• 2-minute read
• 24th July 2014

The Word ‘Sic’ and How to Use it in Academic Writing

If a quotation in your essay contains an error which you want to leave in, you should always follow it with the Latin word ‘sic’. ‘Sic’, meaning ‘thus’, comes from the Latin phrase ‘sic eras scriptum’ meaning ‘thus it was written’.

This demonstrates that you have reproduced the quotation exactly as it was originally written without correcting it. It also shows that your own writing is up to scratch and you haven’t made an error.

When to Use ‘Sic’

If possible, minor errors in quotations should be corrected and the corrections enclosed within square brackets. For example, you might change ‘Their is nothing left to be done’ to ‘[There] is nothing left to be done’.

‘[Sic]’ is to be used when you wish to reproduce a quotation verbatim. Situations when it would be appropriate to retain the error rather than correcting it within square brackets include:

• Archaic spellings, e.g. ‘happyness’ instead of ‘happiness’
• Unusual spellings of a common name, e.g. ‘Kristoffer’ instead of ‘Christopher’
• Whenever you feel you should be faithful to the original text

It is considered bad form to use ‘[sic]’ simply to highlight the minor spelling mistakes or poor grammar of the writer you are quoting. Inappropriate or overzealous use of ‘[sic]’ is something journalists sometimes do to imply a lack of intelligence, particularly when quoting social media!

How to Use ‘Sic’

It should be enclosed within square brackets and, as it is a word not an abbreviation, should not be followed by a full stop. It should be placed directly after the offending word or error rather than at the end of the sentence. For example,

It was Kristoffer’s [sic] belief that…

If there are multiple errors in a sentence, ‘[sic]’ can be placed at the end.

Most Latin expressions used in writing are italicised, but ‘sic’ doesn’t have to be. Different institutions have different rules about this, so it’s a good idea to check your style guide. One thing to bear in mind is that the square brackets are never italicised.