Punctuation
Douglas Perret Starr
Professor
Texas A&M University
• In typing scholarly journal articles, you are
not a typist; you are a typesetter.
• Follow the rules for typesetting.
• Use your Keyboard Commands as
appropriate.
• One space after periods, other end marks.
• No underline.
• The em-dash—never two hyphens (--)—
for the dash.
• The en-dash joins numerals, nouns of
equal weight.
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Em-dash … En-dash … Hyphen
Note the difference in width.
― em-dash
– en-dash
- hyphen
• (Em-) Dash ( ― )
• The Dash punctuation mark is an em-dash, the
width of the capital M. Indicates a break in the
thought of the sentence.
• It cannot be formed by typing two hyphens. No
space before or after the Dash.
– I’m going to move to College Station—you can
live in my house in El Paso—and study at
Texas A&M University.
• En-Dash ( – )
• Use the Keyboard Command to form the
en-dash, the width of the capital N. No
space on either side.
• Joins numerals and nouns of equal weight.
• 7–6 . . . $100–$200
• Bryan–College Station
• Mrs. Carolyn Scanlon–McLendon
• En-Dash (– )
• The en-dash substitutes for to in
some instances, as in “the vote was
7–6,” but not when from is used.
• The trial lasted “from 7 to 10 days,”
not “from 7–10 days.”
• Hyphen ( - )
• Joins words . . . Clarifies words . . .
Partitions words.
• Joins adjectives preceding noun: 10-yearold study.
• Clarifies verbs: re-lease . . . release
• Partitions at end of line of type: University
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Suspensive Hyphenation
Use in compounds.
First- and second-place winners
First-, second-, and third-grade pupils
12- to 18-month subscriptions
• Ellipsis ( . . . )
• Three spaced periods with a space at each end.
Do not use Keyboard Command.
• Indicates where words are omitted from
quotations. At sentence-end, ellipsis follows
sentence-end mark.
• “. . . [A]sk not what your country can do for you. . . .”
• Apostrophe ( ’ )
• Indicates omission of letter or number,
possession, plural of single letter, numeral.
It’s a close quotation mark. No apostrophe
in any pronoun, except ’tis, ’twas, ’twere.
• Two A’s, two DC-2’s, John Jones’ house,
• the Joneses’ house, Mary’s book, Chris’
book, or Dr. Briers’s book
• No contractions in scholarly writing.
• Quotation Marks ( “ ” ‘ ’ )
• Indicates what a person said, wrote.
Always use in pairs.
• Double quotation marks for written or
spoken matter of fewer than 40 words,
titles of chapters, articles, songs, etc, but
only in text.
• Single quotation marks for quote within
quote.
• In a letter, he wrote, “I like what you said
about ‘realizing your artistry.’”
• Quotation Marks ( “ ” ‘ ’ )
• All periods, all commas go inside (to the
left of) all close quotation marks.
• I have read “Roots.”
• I bought “Roots,” but I have not read it.
• All colons, semicolons go outside (to the
right of) all close quotation marks.
• She described “the work”: “stellar”; a
valuable contribution, . . .”; “wellpositioned. . . .”
• Quotation Marks ( “ ” ‘ ’ )
• Question marks go inside (to the left of) or
outside (to the right of) close quotation
marks, as appropriate.
• Have you read “Roots”?
• He asked, “Have you read ‘Roots’?”
• Quotation Marks ( “ ” ‘ ’ )
• Avoid putting quotation marks around one
or two words; it negates the meaning.
• He said that he “never” drank whisky.
• The sheriff said that two “women” were
arrested.
• Parentheses ( () )
• Always used in pairs. Sets off clarifying information,
references, reference years, reference pages, list
numbers or letters.
• (See Figure 4.)
• (Gillum & Sparks, 2000)
• Rodriguez (2002)
• (pp. 34-35)
• Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT)
• (1) xxx; (2) xxx; (3) xxx. . . . No period after number.
• (a) xxx; (b) xxx; (c) xxx. . . . No period after letter.
• Period ( . )
• Indicates end of complete sentence, used
with initials and abbreviations.
• Initials require a space: D. P. Starr
• Abbreviations do not require space:
• U.S., U.N.
• p., pp., Rev. Ed., Vol., No., et al.
• Comma ( , )
• Separates thought units connected by
conjunction (and, but, etc.), separates listed
items, sets off nonessential information.
• He wrote several books and plays, and he acted
in two plays.
• Not: He wrote several books, plays, and acted in
two plays.
• Hundreds of people (men, women, and children)
attended.
• The lawnmower, which is broken, is in the
garage.
• Comma ( , )
• Sets off years in dates, states from cities,
units in numbers.
• He was born July 3, 1878, and died
November 5, 1942, in Dallas, Texas.
• He was born in Dallas, Texas, and worked
in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, most of his life.
• Semicolon ( ; )
• Separates thought units not joined by a
conjunction (and, but, etc.), separates items in
series that contain commas.
• Respondents were from Chicago, Illinois; Miami,
Florida; New Orleans, Louisiana; and College
Station, Texas.
• Several studies (Rutherford, 2003; Starr, 2000;
Wingenbach & Briers, 2004). . . . Same
alphabetical order as in Bibliography.
• Colon ( : )
• Introduces a list.
• She lived in four cities: New York, San
Francisco, New Orleans, and San Antonio.
• No colon after “to-be” verbs.
• Accent Marks
• Place over a letter as an aid in
pronunciation.
• Use Keyboard Command to form accent
marks.
• résumé, ça va sans dire, cañon, à la carte,
raison d’être, fiancé, fiancée, Hüber, René,
Renée (note accent mark on penultimate
“e.”
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Other punctuation
Use Keyboard Commands
Spanish question mark: ¿
Spanish exclamation point: ¡
Copyright: ©
Trademark: ™
Registered: ®
• Jr. . . . Sr. . . . II . . . III
• It is the first name―not the last
name―that carries the designation. The
correct listing:
• Smith, Bobby Joe, Jr.
• Not
• Smith, Jr., Bobby Joe
• Books on Punctuation
• Grammar book
• Collegiate dictionary; contains grammar
rules
• APA Publication Manual
• Media Writer’s Handbook: A Guide to
Common Writing and Editing problems, by
George T. Arnold.
• Gregg’s Reference Manual
• Questions on Punctuation?