A-manual-for-writers-of-research-papers-theses-and-dissertations

R. ROISTER DOISTER. Except I have her to my wife, I shall run mad.M. MERYGREEKE. Nay, “unwise” perhaps, but I warrant you for “mad.”EPIGRAPHS. An epigraph is a quotation that establishes a theme of your paper. For epigraphsused in the front matter of a thesis or dissertation, see A.2.1. Treat an epigraph at thebeginning of a chapter or section as a block quotation. On the line below it, give the authorand the title, flush right and preceded by an em dash (or two hyphens; see 21.7.2). You do notneed a more formal citation for an epigraph. Leave two blank lines between the source lineand the beginning of text. See also figure A.9.The city, however, does not tell its past, but contains it like the lines of a hand.—Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities25.3 Modifying QuotationsWhenever you quote, you must record the exact wording, spelling, capitalization, andpunctuation of the source, even if they do not follow the guidelines in this manual. When youincorporate the quotation, however, you may modify it to fit the syntax of the surrounding textor to focus on certain parts of it.Note that disciplines have different standards for issues discussed in this section, such asmodifying initial capital and lowercase letters and using ellipses for omissions. For papers inmost disciplines, follow the general guidelines. For papers in literary studies and other fieldsconcerned with close analysis of texts, follow the stricter guidelines given under some topics.If you are not sure which set to follow, consult your local guidelines or your instructor.25.3.1 Permissible ChangesSPELLING. If the original source contains an obvious typographic error, correct it withoutcomment.Original: These conclusions are not definate, but they are certainly suggestive.Clayton admits that his conclusions are “not definite.”If, however, such an error reveals something significant about the source or is relevant toyour argument, preserve it in your quotation. Immediately following the error, insert the Latinword sic (“so”), italicized and enclosed in brackets, to identify it as the author's error. It isconsidered bad manners to call out errors just to embarrass a source.Original: The average American does not know how to spell and cannot use a coma properly.Russell exemplifies her own argument by claiming that the average American “cannot use a coma [sic]properly.”When quoting from an older source or one that represents dialect with nonstandardspelling, preserve idiosyncrasies of spelling, and do not use sic. If you modernize or alter allwww.itpub.net