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I read the answers to this, however I'm searching for an elaborated answer on how two (or more) sencentes are obviously from one source, and hence can be cited with one citation at the end of all sentences.

Example to reduce a really long sentences:

The thing varies in dimension A, because of . Consequently, it is categorised as 1,2 or 3 [Mr. Twit, 2013].

Are linking words like consequently, therefore and so on enough to signal that is originates from one source? Can I swap the dot (.) and the citation [Mr. Twit, 2013] to indicate that the citation does not only belong to the last sentence?

Bonus question: If I write a whole paragraph and add one citation at the end, does this imply that the whole paragraph is quoted?

In general I'm trying to reduce he-said-she-said structures, as they are akward and hinder the information flow.

2 Answers 2

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Read what you have written, and check. Altering the order of punctuation and citation might seem a logical way to do it, but many style guides actually impose the respective order of those elements, and not logic.

In the end, I'm afraid you have to choice of either:

  • accepting ambiguity of your example
  • using the author's name to make things clear: “Twit et al. demonstrated that […]. As a consequence, it is categorised as X, Y or Z [Mr. Twit, 2013]”
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    Nice, but nicer with a citation style that doesn't repeat the author's name (e.g. superscripted numbers). If the point is well-accepted, the ambiguity may not matter too much.
    – Chris H
    Sep 10, 2013 at 14:09
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Every "idea" you introduce that is not your own needs a reference. It doesn't matter how many sentences it takes to express this idea, you only need to add the reference at the beginning/end (depending on your citation style) of the idea. If it takes more than a couple of sentences to express the idea, you may want to use a quotation.

In your example it seems like you have two ideas so you need to reference each idea. Often, it is better to provide context of each idea you introduce so the ideas are generally not back-to-back. Sometimes you have to have a list of ideas, in which case you put a reference after each idea.

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