Check a quotation's error against the source before marking it in APA
Distinguish a source error from a transcription mistake in an APA quotation, using an original fictional worked example.
About 4 min read · Allow extra time for the practical checks
Return to the source before adding a marker to an apparent error in a quotation. If you copied a word incorrectly, correct your transcription. If the error is present in the source, follow the required quotation convention instead of silently rewriting it. Those are different problems, even when they produce the same awkward sentence in your draft.
This guide uses APA Style’s seventh-edition guidance, checked on 3 November 2026. Follow the style and source requirements for your actual assignment or publication; other styles and specialist transcription tasks may handle original wording differently.
Compare the quotation with the version you are citing
Open the passage and its surrounding context. Check the wording, spelling and interior punctuation against the quotation in your paper. Use the source version you actually cite, not an edited note, an unverified search snippet or a different edition that happens to be easier to locate.
APA’s guidance on quotations containing errors says that quotations should match the original wording, spelling and interior punctuation, subject to its permitted changes. When a source error might confuse readers, it uses the italicized word sic inside square brackets immediately after the error. It also suggests considering paraphrase when an erroneous quotation would distract.
An unfamiliar spelling or unusual expression is not automatically an error. Check the context and the convention governing your work before drawing attention to it. The purpose of a marker is to clarify the quotation’s relationship to its source.
Test an original fictional passage
The notice and wording below are invented teaching material. They are not evidence about an actual printing event or a quotation from a published author.
Suppose a fictional notice reads:
The two labels was printed from the same file.
Your paragraph needs the exact wording for an analysis of the notice. After checking that the source really contains was, an APA quotation fragment could read:
“The two labels was [sic] printed from the same file.”
Only sic is italicized here; it is enclosed in square brackets and placed immediately after the source error. The marker tells the reader that you have preserved that wording. This fragment demonstrates the treatment of an error, not a complete source citation.
Now suppose instead that the notice actually reads “The two labels were printed from the same file,” but your notes contain was. The problem is your transcription. Copy were accurately into the quotation; adding [sic] would wrongly attribute your mistake to the source.
| What the check reveals in this fictional exercise | Appropriate next step |
|---|---|
| The source has were but the draft has was | Correct the draft’s transcription |
| The source has was and the exact wording matters | Preserve the wording and use the applicable APA marker if confusion warrants it |
| The source has was but only the underlying statement matters | Consider an accurate paraphrase with attribution |
| The source version remains uncertain | Resolve the version or report the uncertainty before presenting the quotation as verified |
Decide whether you need the exact words
In the fictional exercise, a paraphrase could say that the notice reports that both labels were printed from one file. That avoids reproducing the grammatical problem while preserving the notice’s statement. It remains an account of what the fictional notice says, not independent proof of how the labels were produced.
Retain quotation when the precise wording does work your analysis needs. If you are examining the notice’s grammar, silently repairing the verb would remove the very feature under discussion. If your paragraph concerns only the reported relationship between the labels and file, a careful paraphrase may be clearer.
Whichever form you use in real work, provide the required citation. Neither a marker nor a paraphrase removes the need to identify the source.
Keep quotation changes distinguishable
APA’s changes-to-quotations guidance permits some limited changes without explanation, such as adjusting the opening letter’s case to fit a sentence. That does not create general permission to polish the source’s grammar. Check the actual rule for the change you intend rather than treating all corrections alike.
The quotation-integration guide helps decide what an exact passage contributes to your argument. If you need to omit material, the APA quotation-shortening guide addresses that separate task.
Before submission, compare the final quotation with the source once more. Confirm that any marker belongs to an error actually present there, that your own transcription is accurate and that the surrounding explanation does not claim more than the passage establishes.
