Writing Resources

Integrating Quotations From Outside Sources

Identify the author’s credentials by looking in the front or back of your source or by Googling the author.

When introducing the source, include:

  • The title of the book or article.
  • The name of the author and his or her credentials, if known.
  • A brief summary of what you will be quoting, followed by a colon.

After you quote the source, rephrase what it says in your own words. If necessary, you can offer further clarification through examples or by expanding on your initial explanation of what the quotation means.

Example:

  • Book title: Case Studies in Biomedical Ethics
  • Author: Robert M. Veatch
  • Credentials: Professor of Medical Ethics at Georgetown University

Summary of quotation: I will be quoting Veatch’s explanation of duty-based ethics and will explain that it focuses on the means rather than the ends.

Putting it all together:

In Case Studies in Biomedical Ethics, Georgetown University Professor of Medical Ethics Robert Veatch explains that duty-based ethics focuses on the means rather than the ends: “Rightness and wrongness are inherent in the act itself, independent of the consequences” (9). In other words, an act is either right or wrong regardless of the outcome so that the ends can never justify the means. For example ...