach and compels us to strike his brief and order him to pay petitioner's costs.
New: In Jones, the court characterized the defendant's argument as "beyond reproach," struck his brief, and ordered him to pay the petitioner's costs.
If omitting quoted material at the end of a quoted sentence, but ending the new sentence with the partially quoted material, denote the omitted quoted material before the period in the new sentence with an ellipsis:
Original: A party shall make a notation of exception either orally on the
record or in a writing filed with the court.
New: ORCP 59H(2) provides that "[a] party shall make a notation of exception either orally on the record or in a writing * * *."
When quoting text that refers to a case by use of supra rather than a citation, add the citation in brackets, e.g.,
"This court has declared that evidence is suppressed for violations of the Oregon Constitution 'to preserve * * * rights to the same extent as if the gov-ernment's officers had stayed within the law.' State v. Davis[, 295 Or 227, 234, 666 P2d 802 (1983)]."
Use a short citation form if the case has already been cited in full, e.g.,
"A discovery rule cannot be assumed, but must be found in the statute or lim-itations itself. Huff[, 322 Or at 462]."
When modifying quoted material to add emphasized text, emphasize the brackets themselves, in addition to the inserted emphasized text, only when the words on both sides of the brackets are already emphasized, e.g.,
Correct: "Plaintiff's [first] argument * * *"
Correct: "Plaintiff's [first] argument * * *"
Correct: "Plaintiff's [first] argument * * *"
Incorrect: "Plaintiff's [first] argument * * *"
Incorrect: "Plaintiff's [first] argument * * *"
When quoting text that refers to a VAWA case using an unredacted case title, use brackets to redact the name of the protected party to initials, e.g.,
" 'Danger' in this context means 'a threat of physical injury, not merely a threat of annoyance or harassment.' [K. R.] v. Erazo, 248 Or App 700, 706-07, 274 P3d 214 (2012). To ' "[c]oerce" means to restrain, compel or dominate by force or threat.' ORS 163.730(2)."
H.L. P., 309 Or App at 113-14.
"[Sic]" is used to indicate that the author being quoted has used a word incorrectly or has used an incorrect spelling of a word within the context of the sentence that confuses or changes the meaning of the sentence. Obvious typographical errors may be silently corrected, but any idiosyncrasy of spelling (particularly from older works) is preserved, e.g., "defence." When using [sic], it is italicized, enclosed in brackets, and placed after the uncorrected word, e.g.,
"The court's rational [sic] for its decision was based entirely on legal precedent."
"We are going to precede [sic] with our plans for the law suit."
(Here, the use of [sic] signals the reader that "rational" should actually read "rationale" "precede" should read "proceed.")
Bracketing and correcting an error in quoted material instead of using [sic] is usually sufficient as long as it does not alter the meaning. The use of [sic] should be avoided to point out minor grammatical errors, to indicate disagreement with a word's usage, or to appear highhanded. Instead, the preferred method is to silently correct or to use brackets, e.g.,
Incorrect: "The company, on its own volition, intervened in the trial Court [sic] proceedings * * *."
Correct: "The company, on its own volition, intervened in the trial [c]ourt proceedings * * *."
Correct: "The company, on its own volition, intervened in the trial court proceedings * * *."
Incorrect: "The lab technician dropped the vile [sic] of blood."
Correct: "The lab technician dropped the vi[al] of blood."
Correct: "The lab technician dropped the vial of blood."
NOTE: Where a word or sentence would be correct either way, do not use [sic].
Use three asterisks (not periods), separated by spaces, to indicate omission of a word or words within a sentence, omission of sentences within a block quotation, and omission of text after a subsection number, e.g.,
The claimant seeks compensation "for mental and emotional distress and * * * damages."
In amending ORS 656.273(1) in 1995, the legislature "neither repealed nor amended ORS 656.273(8) * * * but it may have changed how ORS 656.273(8) is applied."
When quoting a full sentence except the end, use three asterisks, followed by a period, to indicate omission of the end of the sentence:
"The evidence directly establishes only the truth of the primary fact or facts from which an inference may be derived * * *."
EXCEPTION: If quoting a full sentence except the end and the quoted material originally ended with a punctuation mark, then use only a bracketed period to indicate the change of punctuation (and, by inference, the end of the sentence):
"A court may consider unpreserved error under the plan error doctrine only if the error is one of law[.]" (period replaces semicolon and the remainder of the sentence)
When including quoted material within a sentence and the new sentence ends before the quoted material ended, an ellipsis is not needed:
Correct: | If reasonable minds can disagree, then "any error is not plain." |
Incorrect: | If reasonable minds can disagree, then "any error is not plain * * *." |
Use three asterisks (not followed by a period) to indicate omission of one or more sentences at the end of a paragraph within (as opposed to at the end of) a block quotation:
"The majority's reading of the statute requires us to make two leaps of faith. The first leap is that, in 1965, the legislature used 'gear or equip-ment' to mean exactly what 'appliance' meant between 1921 and 1965. The second leap of faith is that the terms 'boats, fishing gear and vehicles' mean exactly what 'gear or equipment' means in ORS 506.655 * * *. * * *
"We decline to take those leaps for several reasons."
NOTE: In the preceding example, the first ellipsis indicates that a sentence otherwise quoted in full has been ended prematurely. The second ellipsis indicates that an additional sentence or sentences has been omitted.
Omission of text after a subsection number:
A block quotation that starts somewhere other than the beginning of the quoted sentence or paragraph may be treated a few different ways, depending on the author's use of the quoted material.
An ellipsis is not necessary to begin a quotation that starts somewhere other than the beginning of the sentence or paragraph, e.g.,
The issue in Merriweather was as follows:
"[W]hether a circuit court order compelling witnesses to appear and testify before a grand jury was appealable under ORS 19.205(4) as the product of a 'special statutory proceeding.' "
The court has previously explained that
"neither ORS 279.340 nor any other provision setting out require-ments for hours of labor by public employees, ORS 279.334 -279.342, expressly states what is meant by the phrase 'directly employed' or indicates the categories of persons to whom the phrase applies."
Place the beginning of a block quotation flush left when the original quoted material is not the first sentence of a paragraph, e.g.,
As this court has stated before,
"[e]ven if that assumption is accurate, it is insufficient because even in a high crime neighborhood unprovoked flight does not invariably lead to reasonable suspicion * * *. Like unprovoked flight itself, presence in a high crime neighborhood is a fact too generic and susceptible to innocent explanation to satisfy the rea-sonable suspicion inquiry."
Do not use an ellipsis if quoting only part of a sentence, e.g.,
Again, the legislature expressly provided that those actions be "commenced not later than two years after the date on which the plaintiff first discovered, or in the exercise of reasonable care should have discovered," the death, injury, or disease.
Do not use an ellipsis to denote the omission of a citation or footnote. Instead, use "citation omitted" or "footnote omitted" in a parenthetical.
When quoting only part of a statute, rule, etc., use "in part," e.g.,
ORS 305.440 provides, in part, "If no appeal is taken to the Supreme Court, the decision of the court shall constitute a final determination of the matter."
Use five asterisks to indicate omission of a block of text such as paragraphs or sections, but not to indicate an omission of additional material after an ending paragraph, e.g.,
OAR 635-005-0180 provides, in part:
"It is unlawful for commercial purposes to take, land, or possess sea urchins:
"* * * * *
NOTE: If the original has additional text, it is not necessary to add three asterisks following the period.