A question of quotation marks...

[javasaurus]

If you end a written question with a quoted word or phrase, do you put the question mark before or after the quotation marks? If the question mark is part of the quoted material, it goes before the marks, otherwise it goes after. The same rule applies to exclamation points. However, with periods and commas, the mark *always* goes before the quotation marks. I don't know why, and I believe the rule is different (and more sensible) in England, but that's the rule for America. Who makes these rules, anyway?

Now for my question: I'm coauthor on a paper that will be published soon. We just got the proofs from the journal, and they put a period after the quotation marks. Should I correct it, or let it slide, hoping that this little "error" will help propogate change in American grammar?

Comments

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

as for "Who makes up these rules?" - that's the great unknown. the reality is that there were mixed standards, just like for spelling, for decades. finally, some newspaper decided to not only clean it up for their own writing, but to actually publish what they chose to use since they get so many submissions from non-employees.

I believe the Chicago Tribune set the current style, if my memory recalls this conversation from some 16 years ago.

However, I just looked up "ACS Style", and what came up was Oxford U Press, which did the outside-the-quotes version. :)

Actually, here's an ACS summary:

4. Placement of punctuation with quoted material. ACS style differs from some standard English practices concerning the placement of punctuation around quotation marks.

a. When introducing a quotation that is a complete sentence, do not place a comma before the opening quotation mark and do place the period inside the closing quotation mark if the quote ends the sentence.

The Nobel Prize-winning physicist Isidor Rabi said “If you decide you don’t have to get As, you can learn a lot in college.”

b. If a punctuation mark is not part of the quoted material, do not place the punctuation within the closing quotation mark.
The manufacturing process the scientist invented was “new”.

I would note that in addition to that, the count of commas involved in a list is also subject to variation.

a, b and c

vs

a, b, and c

or the "oxford trailer":

a, b, and c,

I perfer the middle. leaving a comma out can presume that two items are associated, as in

a and (b and c)

which while mathematically is irrelevant, in english it can be deceptive in its connotation.

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

Ah, so ACS is British, which explains the ". instead of ."

As for the commas, I'm a strong believer in a, b, and c. Why? Cheese, ham, peanut butter and banana and tuna are great sandwiches!

Thanks for the link to the ACS page. It's now in my "favorites" folder.

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

Actually, it's "American Chemical Society" so it might be American after all, but certainly meant to follow some degree of international standards.

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

I didn't mean that ACS itself is British, but rather ACS Style. I misunderstood your reference to Oxford U Press, thinking you meant that ACS followed Oxford style. I'm more awake today.

I also found the ACS Style Guide in our library, and it states
Location of quotation marks is a style point in which ACS differs from other authorities. IN 1978, ACS questioned the traditional practice and reommended a deviation: logical placement. Thus if punctuation is part of the quotation, then it should be within the quotation marks; if the punctuation is not part of the quotation, the writer should not mislead the reader by implying that it is.

So now we know why most American styles have the period within the quotes. It's so Americans can mislead their readers!