CiteRefs  REFERENCE AID - 30

Comma Count Anomaly

An irregularity in the number of commas in the author clause can have any number of causes, some of which are not errors. Among the errors might be

CASES IN WHICH THE REFERENCE WILL STILL FORM CORRECTLY

• This is a legal reference (PMAPA, Appendix D). Not an error.

• You did not follow each author's last name and each author's initials (except the last) with a comma.

• You used semicolons (wrong) instead of commas (right) to separate the authors.

• You neglected to include one or more authors' initials.

CASES IN WHICH THE REFERENCE WILL FORM INCORRECTLY:
CiteRefs will  not recognize subsequent attempts to cite the reference, even if the citation is correct:

• In the reference list, you listed the authors' first names (wrong) instead of their initials (right). CiteRefs then misinterprets and considers the first names to be the last names of other authors. So if you had Smith, Lawrence R., ..., it thinks there are two authors with last names Smith and Lawrence.

• You have placed a suffix such as 'Jr.' or 'III' incorrectly (it should be like Smith, L. R., Jr., ... or Smith, L. R., III, ...). (PMAPA, 4.08, p. 224)

• You have incorrectly spelled or formatted the abbreviation for Editor (Ed.) or Editors (Eds.). They should be like Smith, L. R. (Ed.). (2003). ... or Smith, L. R., & Lee, C. (Eds.). (2004). ...

The list of possible goofs in getting the commas right is long, and the above lists only a  few common instances.

Refer to PMAPA 4.07, p. 223 for information on forming references.

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