Invention - Repeating Citations
Imagine you have three sentences, each with a fact
Medium size dogs like the Shiba usually weigh up to 11kg (Suzuki, 2020). However, smaller ones like the Chihuahua can weigh less than 3 kg. Meanwhile, large ones like the Akita often weigh up to 60kg (Yamashita, 2021).
Question: Where did the 3kg fact come from? Suzuki or Yamashita? Source of facts should always be clear. There are three fixes for this:
Easy Fix 1 - just repeat the citation (not good style)
Medium size dogs like the Shiba usually weigh up to 11kg (Suzuki, 2020). However, smaller ones like the Chihuahua can weigh less than 3 kg (Suzuki, 2020). Meanwhile, large ones like the Akita often weigh up to 60kg (Yamashita, 2021).
- This is OK if you do it once.
- If you do it 3+ times in a short paragraph, it’s not good style
Easy Fix - join sentence 1 and 2. Move citation to end of new longer sentence
Medium size dogs like the Shiba usually weigh up to 11kg, however smaller ones like the Chihuahua can weigh less than 3 kg (Suzuki, 2020). Meanwhile, large ones like the Akita often weigh up to 60kg (Yamashita, 2021).
- OK for short simple sentences
- Not for long sentences - the grammar will probably break.
POINT BACK to the previous sentence’s citation
According to Suzuki (2020), medium size dogs like the Shiba usually weigh up to 11kg. This article also notes that smaller ones like the Chihuahua can weigh less than 3 kg. This article also notes that smaller ones like the Chihuahua can weigh less than 3 kg. Meanwhile, large ones like the Akita often weigh up to 60kg (Yamashita, 2021).
- WARNING: You need to use sentence style citations not brackets style
- Medium size dogs like the Shiba usually weigh up to 11kg
(Suzuki, 2020). This article alsonotes that smaller ones like the Chihuahua can weigh less than 3 kg. - According to Suzuki (2020), medium size dogs like the Shiba usually weigh up to 11kg. This article also notes that smaller ones like the Chihuahua can weigh less than 3 kg.
- Medium size dogs like the Shiba usually weigh up to 11kg
- WARNING: For title-only articles, you need to NAME THE TYPE AND SOURCE, not ~~”According to “Title,” ~~
- According to
(“Dogs,” 2020),medium size dogs … - According to
“Dogs” in 2020,medium size dogs … - According to an article in the Yomiuri Shimbun (“Dogs,” 2020), medium size dogs like the Shiba usually weigh up to 11kg. This article also
- According to