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APA – Citing Sources

Changes to quotations

If you quote something but want to omit parts of the original text, use exclusion marks (ellipses) which consist of three periods with spaces between each  (. . .). Use a space between the last letter and the exclusion characters. If you exclude text between two sentences in the quote, use four periods (. ...) where one of the periods indicates a sentence break.

Example:

  • "At coronations and religious ceremonies at the royal court . . .  the crown, sceptre, orb and key are placed on a special regalia table to highlight the importance of the event" (Royal Court, n.d., Regal symbols).

Read more about changes to quotations on APA Style: Changes to quotations