APA 6th -- Spaces after period

stakemoto

Hi,

Is there an easy way to add a space after a period in the automatically generated APA "Bibliography" and the "Create Bibliography from Item" options?

Spacing (4.01). Regarding punctuation in manuscript drafts, APA suggests using two spaces after periods ending sentences to aid readability.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/24/

bwiernik

That’s wrong. APA makes no such suggestion, and that is not the style followed in any APA journal.

stakemoto

APA manual does state, “Space twice after punctuation marks at the end of a sentence” (p. 88). Whether journals use this guideline or not, I do need it for my classes that are using this suggestion.

bwiernik

Again, you are mistaken:

Page 87:

4.01 Spacing After Punctuation Marks

Insert one space after:
• commas, colons, and semicolons;
• periods that separate parts of a reference citation; and

bwiernik

And the recommendation regarding two spaces in manuscript text is intended to indicate that it is acceptable, but not necessary, to do so—to accommodate authors who are accustomed to archaic typographic conventions stemming from using typewriters.

stakemoto

Can you help me edit the style or not, is the question to be compliant with the instructor’s requests? They want it this way, then that’s the way I need to send in my paper.

bwiernik

In the CSL style, in the Bibliogrpahy section, change delimiter=“. “ to delimiter=“. “.

But do point out to your instructor that they are very much incorrect.

stakemoto

I’m concerned about passing my class and the faculty have certain expectations. If I ever get to the point where I submit articles, I can use the standard recommendations. In the meantime, I would just like to know how I can modify the style so I don’t have to make manual changes on 10+ pages of citations.

bwiernik

Like I said above, in the .csl file for the style, in the bibliography section, change:
delimiter=“. “

To:
delimiter=“. “

If you are citing any reports or theses, you will also need to make the same change in the “title-plus-extra” macro.

General steps for editing CSL styles are here:
https://www.zotero.org/support/dev/citation_styles/style_editing_step-by-step

stakemoto

Thanks. I will try that.