Attribution Line

An attribution line is the short credit that follows a displayed quotation: a name, and usually a work, sometimes a date. It is typographically distinct from the quotation — smaller, often right-aligned, frequently introduced by an em dash.

Conventions differ by context. Chicago sets the source of an epigraph flush right without a dash; journalism and design practice commonly use '— Name, Source'. Whichever you choose, apply it identically to every attribution in the document.

The line is not a citation. It gives the reader a name to recognise; a full citation, if the work needs one, belongs in a note or reference list. Mixing the two produces a credit line cluttered with page numbers and publishers.

Common mistake: an em dash followed by a name with no work at all in scholarly or reference writing. If the reader cannot locate the quotation from what you supply, add a note — the dash is a courtesy, not a source.