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Centria Guide for Thesis and Academic Writing

Reference concerns more than one sentence

Reference to one sentence
 

If the in-text reference concerns only one sentence, the reference is included within that sentence. Thus, the full stop is marked outside of the brackets. An example of a case where the in-text reference concerns only one sentence:

This is easy (Aro 2015, 18).

 

Reference to more than one sentence
 

If the in-text reference concerns more than one sentence, the in-text reference is marked in brackets after the last full stop of these sentences, almost as if the in-text reference is a sentence of its own. In this case a full stop is also included last inside the brackets. An example of a case where the in-text reference concerns more than one sentence:

The student knows how to refer to sources. He or she is careful and follows the instructions. This ensures that the reader knows which information is based on what source and which part of the text represents the student’s own opinion. (Aro 2015, 21-23.)

 

Same example as above, now referring to multiple pages, with page numbers separated by commas.

The student knows how to refer to sources. He or she is careful and follows the instructions. This ensures that the reader knows which information is based on what source and which part of the text represents the student’s own opinion. (Aro 2015, 21-23, 26.)