Editing Encyclopedia:Manual of Style (section)

====Punctuation inside or outside<span class="anchor" id="LP"></span><span class="anchor" id="LQ"></span><span class="anchor" id="TQ"></span><span class="anchor" id="logical quotes"></span><span id="Punctuation inside or outside quotation marks"></span>====
{{Shortcut|MOS:LQ|MOS:LQUOTE|MOS:INOROUT|MOS:LOGICAL}}
{{See also|Wikipedia:Logical quotation on Wikipedia}}
{{See also|Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Effect on nearby punctuation|label 1=Wikipedia:Manual of Style § Italics: Effect on nearby punctuation}}<!-- Another kind of punctuation "in or out". -->

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Use the [[Quotation marks in English#British practice|logical quotation]] style in all articles, regardless of the variety of English in which they are written. Include terminal punctuation within the quotation marks only if it was present in the original material, and otherwise place it after the closing quotation mark. For the most part, this means treating periods and commas in the same way as question marks: keep them inside the quotation marks if they apply only to the quoted material and outside if they apply to the whole sentence. Examples are given below.
*{{em|Correct:}} {{xt|Did Darla say, "Here I am"?}} (question mark applies to whole sentence)
*{{em|Incorrect:}} {{!xt|Did Darla say, "Here I am?"}} (incorrect to apply the question mark to the quotation)
*{{em|Correct:}} {{xt|Darla said, "Where am I?"}} (question mark applies to quoted material only)

If the quotation is a single word or a sentence fragment, place the terminal punctuation outside the closing quotation mark. When quoting a full sentence, the end of which coincides with the end of the sentence containing it, place terminal punctuation inside the closing quotation mark.
*{{xt|Miller wanted, he said, "to create something timeless".}}
*{{xt|Miller said: "I wanted to create something timeless."}}

If the quoted sentence is followed by a [[clause]] that should be preceded by a comma, omit the [[full stop]] (period), and do not replace it with a comma {{em|inside}} the quotation.{{efn|This is the principal way in which logical quotation differs from typical British news punctuation practice, in which many publishers permit such a change to the quoted material, which is antithetical to the accuracy purpose of logical punctuation.}} Other terminal punctuation, such as a question mark or exclamation mark, may be retained.
*{{xt|Livingston then said, "It is done", and turned to the people.}}
*{{xt|Livingston then exclaimed, "It is done!", and turned to the people.}}

If the quoted sentence is followed by a clause identifying the speaker, use a comma outside the quotation mark instead of a full stop inside it, but retain any other terminal punctuation, such as a question mark.
*{{xt|"There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet", said Kennedy.}}
*{{xt|By asking "Who are you?", da Gama prompts Adamastor to tell his story.}}

Do not follow quoted words or fragments with commas inside the quotation marks, except where a longer quotation has been broken up and the comma is part of the full quotation.
*{{em|Correct:}} {{xt|"I began to change, opening the way to confidence and courage", said Turner.}}
*{{em|Correct:}} {{xt|"I began to change," said Turner, "opening the way to confidence and courage."}}
*{{em|Correct:}} {{xt|"I began to change, opening the way", said Turner, "to confidence and courage."}}
*{{em|Incorrect:}} {{!xt|"I began to change, opening the way," said Turner, "to confidence and courage."}}