Quotation marks

Be consistent when using quotation marks. Use double ("...") quotation marks for quotes and to report direct speech. Use single (`...') quotation marks for a quote within a quote or a quote within direct speech. Always use curly quotation marks rather than straight marks, which are really for feet and inches. Use Format - Autoformat - Options to standardise curly quotes in Word.

Pay careful attention to the position of commas and quotation marks in direct speech, eg:

• "This simple grants scheme has helped smaller groups gain lottery funding for the first time," said Culture Secretary Chris Smith, "and these awards give local communities a tremendous opportunity to celebrate the millennium in their own village or town."

When only part of a sentence is being quoted, the position of the commas changes, eg:

• Chris Smith called it a "simple grants scheme", recommending it to local communities as "a tremendous opportunity".

If direct speech or a quotation consists of two or more consecutive paragraphs, use double quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph, but place them at the end of the last paragraph only.

Avoid using single quotation marks to emphasise words. Where appropriate, use italics instead to make the text look less cluttered, see Emphasising text for more information.

Book titles should be typed in italics, with no quotation marks, and only the first word (and any proper names) should have a capital letter.