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I'm reading an article I could potentially use for my thesis, but I've come across several errors already. I'm curious on how to do it if I really had to use the words from the original text.

I wouldn't want to use [sic] as How to deal with quoting a grammatical error? suggests, because it's distracting and makes me look mean.

So if the original text says "Finally, we may have puctual obligations" would it be within the norm to just write it as "Finally, we may have [punctual] obligations"?

Another problem I see is if the original text repeats a word (or forgets a word from a different formulation). So what if the text said "Finally, we may may have punctual obligations"? Dropping the word would be a misquote, but adding (...) wouldn't make sense and again would distract the reader.

This isn't really a problem I need to deal with, because I think the solution in this case would be not to use a direct citation and use my own words instead to avoid repeating the mistake. However, it's possible that error like this may appear in text which cannot be rewritten.

This is the source material: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5625356/

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  • Suggested transfer to academia.stackexchange.com.
    – VTH
    Commented Sep 22, 2018 at 13:35
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    I would note that, in the supplied context, "punctual" does not seem to be a good fit. Perhaps some other term was intended?
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Sep 22, 2018 at 13:44
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    I'm curious about the original source. Normally something needs to get through proofreaders before being published. I also wonder if it's a translation.
    – S Conroy
    Commented Sep 22, 2018 at 16:37
  • The source indeed meant "punctual". It doesn't make sense in the piece I posted, because I didn't supply any context. It was at the end of the list explaining different types of obligations. I know for sure, because at the beginning, the author stated the types of obligations in one sentence.
    – Adelaida Clarke
    Commented Sep 23, 2018 at 14:15
  • I think what Hot Licks means is that while one type of obligation is the obligation for punctuality, the obligation itself is not punctual- it is not a punctual obligation. Perhaps they are timeliness obligations.
    – Jim
    Commented Sep 23, 2018 at 15:24

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If you are correcting only a few small and obvious typos, it may be considered acceptable these days to do so silently.

For example, if you follow the The Chicago Manual of Style (17th ed.), the following is from section 13.7:

Although in a direct quotation the wording should be reproduced exactly, the following changes are generally permissible to make a passage fit into the syntax and typography of the surrounding text . . .

  1. Obvious typographic errors may be corrected silently (without comment or sic), unless the passage quoted is from an older work or a manuscript or other unpublished source where idiosyncrasies of spelling are generally preserved. If spelling and punctuation are modernized or altered for clarity, readers must be so informed in a note, in a preface, or elsewhere.

(Several other points were made, but I elided them for the sake of brevity.)

Of course, if you're writing a thesis, I would check with your instructor or advisor to see what style guide should be followed.

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  • This is very sound advice: follow it, especially the last bit!
    – Tuffy
    Commented Sep 22, 2018 at 15:02

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