Quotations: Insertions and alterations

On this page

• General information about insertions and alterations in quotations
• Clarifying quotations
• Indicating errors in quotations
• Emphasizing parts of a quotation
• Indicating brackets or emphasis in the original quotation

General information about insertions and alterations in quotations

While every quotation must be scrupulously exact, there are times when you may need to alter a quotation or add information to it. For example, you may want to clarify items in the quotation, indicate an error in the quotation or draw the reader’s attention to certain parts of the quotation.

Insertions and alterations within the quotation should be placed in square brackets, rather than parentheses, so it’s clear that they aren’t part of the quotation.

Clarifying quotations

If you need to provide more context for the reader, you can add explanatory material to the quotation or replace words in the original quotation with equivalents. In both cases, use square brackets.

Examples of altered quotations

Original quotation	Altered quotation
“We foresee no changes in their refund policy in the near future.”	The letter insisted: “We foresee no changes in [the company’s] refund policy in the near future.”
“Ms. Jones is the one who inspired me to become a writer.”	“Ms. Jones [her 11th grade English teacher] is the one who inspired me to become a writer,” she exclaimed.

Indicating errors in quotations

In most cases, quotations should be reproduced exactly—even when they contain an error (for example, a misspelling, a grammar error or a punctuation error). If you need to indicate an error in the original quotation, you can insert the Latin word sic, italicized and enclosed in square brackets, immediately after the error. The addition of [sic] indicates to the reader that the quotation is indeed accurate and that the error wasn’t introduced during transcription. When used in this way, [sic] shouldn’t be followed by a period.

• The instructions read, “Provide the client’s name, adress [sic] and telephone number.”

Note that pointing out the error could be seen as a judgment on the author’s work, so [sic] should not be followed by a question mark or an exclamation mark.

Rather than drawing attention to the error, it might be better to put the corrected material in brackets or paraphrase the quotation:

• The instructions read, “Provide the client’s name, [address] and telephone number.”
• The instructions said to provide the client’s name, address and telephone number.

Emphasizing parts of a quotation

If you want to draw attention to specific parts of a quotation, italicize them. Then, use a phrase such as italics mine or emphasis added to inform the reader that the emphasis wasn’t in the original quotation. Such phrases are included in a footnote, or in parentheses or brackets immediately following the quotation.

• In the words of Terry Fox, “I want to try the impossible to show that it can be done” (italics added).

Indicating brackets or italics in the original quotation

If the original quotation contains square brackets, include a note in parentheses after the quotation, indicating that the brackets are part of the quotation:

• “We encourage anyone who requires support to reach out to the EOAP [Employee and Organization Assistance Program] for counselling” (square brackets in the original).

If there are already square brackets in the original quotation, avoid adding your own. Instead, try to provide explanatory material before or after the quotation. If this isn’t possible, include a note in parentheses immediately after the quotation, indicating which brackets belong to the quotation:

• “We [members of senior management] encourage anyone who requires support to reach out to the EOAP [Employee and Organization Assistance Program] for counselling” (second set of square brackets in the source).

The same principle applies when the original quotation contains italics or when you need to use italics to emphasize a word in a quotation that already contains italics.