Ellipsis

The ellipsis (three dots) with a space before and after each dot is used to indicate the omission of material from a quota­tion. Such omissions are necessary when only part of the quotation is relevant to the point you are making. Use of the ellipsis, however, does not free a researcher from the obliga­tion to remain faithful to the intent of the author's original text.

Original: 'Faulkner's novels have the quality of being lived, absorbed, remembered rather than merely observed'. Malcolm Cowley.

Quotation: Malcolm Cowley further suggests that 'Faulkner's novels have the quality of being ... merely observed.'

If you are quoting no more than a fragment and it is clear that something has been left out, no ellipsis is necessary.

Malcolm Cowley refers to Faulkner's 'mythical kingdom.'

However, when it is not clear that an omission has been made, the ellipsis must be used.

Sometimes, omissions occur within a sentence. In the following example two omissions are made in the quotation, and both are indicated by an ellipsis of three spaced dots.

Original: 'Mammals were in existence as early as the latest Triassic, 190 million years ago, yet the first one hundred and twenty million years of their history, from the end of the Triassic to the late Cretaceous, they were a suppressed race, unable throughout that span of time to produce any carnivore larger than cat-size or herbivore larger than rat-size'.

Quotation: Adrian Desmond, arguing that the dino­saurus were once dominant over mam­mals, points out that 'mam­mals were in exist­ence as early as the latest Triassic ... yet for the first one hundred and twenty million years of their history ... they were a sup­pressed race, unable to produce any car­nivore larger than a cat-size or herbivore larger than rat-size.'

If the omission occurs at the end of a sentence then a full stop is used followed by three spaced dots.

Adrian Desmond, arguing that the dinosaurus were once dominant over mammals, points out that the mammals were, for millions of years, 'a suppressed race, unable throughout that span of time to produce any carnivore larger than cat-size. ...'

If the ellipsis is followed by parenthetical material at the end of the sentence, use three spaced dots and place the sentence full stop after the final parenthesis.

Another justice made the following, more restrictive, statement: 'You have the right to disagree with those in authority ... but you have no right to break the law ...' (Martin, p.9).

If the omitted words are found at the beginning of the first sentence, no ellipsis is necessary. If the omitted words are from the second sentence in the quotation, a regular period indi­cates the end of the first sentence and is followed by ellip­sis.

    'Discriminability between the protocols was poor. ... [F]urther work is required.'

Omissions of one sentence or more sentences are also indicated by four dots, but only on the condition that a complete sentence must both precede and follow the four dots.

Original: 'Manuscript Troana and other documents of the Mayas describe a cosmic catastrophe during which the ocean fell on the continent, and a terrible hurri­cane swept the earth. The hurricane broke up and carried away all towns and forests. Exploding volcanoes, tides sweeping over moun­tains, and impetus winds threatened to annihilate many species of animals. The face of the earth changed, moun­tains col­lapsed, other mountains grew and rose over the onrushing cataract of water driven from oceanic spaces, numberless rivers lost their beds, and a wild tornado moved through the debris des­cending from the sky'.

Quotation: That species of animals may have been made extinct by some worldwide catastrophe is not un­think­able. Immanuel Velikovsky states that 'Manu­script Troana and other documents of the Mayas describe a cosmic catas­trophe. ... The face of the earth changed, mountains col­lapsed, other mountains grew and rose over the onrushing cataract of water driven from oceanic spaces, numberless rivers lost their beds, and a wild tornado moved through the debris. ...'.