In a professional email you need to quote something from a business document. How do you write this?
This is in a professional email.
I'm quoting from a business document that was sent to the person that I'm writing the email to. I need to clarify something, and to do so I need to quote from a section in the document. The document and the section have names.
Is it okay to put it like this?
In (the name of the document)'s (the name of the section) it is said, "XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX."
I looked for examples but I can't find any that's worded the same. Or, is there a better way to write this?
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3 answers
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Cite it exactly like you would a source for which you have a full name, except the name is "Anonymous."
"XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX." (Anonymous, 2019)
If it comes from a published work that has no author, you can use the name of the work in lieu of the author's name.
Both APA and MLA use both of the above methods.
Instead of "Anonymous" you can use "Unknown" or "Unknown Author" or "Source unknown." Etc.
If you don't know the exact date, don't make one up. But you might know the general time period. Or the location and other details. For example:
- Unknown author, 17th century Kenya.
- Traditional Italian folk tale.
- Graffiti, London, 1960's.
- Anonymous saying.
The poster has since clarified:
I'm quoting from a document that was sent to the person that I'm writing the email to. I need to clarify something, and to do so I need to quote from a section in the document. The document and the section have names, but the creator of the document is unknown.
In this specific case, I would suggest one of the following:
- (Section) in (document) states: "XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX."
- As described in the (section) of (document), "XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX."
- "XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX." ((document))
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According to APA 6th Edition Citation Style,
When a work’s author is designated as “Anonymous,” cite in text the word Anonymous followed by a comma and the date: (Anonymous, 2010)
If, instead, you're citing a newspaper article, journal article, or website with no author, give the article title and date of publication (if date is available).
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In a professional email the document title (and perhaps the date when it was shared) is a sufficient reference.
I am assuming that the document was either shared by email, or given in a meeting, and that it is obvious that you are privy to this information.
As stated in [DOCUMENT TITLE], sent on [DATE], "importantstuff""
or
Quoting from [DOCUMENT TITLE], page [XX], "importantstuff". For clarity, I am referring to [DOCUMENT TITLE], sent on [DATE] [BY EMAIL/AT MEETING/ARRIVED BY POST].
If the creator of the document is essential, i.e. you HAVE to name someone, then you can add:
At present I cannot provide/I do not possess further details on the author of [DOCUMENT NAME]. Further information will be emailed as it becomes available.
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