AGLC4 Rule 1.5.3: Ellipses
Omitted words are shown by an ellipsis with a space on each side, except that no space separates a final ellipsis from a footnote number. Punctuation closing a complete sentence before the omission is kept, a full stop never follows an ellipsis, and a quotation never opens with an ellipsis. A block quotation that does not end with proper punctuation ends with an ellipsis followed directly by the footnote number.
AGLC4 page 18
Formatting
- Use the single ellipsis character with one space before and one space after it.
- No space between a closing ellipsis and the footnote number.
- When a complete sentence precedes the omission, keep its full stop, then a space, then the ellipsis.
- Never place a full stop after an ellipsis.
- Never begin a quotation with an ellipsis.
- A block quotation ending mid sentence finishes with an ellipsis in place of (or as well as) closing punctuation.
In the text
In applying Sullivan, his Honour considered that the High Court had
emphasised … that foreseeability of harm to the fathers was not sufficient to ground a duty of care. … Sullivan v Moody is not on all fours with the present case because it involved a statutorily imposed duty … Notwithstanding this difference, in my view Sullivan v Moody gives guidance …112 [Not: … imposed duty … . Notwithstanding …]
In Australian Capital Television, McHugh J noted:
If the institutions of representative and responsible government are to operate effectively … the business of government must be examinable and the subject of scrutiny, debate and ultimate accountability at the ballot box. The electors must be able to ascertain and examine the performances of their elected representatives …114
Not
Quoted from the Guide, page 18- … imposed duty … . Notwithstanding …a full stop has been placed after the ellipsis
See also
Check your footnotes against these rules
Paste your paper into the free AGLC4 checker and each footnote is graded against the Guide, with the rule it breaks. To write a citation from scratch, use the AGLC4 citation generator.
Formats, examples, passages, tables and the forms marked Not are quoted from the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (4th ed, Melbourne University Law Review Association, 2018), with the page of the Guide they appear on. Titles, summaries and explanations are our own.