Referencing and using sources - Quoting, paraphrasing, summarising - Acceptable changes to the original wording

See this example properly formatted in the QUT Cite tool.

If the original source has a grammar or spelling mistake that might be confusing, you should copy the mistake and add [sic] after the mistake. Note that [sic] must be in italics and in square brackets.

However, there are three situations where it is acceptable to change the original words slightly:

  1. You can change the capitalisation of the letter of the first word of the quotation to fit the flow of your sentence. In the example below, the 'A' of 'As' has been changed to a lower case 'a':
    Harris (2005, p. 35) says "as you work on your paper visit your instructor to ask for input".
  2. You can add words in square brackets [ ] to make the meaning of the quote clearer to the reader:
    "Government [Queensland State] is concerned about the cost of water" (Courier Mail, 2007, p. 1).
  3. You can use an ellipsis (…) to show that you are leaving words out:
    "There is one exception to the rule of citing outside information. Common knowledge does not need to be cited … whatever an educated person would be expected to know or could locate in an ordinary encyclopedia" (Harris, 2005, p. 17).