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In the following sentence, am I right in thinking that there should be a comma after "that" and a capital "I" in "if"? And then I'm completely foxed as to where the full stop should go in relation to the in-text citation:

Nash argued that “if the full value of Bourdieu’s method is to be achieved, it will be through the close investigation of definite habitus, as states of mind or effective dispositions” (Nash, 2002, p.46).

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  • In this day of minimal punctuation 'a single quote mark is acceptable, and no further punctuation' (Me, 21/05/18). Unless you feel like it. And you can always just italicise everything (Me, 2018, p.3) for further simplicity
    – Nigel J
    Commented May 21, 2018 at 6:07
  • Best wait for the top experts, first. They might comment further and call me an idiot.
    – Nigel J
    Commented May 21, 2018 at 6:12

2 Answers 2

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You are actually asking two different questions.

On the punctuation of the quotation, per The Chicago Manual of Style (13.15):

Many writers mistakenly use a comma to introduce any direct quotation, regardless of its relationship to the surrounding text. But when a quotation introduced midsentence forms a syntactical part of the surrounding sentence, no comma or other mark of punctuation is needed to introduce it, though punctuation may be required for other reasons.

Donovan made a slight bow and said he was “very glad.”

One of the protesters scrawled “Long live opera!” in huge red letters.

According to one critic, Copland’s style could be called “American urban pastoral, with a touch of jazz and more than a hint of Stravinsky.”

She said she would “prefer not to comment.”

So, no commas needed.


Your citation style will also depend on the style guide that you're using. Since I started with Chicago, I'll continue with it.

Per Chicago (15.23):

When a specific page, section, equation, or other division of the work is cited, it follows the date, preceded by a comma. . . .

(Piaget 1980, 74)

So, your in-text citation would actually be:

(Nash 2002, 46)

However, Chicago (15.26) says something else interesting in your particular case—which is also relevant to the quotation marks and punctuation:

Although a source citation normally follows a direct quotation, it may precede the quotation—especially if such a placement allows the date to appear with the author’s name.

As Edward Tufte points out, “A graphical element may carry data information and also perform a design function usually left to non-data-ink” (2001, 139).

or

As Edward Tufte (2001, 139) points out, “A graphical element may carry data information and also perform a design function usually left to non-data-ink.”


Based on all of that, your sentence could be presented as:

Nash (2002, 46) argued that “if the full value of Bourdieu’s method is to be achieved, it will be through the close investigation of definite habitus, as states of mind or effective dispositions.”

However, if you do put the reference (either fully or partially) at the end of the quotation, the terminal period will come after the reference.

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  • Excellent - thanks for that. Although this comes from the Chicago Manual, I don't imagine its application to "English" English would be out of place.
    – awarrenz
    Commented May 21, 2018 at 6:47
  • @awarrenz I tend to always go by Chicago unless I've been told to use a different style guide or a regional style overrides something in a particular case. Commented May 21, 2018 at 6:49
  • I believe Chicago also accepts adding in “p(p).” before the page number; that’s in there somewhere. And most importantly, of course, is the very pragmatic advice that other deviations may be completely acceptable as well, as long as they are consistently used. Commented May 31, 2018 at 6:43
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    @JanusBahsJacquet Chicago accepts p. and pp., but doesn't default to it, preferring simplicity with everything being equal. 14.151: "When a number or a range of numbers clearly denotes the pages in a book, p. or pp. may be omitted; the numbers alone, preceded by a comma, are sufficient. Where the presence of other numerals threatens ambiguity, p. or pp. may be added for clarity. (And if an author has used p. and pp. consistently throughout a work, there is no need to delete them.)" Commented May 31, 2018 at 7:56
  • @JasonBassford That’s the one! Commented May 31, 2018 at 7:57
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The quotation marks are used in a slightly different sense in the present case. They are not needed there at all because of the that, but the author may have wanted to use them either as "scare quotes," for additional emphasis, or even for sarcasm, depending on the broader context.

The presence of that makes all the difference. So, no, you don't start the quotation with an initial capital. And of course, you never follow that with a comma.

To help understand, compare:

Nash argued , thatIf the full value of … effective dispositions”

The above is a direct quotation, without that, a comma before the quotation, and the quoted sentence beginning with a proper initial capital.

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  • That makes sense - of course, "that" would normally be used in indirect speech when one wouldn't have quotes at all but the author clearly wanted to use the original author's exact words, hence the quotes. Thanks very much for your contribution!
    – awarrenz
    Commented May 21, 2018 at 6:35
  • So coming back, then, to the full stop...if we decided to go with your suggested format, is the full stop then in the right position? (ie outside the quotes and after the citation)
    – awarrenz
    Commented May 21, 2018 at 6:37
  • I purposely skirted the issue of the closing period (full stop) because it is probably a matter of writing style, and may vary. In any case, I'd have it either inside or outside the quote, but not after the reference.
    – Kris
    Commented May 21, 2018 at 6:42

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