The American Sociological Association (ASA) style allows for the consolidation of multiple source citations within a single sentence. This is achieved by listing the authors and publication years within parentheses, separated by semicolons. For example: “Several studies have demonstrated a correlation between socioeconomic status and educational attainment (Smith, 2020; Jones, 2021; Brown & Davis, 2022).”
Condensing citations in this manner promotes readability and avoids unnecessary repetition in academic writing. It allows the author to efficiently acknowledge the contributions of various scholars who have addressed similar topics or reached comparable conclusions. This practice also acknowledges the evolution of thought and identifies key points of convergence in previous academic works. This approach has gained prominence over time as a method of maintaining conciseness in academic writing while upholding scholarly attribution.