Arrays in Custom Fields

Hi there,
I’m having a bit of trouble using an array of links in WordPress’ custom fields.

I am trying to add multiple links under an “Articles Mentioned” section without having to input multiple instances of the “Articles Mentioned” key in the post editor. I would like to be able to input:

<a href="" title="">Article 1</a>, <a href="" title="">Article 2</a>

into the Value field on the Edit Post page and have my code loop through that array, treating each comma separated link as a new value.

The only way I can get it to work now is if I input multiple “Article Mentioned” keys with multiple Values for each one.

Does anyone have an idea as to how to solve this riddle?

I pasted my code below:

<?php if (have_posts()) : ?>
  <?php while (have_posts()) : the_post();
	$mentioned = get_post_meta($post->ID, 'Articles Mentioned', $single = false)

?>

<?php // check if there is Further Reading or Articles Mentioned content
	if($mentioned !== '') : ?>

	<!-- List headings -->
	<h3>Post Content & Sources</h3>
	<h5>Articles Mentioned</h5>

	<!-- List the articles mentioned -->
	<ul>

	<?php
	 $length = count($mentioned);
	 for ($i = 0; $i < $length; $i++) {
	 ?>
	<li><?php echo $mentioned[$i]; ?></li>

	<? } ?>

	</ul>

	<h5>Further Reading</h5>
	<!-- List the further reading -->
	<?php echo $mentioned[0]; ?>

	<?php
		 else : echo "";
		 endif; 

	//If there is no further reading or articles mentioned

	endwhile;

	else :
	?>

	<h5>Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn't here.</h5>

	<?php endif; ?>