english overviews

Quoting sources well can make your document more persuasive. When you use credible sources to support your claims, your audience is more likely to find your ideas trustworthy and relevant. As a result, they are more like to act when you call them to action. The following techniques will help you incorporate quotes responsibly and seamlessly into your writing.

1. Before summarizing or inserting a quote, introduce your source. If it is an individual, you should include relevant, distinguishing information such as a job title, educational credentials, organizational affiliations, awards, knowledge of the topic, etc. If the source is a group or organization, provide a brief descriptor if your reader is unlikely to be familiar with the organization. Such information is an important ingredient of the “top slice” of a “quotation sandwich.” Example 1: When discussing the hospital’s commitment to serve the uninsured, Robert Earley, JPS’s Chief Executive Officer, says, “we don’t ask any questions when people come into the emergency room.” Example 2: According to Washington Monthly, a nonprofit publication that provides annual rankings of hospitals, JPS hospital in Fort Worth is the best in the country for its commitment to “equity, inclusion, and community health.”

2. Always include a follow-up to paraphrased or quoted material that indicates why this information is significant, what it means to your argument, or how it contributes to the larger topic you are addressing in your document. This provides the “bottom slice” of a “quotation sandwich.”

3. When you introduce an individual as a source, refer to them by first and last name. If you refer to this source more than once, use only their last name on subsequent references. You do not need a parenthetical citation with the author’s last name if you have introduced them by name before quoting. You may include a parenthetical citation for page numbers if you are quoting from a multi-page document.

4. When directly quoting, use only as much of the quote as you need to make your point. Avoid long quotes unless it is necessary.

file:///C:/Users/bipin/Downloads/Incorporating%20sources-1.pdf