For short quotations (three lines or less), include them in the text within single quotation marks.
Punctuation follows the closing quotation mark, unless it is an essential part of the quotation, as a question or exclamation mark might be (see example 2).
Example 1
The Chief Justice explained that this power ‘is not limited to defence against aggression from a foreign nation’.
Example 2
Bix raises the question, ‘What is the point of a dissent, after all, at least on the highest court of the jurisdiction, if the law simply is whatever the majority on that court says it is?’
Present quotations longer than three lines in an indented paragraph, with no further indentation of the first line.
Do not use quotation marks, except for single quotation marks around quotations within quotations (example 1).
When a quotation begins in the middle of a sentence in the text, the first letter of the quotation should be capitalized if the quotation itself is a complete sentence, but not otherwise. When a quotation begins at the start of a sentence in the text, the first letter should be capitalized, and square brackets placed around it if it was not capitalized in the original text (example 1).
Generally, a colon is used to introduce an indented quotation (example 2).
Example 1
[T]he House of Lords also concluded that the civil standard of proof (on the balance of probabilities) should be applied in such a way as to be sensitive to the ‘seriousness of the matters to be proved and the implications of proving them’, which in effect means proof beyond reasonable doubt (ie the criminal standard).
Example 2
Lord Hoffmann reasoned as follows:
It seems to me logical to found liability for damages upon the intention of the parties (objectively ascertained) because all contractual liability is voluntarily undertaken. It must be in principle wrong to hold someone liable for risks for which people entering into such a contract in their particular market, would not reasonably be considered to have undertaken.
If text is removed from a quotation for clarity and length, use an ellipsis (...) to show that some of the original text is missing. Leave a space between an ellipsis and text/punctuation, except quotation marks.
Example
Bix raises the question, ‘What is the point of a dissent ... if the law simply is whatever the majority on that court says it is?’
Inserting your own words into a quotation
When inserting your own words into a quotations, such as for grammatical sense, write your words in [square brackets] to distinguish them. Ensure the meaning of the quotation is not altered by adding or removing too many words.