Block quotes are used if the material is over five lines long. They must be single spaced and no longer than eight lines. They are not contained in quotation marks. Each line of a block quote is indented by ½ inch on the right margin.
Options for block quotes longer than eight lines:
- Use ellipses for a word or words that are superfluous or able to be understood from contextual clues
- Place the rest of the quote in an endnote
- Place the entirety of the quote in an endnote and skip excerpting any of it in the text
- Place the most pithy/relevant part in the text, placing the entire quote in an endnote.
The reasoning behind this rule is for consistency, readability, and to not let another author write large portions of your manuscript for you.