Block quote

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A block quote is a typographical representation of a quote in which a longer quoted passage is emphasized as a separate paragraph .

This makes it easier to perceive than the short quotation interspersed in the running text . While with individual words up to one or a few sentences it is clearly visible where the quoted area ends, where an editorial comment may have been interspersed between two quotations, the closing quotation mark is hardly to be found in long text sequences.

features

Conditions:

  1. At least: Clear indentation on the left; so the left margin is moved inwards compared to the sentence width of the main text.
  2. In letterpress printing, the right margin is usually indented.
  3. If possible: smaller font size , combined with narrower line spacing ; if technically feasible and not undesirable for other reasons ( accessibility , legibility ).
  4. Additional separation from the main text.
    If the font size is retained, a whole blank line should be inserted so as not to disturb the line rhythm; If the font size is changed, choose an aesthetically suitable spacing, at least the mean of the two line spacings, or better, more.
  5. Other design options would be framing with a box, background or font colored, clearly different font .

It is usually recommended to use the block quote if the quote is 40 words long (in German) or more than two lines. To ensure uniformity within a text area, it can make sense in individual cases to also format shorter quotations as block quotations.

The question of whether the block quotation should be enclosed in quotation marks is viewed inconsistently .

  • From a typographical point of view, they are redundant; the character of the quotation results without a doubt from the specific formatting and usually also from introductory words and the source.
    • This is particularly common in the Anglo-American area.
    • Another advantage is that the level of the quotation marks does not change; That means that no single quotation marks have to be made out of double quotes, that no “ third level ” has to be found for single quotation marks .
  • For legal reasons ( allegations of plagiarism ), however, it is advisable to use them at the beginning and at the end of scientific papers or legal documents to be on the safe side.

Realization in word processing

In the Hypertext Markup Language there is the element <blockquote>for displaying such text passages. In LaTeX the environment quotationis intended as a macro.

example

The following is a case with double-sided indentation, slightly reduced font, without quotation marks. On particularly wide screen windows, it might be necessary to make the window a little narrower.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Always clita kasd gubergren.

The text above is 40 words long. Following this, the normal width (ie line length for the main text) again follows according to the type area .

literature

  • Christoph Prevezanos: Technical writing: For computer scientists, academics, technicians and everyday working life. Carl Hanser Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-446-43759-3 , p. 72.
  • Thorsten Bohl: Scientific work in the study of education . Beltz, 2008, ISBN 978-3-407-25493-1 .
  • Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th edition. Washington DC 2001.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ How do you write scientific papers? Duden-Taschenbuch, 1988, ISBN 3-411-02751-7 , p. 130.
  2. ↑ block quote element . W3C HTML5 spec