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I'm using IEEE citation and the title of the work I am trying to cite has punctuation at the end. I'm unsure how to proceed because part of the citation includes putting a period at the end of the title.

For example, I am citing this webpage and am not sure if the title should appear with a question mark and period when I cite it.

Editor. “What is a Hypervisor?.” Internet: ....

Editor. “What is a Hypervisor?”. Internet: ....

Editor. “What is a Hypervisor?” Internet: ....

Also, I've seen others claiming to use the same style of citation but having the period appear after the closing quote. Is there some flexibility in citation or are people really supposed to follow it exactly?

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Celeritas
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  • Yes, people really are supposed to follow it exactly until advised otherwise by their editor. The correct usage is "What is a Hypervisor?" with a question mark inside the quotes, and the final period at the end of the sentence, as a full stop, like this. – Pieter Geerkens Sep 05 '13 at 02:18
  • Thanks. What do you mean by the final period being at the end of the sentence? What sentence do you refer to? – Celeritas Sep 05 '13 at 02:57
  • Your sentence; the one that you are composing. The only punctuation inside the quotes is the punctuation from the statement (or question) written by the quoted author. – Pieter Geerkens Sep 05 '13 at 03:06
  • @PieterGeerkens Note that the question is about citations and not quotations. For example, from the style guide: G. Pevere. “Infrared Nation.” The International Journal of Infrared Design, vol. 33, pp. 56-99, Jan. 1979. Celeritas is asking what to do if the title here (Infrared Nation) ended with a punctuation mark other than a period. – Bradd Szonye Sep 05 '13 at 05:04
  • @Celeritas I've added a couple of examples and changed the formatting to help highlight the root of your question as I understand it. Please feel free to fix it if I've gotten it wrong. – Bradd Szonye Sep 05 '13 at 05:16
  • "I'm using IEEE citation and the title of the work cited has a period at the end." This needs clarifying to either "I'm using IEEE citation, and the title of any work cited is to be punctuated with a period at the end, according to this guide." or "I'm using IEEE citation and looking specifically at titles of work cited which contain a period at the end in the original." The example 'J.E. Bourne. “Synthetic structure of industrial plastics,” in Plastics, 2nd ed., vol. 3. J. ...' (where, incidentally, there was almost certainly no comma in the original) rules out the first reading. – Edwin Ashworth Sep 05 '13 at 06:20
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    That particular style guide seems inconsistent in its examples, using full-stops inside and outside the quotes, commas and italics. I'm not sure of the purpose of putting a full-stop inside quotes (which serve to define the title) when the title probably didn't have one at all. – Andrew Leach Sep 05 '13 at 07:20
  • @Pieter Geerkens You don't address the possibility of the sentence ending with the citation - whether to double-punctuate (__?”.) or whether the cited question mark may be used (not very logically) to fulfil a dual function. – Edwin Ashworth Sep 05 '13 at 07:45
  • I was just told to use IEEE citation style. If there is a more authoritative source than linked to please share. – Celeritas Sep 05 '13 at 07:49
  • @Andrew I noticed that about the inconsistent punctuation too. In the case of period-quote order, I presume that the inconsistencies are typos, as the predominant style is American, and the IEEE is an American publisher. – Bradd Szonye Sep 05 '13 at 09:39
  • possible duplicate of How should I punctuate around quotes? – TrevorD Sep 05 '13 at 11:37
  • Also related: Where does the period go in an MLA in-text citation?, In text Citation. – TrevorD Sep 05 '13 at 11:39
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    @TrevorD I don't think that's a duplicate, as the relevant part of the question and answer specifically addresses a different style guide (Chicago) with potentially very different rules than IEEE. It's somewhat informative in that they do double up punctuation with titles, but the example in the IEEE summary doesn't. – Bradd Szonye Sep 05 '13 at 20:47
  • @BraddSzonye If the Q. effectively relates to how to interpret a specific Style Guide for a specific example, it's surely OT as too localised (or whatever that's called now)? – TrevorD Sep 05 '13 at 21:59
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    @TrevorD It's a class of examples for a specific style guide, which I don't see as a problem. Plus, I think “too localized” was dropped entirely, not just renamed. – Bradd Szonye Sep 05 '13 at 22:15

1 Answers1

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The style guide includes an example of a title with a question mark:

E-mail
Author. Subject line of posting. Personal E-mail (date).
Example:
J. Aston. “RE: new location, okay?” Personal e-mail (Jul. 3, 2003).

Based on this, I infer that you only add the period if the title does not already end with a punctuation mark of its own.

As for placing periods outside of the quotation marks: In the absence of another rule, you should follow the style guide exactly. However, because this guide only covers citations, it's likely to use it in conjunction with another style guide, which may include a rule specifically covering punctuation in quotation marks.

Bradd Szonye
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