How to Cite Two Sentences

APA Style

• 1

  Place your quote within the text if it is 40 words long or fewer. Cite the author's last name, year of publication, and page number. Your citation should appear before the concluding period of the second sentence. For example:

  One author argues persuasively that "nuclear power is the most dangerous type of power that exists today. This is because of the risk for meltdown" (Smith, 2010, p. 24).

• 2

  Set your quotation apart from the main body of the text if it exceeds 40 words in length. In this case, you do not need to enclose the quotation in quotation marks. Indent each line in the quotation one half inch, so that it begins where a paragraph would begin. The parenthetical citation should come after the concluding period.

• 3

  Split your citation if you mention the author by name in your sentence. Position the year of publication after the author's name. The page number should still remain after the quotation. This applies to both short and long quotations. For example:

  Smith (2010) argues persuasively that "nuclear power is the most dangerous type of power that exists today. This is because of the risk for meltdown" (p. 24).

MLA Style

• 4

  Place your quote within the text if it is less than four lines long. Cite the author's last name and the page number. Your citation should appear before the concluding period of the second sentence. For example:

  One author argues persuasively that "nuclear power is the most dangerous type of power that exists today. This is because of the risk for meltdown" (Smith 24).

• 5

  Set your quotation apart from the main body of the text if it exceeds four lines in length. In this case, you do not need to enclose the quotation in quotation marks. Indent each line in the quotation a full inch. The parenthetical citation should come after the concluding period.

• 6

  Omit the author's name from your citation if you have already mentioned it within the sentence. This applies to both short and long quotations. For example:

  Smith argues persuasively that "nuclear power is the most dangerous type of power that exists today. This is because of the risk for meltdown" (24).