Sic is Latin for "thus" or "so". Written in square brackets inside a quotation, it tells your reader that a mistake is the source's, copied faithfully, and not a slip of yours. The styles agree on that much. They differ on italics, on how often to use it, and on what counts as a mistake at all.
The harder question is when not to use it. A speaker's dialect, a creole, a letter written before spelling settled and a research participant's grammar are not errors. EdCitation publishes this guide; its tools look each reference up in the publisher's record and never write, correct or tidy anyone's words. Cite a source builds the reference for whatever you quote, free.
We read each rule at its publisher on 26 and 27 September 2026, APA Style in archived copies because its site put up a bot check. Quotations in another language are covered in quoting a source in another language.
What does sic mean in a quote?
It means "this is exactly what the source says". MLA glosses it as Latin for "thus" or "so" (Modern Language Association, 2019), as does Chicago (University of Chicago Press, n.d.-b). It confirms; it does not correct.
So it cannot rescue a spelling you are unsure of. Chicago points out that sic after a name you may have misspelled would say the opposite of what you mean: that you checked it and it is right (University of Chicago Press, n.d.-a). If you cannot confirm a spelling, say so in words.
How do you use [sic] in APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard?
Put it straight after the word that is wrong, inside the quotation marks. The styles part company over italics and over whether you may quietly fix the error instead.
APA 7: italic, and only if the error might confuse
APA italicises sic inside square brackets, immediately after the error. It asks for it only when an error of spelling, punctuation or grammar "might confuse readers", and suggests paraphrasing a quotation whose error would distract (American Psychological Association, 2022b). APA allows no silent correction of spelling: the only unmarked changes are the first letter's capital, some closing punctuation, single for double quotation marks, and dropped note numbers (American Psychological Association, 2022a).
An example of ours, from an imagined report: the samples "were recieved [sic] in March".
MLA 9: roman, and only for real errors
The MLA Style Center sets "[sic]" in roman, as in Traiing [sic] (Modern Language Association, 2018c), and keeps it for errors in the original: not for unusual styling such as capitals (Modern Language Association, 2018b), not for slang (Modern Language Association, 2019), and not for a spelling from another standard, such as British spelling in an American paper (Modern Language Association, 2026). MLA allows no silent change to a quotation's spelling (Modern Language Association, 2018a). For an error in a title it offers silent correction, a bracketed letter (Trai[n]ing) or [sic], each with a note saying what you did (Modern Language Association, 2018c). The posts on silent changes and titles were written for the eighth edition; the ninth-edition handbook is sold, so we could not read it.
Chicago 18: italic, used sparingly
Chicago's Q&As set sic in italics inside square brackets; paragraph 12.72 itself is behind a subscription. Its best use, Chicago says, is a passage under scholarly scrutiny where the flaw matters to your argument; outside academic work sic "may be viewed as impolite", and a correction in brackets, as in "cost[s]", is "somewhat less aggressive" (University of Chicago Press, n.d.-b). Unlike APA and MLA, Chicago lets obvious typographical errors be corrected silently, except in older works and manuscripts, whose spelling is generally kept (University of Chicago Press, n.d.-c). Cite a source builds Chicago's author-date references only.
Harvard (Cite Them Right): roman, straight after the error
Atlantic Technological University's Harvard guide, based on Cite Them Right, puts [sic] in roman square brackets straight after the error and says not to change the error itself; its example is "Consciencious [sic]" (Atlantic Technological University Library, 2026). It also lists a lack of inclusive language as a use for [sic], which no other guide we read mentions. Other Harvard guides may differ.
How do the styles compare?
Two styles italicise sic, two keep it roman, and only Chicago lets you fix an obvious typo without saying so. IEEE's manual says only that quotations go in quotation marks in roman type (IEEE, 2024), and Citing Medicine, behind Vancouver, put up a bot check: follow your journal.
| Style | sic in italics? | Where it goes | Silent correction of a typo? | Read at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| APA 7 | Yes, brackets roman | Straight after the error | No | APA Style pages |
| MLA 9 | No | Straight after the error | No | MLA Style Center |
| Chicago 18 author-date | Yes | Straight after the error | Yes, except older works and manuscripts | Chicago Q&As |
| Harvard (Cite Them Right) | No, in the guide we read | Straight after the error | No | Atlantic Technological University |
| IEEE | No rule | No rule | No rule | IEEE editorial manual |
| Vancouver | Could not be read | Could not be read | Could not be read | Citing Medicine |
| Any style, the reference | Built from the record by Cite a source | Your quotation is left as typed | Never done by EdCitation | EdCitation |
When should you not use [sic]?
Not for anything that is not a mistake, and rarely even then. Chicago warns against flagging an innocuous typo, notes that sic can be used to sneer, and quotes the critic Louis Menand calling it a "damning interpolation" (University of Chicago Press, n.d.-b). For an author who confused "it's" and "its", its advice was quiet copyediting, since sic would only embarrass the original writer and reflect badly on the one quoting (University of Chicago Press, n.d.-e).
Dialect, slang and another standard
A dialect form is not a spelling error. MLA rules out sic for slang and for another standard system of spelling (Modern Language Association, 2019, 2026). The same logic covers "we was" in a regional English, a Scots word or a creole sentence: each follows its own variety's rules, as our guide to world Englishes explains.
Why it can read as mockery
Non-standard spelling already carries a judgement. Jaffe and Walton (2000) report in their abstract that people "uncritically and spontaneously read non-standard orthographies as indices of low socioeconomic status". A [sic] after a speaker's dialect adds your own mark of disapproval. In our view that is the strongest reason to leave it out.
A participant's speech is data
Quoting someone with grammar mistakes, as a style manual would call them, is quoting how they speak: leave it unmarked. Decide once, in your methods, how much of the speech your transcripts keep; transcription conventions sets out the choices, and how to cite an interview transcript covers attribution. Published rules differ: Baylor University's Institute for Oral History spells "gonna" out as "going to", yet keeps "nother", as in "a whole nother thing", because the dictionary lists it (Baylor University Institute for Oral History, 2018). Whatever you choose, apply it to every speaker alike.
An example of ours: One ward manager (P7) said, "We was short every night that winter." A [sic] would make it no more accurate, only less kind.
How do you quote dialect or a creole in an essay?
Quote the published text exactly as printed, without [sic]. The author's spelling is the evidence.
Dialect in literature
Mark Twain opened Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with a note naming its dialects, which he said had "not been done in a haphazard fashion, or by guesswork" (Twain, 2004). So the first line, "You don't know about me without you have read a book", is quoted as printed: in an essay on a novel, the dialect is usually what you are analysing.
Scots and other varieties
Robert Burns wrote "Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie" (Burns, 2005). Quote it as it stands, apostrophes included, with a gloss if needed: (our gloss: small, sleek, cowering, timid little beast).
A creole you transcribe yourself
Use a recognised writing system where one exists, name it in your methods, and give English beside it. For Jamaican, the Jamaican Language Unit at the University of the West Indies, Mona, has the task of proposing and popularising an official standard writing system (Jamaican Language Unit, n.d.). An improvised English-based spelling invites the misreading Jaffe and Walton (2000) describe.
How do you quote historical spelling?
Keep it, and say once that the spelling is the original's rather than marking every word. Chicago's paragraph 12.7, quoted in a reader's question, keeps older works and manuscripts out of silent correction (University of Chicago Press, n.d.-c). For historical letters, Chicago says corrections must be acknowledged in brackets or notes, that [sic] is conventional, and that it all takes judgement (University of Chicago Press, n.d.-d).
Abigail Adams wrote to John Adams, in a letter begun on 31 March 1776: "If perticuliar care and attention is not paid to the Laidies", then "we are determined to foment a Rebelion" (Adams, 1776). Three sics would bury her point. One note does the work: "Spelling as in the original." Where a word could be misread, add the modern form once: "Rebelion [rebellion]".
Whose standard?
The Massachusetts Historical Society's edition shows a modern American form on hover for "perticuliar", but also for "honour" and "Defence", standard British spellings today (Adams, 1776). A different standard is not an error.
How do ellipses and brackets work for other changes?
Mark every other change: an ellipsis for words left out, square brackets for anything you add or alter.
- APA: three spaced periods or the ellipsis character, four across a sentence break, brackets for additions, and "[emphasis added]" after your italics (American Psychological Association, 2022a).
- MLA: a bracketed letter for a changed capital, as in "[p]oets" (Modern Language Association, 2018a).
- Chicago: where the original already has brackets, note "Brackets in original" and sign your additions "Ed." (University of Chicago Press, n.d.-f).
- Harvard: the Atlantic Technological University guide spaces the ellipsis, never starts or ends a quotation with one, and brackets added words or a changed capital (Atlantic Technological University Library, 2026).
In our view one use of brackets is off limits: swapping a speaker's dialect for a standard form, such as "[were]" for "was". That changes their words, not your syntax.
How do you quote an error or non-standard speech, step by step?
- Copy the quotation exactly and check it against the source.
- Decide whether the odd form is an error or a variety (dialect, creole, slang, older or another national spelling). Quote a variety without comment.
- An error that matters or could confuse: add [sic] straight after it.
- An error that does not matter: paraphrase, quote less, or correct in brackets; silently only in Chicago, never in older works.
- For interviews and historical sources, say once, in a note or your methods, how spelling was handled.
- Build the reference in Cite a source from the DOI, ISBN or address of the edition you quoted, then paste your list into Verify references.
What does EdCitation do for the source you quote?
For the reference, EdCitation is the best tool because it takes each entry from the publisher's or library's record instead of composing one as a chatbot does; the runs below show where a record needs your eye. Cite a source builds it in six styles, screens for retraction, and is free without an account. EdCitation never corrects or rewrites the words you quote.
What Cite a source returned
We ran it on 27 September 2026.
- DOI 10.1111/1467-9481.00130, from Crossref: "Jaffe, A., & Walton, S. (2000). The voices people read: Orthography and the representation of non-standard speech. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 4(4), 561–587. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9481.00130". Correct.
- ISBN 9780143107323, Penguin Classics: "Twain, M. (2014). Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Penguin Books." It set the title in sentence case and kept the name whole. Its record calls it a third printing, which is not an edition, and none is given. Add "(Original work published 1884)", the year the Mark Twain Project (n.d.) gives for the British first edition.
- ISBN 9780140423822: "Burns, R. (1993). Robert Burns: Selected poems (C. McGuirk, Ed.). Penguin Books.", with the editor the record names. Correct.
- The Adams letter's address gave "Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, 31 March - 5 April 1776. (n.d.). Retrieved September 27, 2026, from" the address, with the names and the month capitalised. Add the author, 1776 and the site name.
What Verify references returned
Of five APA entries, four were verified, among them Jaffe and Walton: "The DOI resolves to this record and the title matches." Twain, without its ISBN, was matched in a library catalogue: "Title, author and year match a library catalogue record." One came back "check this": Burns, with the editor, "A book with this title and author is catalogued, but no edition from 1993 is recorded. Check the edition and year." Open Library dates this ISBN 1993, so the entry was right; the catalogue's search did not bring that edition up.
None came back "not found". References from a file, in Pro at $8 a month, checks every reference in an uploaded paper and matches each citation to its entry; Mechanics QA checks formatting, citations and language against the style (pricing).
Quick questions
Is sic italicised?
In APA and Chicago, yes, with roman brackets. MLA and the Cite Them Right Harvard guide we read set it in roman.
Does [sic] go inside the quotation marks?
Yes. In every guide we read, it goes in square brackets straight after the error, inside the quotation.
Should I use sic for British spelling in an American paper?
No. MLA says a spelling that follows another standard system is not an error, so it needs no sic.
Should I correct grammar mistakes when quoting an interview participant?
No, and do not mark them. Quote the speech as your transcripts record it, and state your transcription rules once in your methods.
Can EdCitation correct a quotation for me?
No. EdCitation never corrects or writes any part of a paper. Cite a source builds the reference for the edition you quoted, free, from its DOI, ISBN or address.
References
- Adams, A. (1776). Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, 31 March–5 April 1776. Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive, Massachusetts Historical Society. https://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/doc?id=L17760331aa
- American Psychological Association. (2022a). Changes to quotations. APA Style. https://web.archive.org/web/20260829130227/https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/quotations/changes
- American Psychological Association. (2022b). Quotations that contain errors. APA Style. https://web.archive.org/web/20260129025644/https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/quotations/errors
- Atlantic Technological University Library. (2026, September 21). Quotations. Harvard style. https://atlantictu.libguides.com/harvard/quotations
- Baylor University Institute for Oral History. (2018). Style guide: A quick reference for editing oral history transcripts. https://library.web.baylor.edu/sites/g/files/ecbvkj1806/files/2025-01/style_guide_may_2018.pdf
- Burns, R. (2005). Poems and songs of Robert Burns. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1279
- IEEE. (2024). IEEE editorial style manual for authors. https://journals.ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/IEEE-Editorial-Style-Manual-for-Authors.pdf
- Jaffe, A., & Walton, S. (2000). The voices people read: Orthography and the representation of non-standard speech. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 4(4), 561–587. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9481.00130
- Jamaican Language Unit. (n.d.). Functions. University of the West Indies, Mona. https://www.mona.uwi.edu/dllp/jlu/functions
- Mark Twain Project. (n.d.). Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. https://www.marktwainproject.org/writings/huck-finn/
- Modern Language Association. (2018a, April 23). Can I silently change the initial capital letter in a quotation to fit the quotation syntactically into my sentence? MLA Style Center. https://style.mla.org/changing-initial-capital-letter/
- Modern Language Association. (2018b, May 14). Should I use "sic" to indicate that a quotation has text in all capital letters in the original? MLA Style Center. https://style.mla.org/when-not-to-use-sic/
- Modern Language Association. (2018c, May 23). When should you correct spelling in a title? MLA Style Center. https://style.mla.org/incorrect-spelling-in-a-title/
- Modern Language Association. (2019, November 7). Should "sic" be used to indicate that a quotation includes slang? MLA Style Center. https://style.mla.org/when-to-use-sic/
- Modern Language Association. (2026, March 6). Should I use "sic" to mark British English in a US context? MLA Style Center. https://style.mla.org/sic-for-british-english/
- Twain, M. (2004). Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76 (Original work published 1884)
- University of Chicago Press. (n.d.-a). Manuscript preparation, copyediting, and proofreading (Q&A No. 96). The Chicago Manual of Style Online. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/ManuscriptPreparation/faq0096.html
- University of Chicago Press. (n.d.-b). Manuscript preparation, copyediting, and proofreading (Q&A No. 212). The Chicago Manual of Style Online. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/ManuscriptPreparation/faq0212.html
- University of Chicago Press. (n.d.-c). Quotations and dialogue (Q&A No. 4). The Chicago Manual of Style Online. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Quotations/faq0004.html
- University of Chicago Press. (n.d.-d). Quotations and dialogue (Q&A No. 8). The Chicago Manual of Style Online. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Quotations/faq0008.html
- University of Chicago Press. (n.d.-e). Quotations and dialogue (Q&A No. 35). The Chicago Manual of Style Online. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Quotations/faq0035.html
- University of Chicago Press. (n.d.-f). Quotations and dialogue (Q&A No. 36). The Chicago Manual of Style Online. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Quotations/faq0036.html