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There are many different rules on how to use single and double quotation marks when writing. This means that people tend to apply very different quoting styles, which can result in an inconsistent and confusing publication when all of their articles are put together. Christis therefore have a house style covering when to use which type of quotation mark. This is as follows:
Short quotations or speech within paragraphs should be enclosed within double quotation marks. For example:
According to Doctor Jones, the Church of England is “in a state of ruination approaching that of most of its church buildings.”
Longer quotations, for example several bible verses, should be in a new paragraph, indented and italicised. Quotation marks surrounding the whole quotation are not needed.
Quotations or speech within text that is already enclosed in double quotation marks should be put in single quotation marks. For example:
On page two of the book the author writes, “Tom said ‘I would like some cake’, as he ran out of the door.”
If a quotation ends with some form of punctuation, e.g. comma, full stop etc., this should be placed inside the quotation marks. Otherwise, punctuation applying to the whole sentence should be placed after the quotation marks. However, if a quotation ending with a full stop, exclamation mark or question mark occurs at the end of a sentence, it is not necessary to add an any extra punctuation mark after this. For example:
“The drink is poisoned!”, he cried.
What Professor Bloggs calls “The spirit of York Minster” was certainly not present last Tuesday. (See note)
As Oscar Wilde said, “I can resist anything except temptation.”
Title of publications, plays, music etc. should be italicised, and not enclosed in any sort of quotation marks. For example:
In her book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J K Rowling writes …
Slang and defining terms should be enclosed in single quotations marks. This is also the case when people would, when speaking, use a different tone of voice, or use their fingers to indicate double quotation marks. For example:
This new ‘rococo’ style was very popular with the aristocracy.
Many so called ‘religious’ groups do not in fact believe anything at all.
Note: there are some borderline cases where a phrase may be double or single quoted. In general, if you are mentioning the author of a phrase, it is probably a standard quotation and therefore requires double quotation marks.
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Last modified: 25th November 2005