Question

Why do people sometimes put a bracket [ ] in the first letter of the first word in a citation? What is the meaning of that bracket and why do they put it like? e.g. Scholars have recognized that "[C]artography was an important tool of imperial expansion and technology of abstraction".

I see it at Wikipedia articles as well more than often, in all the quotes and citations.

Answer 1

The brackets go around something that has been changed.

Example:
Original sentence: "Dogs make great pets."
Your sentence: Veterinarian Mark Smith believes that "[d]ogs make great pets."

The word "dogs" was capitalized, and you changed it to lowercase to fit your sentence. Therefore, you need brackets to show that you changed it.

Answer 2

Thanks peeps.

Answer 3

;)