General Question

Palindrome's avatar

Quick citation help/punctuation question. Would I use another period?

Asked by Palindrome (1084points) March 20th, 2011

I have a sentence that needs APA style citing and I’m a little perplexed on how to use the period. I cited the sentence below and I would appreciate any insight on if I cited it correctly. If not, would I delete the period after the parentheses and leave it as is?

It was then noted that if other elements were exposed to these neutrons that new radioactive elements emerged (Walker, n.d.). A uranium nucleus that has absorbed a neutron splits and releases energy into two parts.

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12 Answers

CaptainHarley's avatar

Leave it as it is. The punctuation is fine. : )

filmfann's avatar

The period placement is fine. Might want to check the two spaces that should follow it.

Palindrome's avatar

Thank you!! :)

Seelix's avatar

Putting two spaces after a period is no longer necessary, at least in MLA style. I’m not 100% sure whether APA still requires it.

ParaParaYukiko's avatar

I have been told by every typography and writing teacher I’ve ever had not to put two spaces after a sentence. My dad used to encourage two spaces, but that was back when he had spent more time typing on typewriters than on computers. It is no longer considered correct punctuation.

@NuGoonie23 Your punctuation is fine, don’t worry about it! :)

Palindrome's avatar

I did not know that, but now I do. Thank you @Seelix & @ParaParaYukiko. :)

Fyrius's avatar

Edit: Never mind, I’m just going to shut up now.

Fyrius's avatar

Oh, don’t mind me. I just misread your question as a general request for punctuation placement help. And then I misread it as a transcription of a spoken quotation. And then by the time I realised I had read it wrong twice I didn’t really have anything useful to say any more.
Next time I will shut my clumsy big pie hole and read the question properly first. Probably.

You just wanted to know whether referencing a source as ”(Walker, n.d.)” is correct, right?

Palindrome's avatar

Yes.
Sorry to have confused you. Guess my wording is misleading. Though I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or if you’re really that hard on yourself.

Jeruba's avatar

The period after the parens is correct.

You should omit the extra “that” and insert a comma:

It was then noted that if other elements were exposed to these neutrons, that new radioactive elements emerged . . .

Fyrius's avatar

@NuGoonie23
No, I’m serious. I made a mistake and I’m owning up to it.

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