As common as it is to use quotations in textbooks, it is probably just as common to have questions about how they should be organised. When to extract the quote into a separate text block, and when to place it in the running text? Which quotation marks should be used? Should English language quotes be translated into Swedish? Here are some tips on how to reproduce both shorter and longer quotes.

Always indicate the originator and work. 

The Copyright Act requires that the author's name be indicated. This must be done to the extent and in the manner required by good practice.  Stating the name and the work is thus a minimum level when you reproduce a quotation. In scientific contexts, there are more stringent requirements for references; the Oxford or Harvard system, for example, is often used.

Some guidelines for designing citations. 

Clearly and correctly marked quotations show the reader what is the author's own words and what is a quotation, and clarify which parts may have been omitted from the quotation. However, sometimes the array of linguistic and typographical guidelines for quotations can be a bit confusing, and the uncertainty of how to set up the quotation, which quotation marks to use and where to place them takes up valuable time from the writing process.
Knowing some common guidelines on how to mark quotes can therefore save time.

Shorter quotes

When reproducing short quotations, they are usually included in the running text. The quotation marks at the beginning and end of the quotation are used to emphasise the quotation (see example 1). Note that the quotation marks in Swedish text should be of the type "...", i.e. reversed as 99...99. Do not use the thumb sign "...".
Example 1
"In Swedish text, the same kind of quotation marks are used at the beginning and at the end of the quotation."

In English books, on the other hand, you write " before and " after the quotation, i.e. reversed as 66...99.

Single quotation marks ' are used for quotes within quotes, i.e. when the quote you are reproducing contains another quote (see example 2).
Exampel 2
The literary critic called the book 'the best of the century' in his review."

Placement of punctuation marks

How to place the surrounding punctuation marks in the context of quotations is a chapter in itself. We will only touch on this area briefly here. If you want to delve deeper, we recommend the Swedish Language Council's Swedish writing rules.

If the whole sentence is surrounded by quotation marks, the punctuation mark (usually a full stop) is placed before the quotation mark (see example 3). If only the last part is surrounded by quotation marks, the sentence ends with quotation marks and then a full stop (see example 4).

Example 3
"It would be good if more people had the time and opportunity to go out and look for signs of spring in March, such as listening for the lark or watching for the first coltsfoot."
Example 4
At the beginning of March, my colleague always says that "more people should have time to go out and look for signs of spring in March".

In direct speech after the colon, the speech ends with a full stop and quotation marks (see example 5).
Example 5
My colleague says: "Spring will come sooner or later."

Longer Quotes

A longer quote is often reproduced as a separate paragraph with indents, known as a block quote.
There is no simple rule for how long the quote should be to be highlighted as a separate block in the text. This is a matter of judgement. It is usually said that the longer the quote, the more reason to use block quotes.

The middle paragraph is an example of a longer quotation that is extracted into a separate text block. The block quote is indented on the left and is usually in a different font or smaller size than the running text. Block quotes should not be surrounded by quotation marks, as the design itself indicates that it is a quote. The example is taken from Filip Radovic (ed.) Livets mening, Studentlitteratur 2012.

Omitted passages

If you do not want to reproduce the whole quotation but exclude certain parts, you should indicate this in the text. The place where text is omitted is usually indicated by square brackets and three dots [...] (see example 6).
Example 6
My colleague said: "It would be good if more people had the time and opportunity to [...] listen for the lark or look for the first tussilion."
If a longer passage has been omitted from the quote, perhaps a whole section, this is sometimes marked differently than if only a few words have been omitted. If you want to distinguish between shorter and longer omissions, you can use square brackets and three dashes [---] where longer passages are omitted.

Do not forget the rights

Here we have addressed some common questions regarding linguistic and typographical guidelines for providing quotations. These aspects of quotations are essential, not least because they clarify for the reader what is a quotation and what is the author's own text. But even more important are often the rights issues. When do you have the right to quote and how much can you reproduce what someone else has said or written? You can read more about this in Quote School Part 1.

English language quotes

In Swedish-language course books and teaching materials, quotations in the original language should generally be translated into Swedish. The most common question usually concerns English-language quotations. Even though students are often used to reading in English, the quotations should preferably be translated into Swedish when they are published in a context that is otherwise in Swedish, such as a book in Swedish.

 

Sources

Språkrådet (2017). Swedish writing rules. Stockholm: Liber.