The rule "Use two spaces after punctuation marks at the end of a sentence" has been changed to "Use one space after punctuation marks at the end of a sentence." The two space rule was based on a misreading of section 4.01 in the APA 6th edition manual on page 88 where it states "Exceptions:… Spacing twice after punctuation marks at the end of a sentence aids readers of draft manuscripts." To clarify the meaning of this, CDD Curriculum editors emailed APA manual editors, who informed them that two spaces after punctuation is optional for drafts, and , more importantly, that any paper submitted to instructors is not considered a draft. Therefore, the one-space-after-punctuation rule applies to all written assignments.
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2 Comments
Thank you for your up date on APA style. I'm sure this was just an oversight, but I suggest that you check space before comma use to "and, more importantly..." Best.
Jean, The APA template in Word 2011 has two spaces after punctuation. If students are using any template that has two spaces after punctuation, they will violate the noted change. Because this is the case, I do not grade students on this issue. I have bigger issues with my students than to worry about two spaces or one space after punctuation.
Ron