Does the Period Go Inside or Outside the Final Quotation Mark?

 

Place periods and commas inside the final quotation mark.  For example:

            Wrong:   He said, “Mary went to court”.

            Correct:  He said, “Mary went to court.”

But, what about semicolons, questions marks, and exclamation points?  Punctuation other than periods and commas can vary in whether it goes inside or outside the final quotation mark.  Placement depends on whether the punctuation is part of the original text, as follows:

            Wrong:    The taxpayer questioned, “What is the FBAR”?

            Wrong:    The taxpayer questioned, “What is the FBAR?”.

            Correct:   The taxpayer questioned, “What is the FBAR?”

Why is the second example wrong?  It’s wrong because the period goes inside the quotation mark.  However, if you move the period inside the final quotation mark, it then directly follows the question mark creating double punctuation, (“What is the FBAR?.”). 

See Rule 5.1(b)(iv) of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation 69 (18th ed. 2005).

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