One or two spaces after period blue bluebook

The period is perhaps the easiest punctuation mark to master. In a diverse and rapidly changing legal profession, the bluebook continues to provide a systematic method by which members of the profession communicate important information to one another about the sources and legal authorities upon. I find it somewhat irritating that one is so irritated by two spaces after a period. Is there any rule for the placement of space after and. Eliot after a period at the end of a sentence you do two spaces, but often only one is done.

If you refuse to alter your bullheadedness, i will petition the commandant to allow me to take one marine detail to conquer your organization and impose my rule. When you elide a portion that runs until the end of a sentence, include the punctuation at the end of the sentence. But the editor of the guide did us all the service of pointing out the supreme courts peculiar spacing conventions. Chicago advises leaving a single character space, not two spaces, between sentences. How do i default to 2 spaces after a period in word. This rule does not apply when citing multiple sections of statutes or regulations. And many people were taught to use that extra space in typing class. If youre writing for yourself, do what makes you happy. In addition, indepth study tools are provided on the site with access to commentaries, encyclopedias, dictionaries. As long as i was not justifying margins i could continue to use two spaces.

We needed that extra space between sentences to make it easier to see. Lawyers are sharply divided on spacing between sentences when writing a paper. The story of spaces after periods is often told as though monospaced typewriter fonts needed two spaces after a sentence for good readability, and that the wide availability of. Blue pages this guide covers the bluebook s white pages, which provide citation rules for academic papers. In mathematics, science, marketing theres a strange set of bedfellows. In typeset matter, one space, not two should be used between two sentenceswhether the first ends in a period, a question mark, an exclamation point, or a closing quotation mark or parenthesis. I read theses and dissertations for a living and was pleased that apa, along with the chicago style guide, recommended the use of only one space after a period. My overlords here at atl thought it would be fun to run a poll about whether there should be one space or two after a period. Difficulty generally arises only when the period is used with other punctuation marks. One thing that apparently still has the power to infuriate people, though, is how many spaces should be used after a period at the end of an.

Also see whats the difference between a citation sentence, citation clause and textual reference. Signals are important because they indicate how a cited authority relates to the text. Aug 12, 2014 why did you return to the typewriter way of doing things. Richard posner is my new hero the baseline scenario. As long as you are typing on a computer, the best practice is a single space. In addition, indepth study tools are provided on the site with access to commentaries, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other theological resources. When placing an ellipsis in the middle of a quotation to indicate the omission of material, use three points with spaces before and after the ellipsis. After the block quotation, return to double spacing and regular margins. Directly states the proposition authority referenced and cited no signal more than one authority could be cited but only one is cited because the. And, according to nearly all stylebooks, including the associated press stylebook and the chicago manual of style, you always use a single space after a period. One thing that apparently still has the power to infuriate people, though, is how many spaces should be used after a period at the end of an english sentence. Todays writing style guidelines direct us to type just one space after a period. The following information regarding the bluebook citation format is an adapted version of the style and formatting guidelines found in the bluebook, 20th ed.

One space appears to be more correct, is widely used, and required by all of the major style guides. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Also, changing all the elipses created by word into three periods with spaces between them. With a computer, use only one space following periods, commas, semicolons, colons, exclamation points, question marks, and quotation marks. Since the introduction of movabletype printing in europe, various sentence spacing conventions have been used in languages with a latin alphabet. Pages, paragraphs, and pincites bluebook legal citation. Using commas, semicolons, and colons within sentences.

If you do not know your readers preference, choose one method and stick to it. The space needed after these punctuation marks is proportioned automatically. Sentence spacing is the space between sentences in typeset text. If an authority is organized by section, you should cite to the section. When citing to sources that span more than one page, retain the last two digits, and drop the other repetitious digits. When providing parallel citations, omit the court if any of the reporter titles conveys the court. Typing two spaces after a period is totally, completely, utterly, and inarguably wron g, farhad manjoo wrote in slate in 2011. Using two spaces after punctuation in a monospace font is acceptable but even there, unnecessary.

Sentence spacing in language and style guides wikipedia. Blue letter bible is a free, searchable online bible program providing access to many different bible translations including. Any word over eight letters may also be abbreviated if substantial space is saved and the result is clear. As with reporters, do not use spaces between single capitals but do use spaces between any abbreviation containing more than one letter e. Two spaces after a period may be better than one the. One space appears to be more correct, is widely used, and required by all of the major style guides including the government printing office style guide and the chicago style manual both of which the blue book point to when its silent. Lawyers who like to get worked up over unimportant issues often grow contentious in their opinions over whether to put one space or two spaces after the period in legal documents. I saw someone sharing a post recently stating that you now support two spaces after a period, falling in line with ap style. After the period after the last initial there is one space. People began inserting two spaces after the period during the era of the typewriter. The bluebook also has citation rules for legal memoranda and other practiceoriented materials the blue pages, which students in. Spacing after periods, colons, question marks, and exclamation marks. In the era of typewriters, it was common practice to insert two spaces at the end of every sentence. An apostrophe is used before the last letter but no period.

No space before a parenthesis is usually used with functions. It states, in text, use only a single word space after all sentence punctuation. Grammar and punctuation the blue book of grammar and. Since the publishing industry prefers a single space. A smaller partition like this one is best employed when noise between the areas of an openplan room isnt an issue, whether thats because the two activities are equally quiet or the two zones arent used simultaneously. Chicago style manual both of which the blue book point to when its silent. The problem with periods and spaces, just as in the antiquated period plus two spaces at the end of a sentence is that it throws off word processing and typesetting software.

A nonbreaking or hard space is the same width as a word space. Effective january 1, 2008, however, california rule of court, rule 1. Bluebook citation for llm students bluebook citation for. You write one sentence, and appropriately end it with a period. I too am among the old typewriter generation and two spaces is something i do automatically. Science has definitively found that two spaces after a period in typed text provides the most efficient reading experience for. Science has definitively found that two spaces after a period in typed text provides the most efficient reading experience for readers. If an authority like a looseleaf is organized by paragraph, you should cite to the relevant paragraph. Endorsing wynns viewpoint, megan mcardle at the atlantic concisely stated why most lawyers continue to be twospacers. Aug 01, 2018 students unable to complete graded assignments after a two week period as approved by the medical director, may be required to switch to passfail in one or more courses, drop one or more courses. The bluebook is flexible on short forms of legislative materials, as long as they are clear. The turabian style, published as the manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations, is widely used in academic writing.

Can you see that the period after id is italicized. When did cmos first recommend one space instead of two after periods and colons. Use it to keep the text and ellipsis dots together. A height difference between the two areas and a change in floor finish also help separate the work zone from the social space. In endnotes, citation sentences begin one space after a textual proposition. Everything you wanted to know that the bluebook does not tell. Jun 25, 2019 lawyers who like to get worked up over unimportant issues often grow contentious in their opinions over whether to put one space or two spaces after the period in legal documents. Bluebook, the legal style manual, doesnt have a rule on space after. Two spaces after a period does not improve readability. Cases bluebook guide libguides at university of illinois law. Im wondering if i am able to change the default to 2 spaces after a period. The author looks at the history of writing in an attempt to find out where did the two space after period come from. More directly to the issue, miller said that the two spaces after a period have a mathematical beauty that makes it easier to read.

Introductory signals appear at the beginning of citation sentences. The point is, its not only widely accepted, its expected that you use only one space after a period. I found the onespace rule in the 15th edition, but i remember hearing. The two spaces after period rule was established during the days of typesetters, when additional space was needed to show the difference between the spacing between words which was smaller and the spacing between sentences which was larger. Just an observation from a writer with thirty years of following the rules. However, you might get documents with two spaces after. Originally, typewriters had monospaced fonts skinny letters and fat letters took up the same amount of space, so two spaces after ending punctuation marks such as the period were used to make the text more legible. According to the bluebook, you must italicize the period in id.

The chicago manual of style, the us government printing office style manual, and the ap stylebook are just a few of the style guides that recommend one space after a period. Im going to try to put an end to the argument here. Download this icon to link to the chicago manual of style online from your site. In the skidmore study, among people who write with two spaces after periods twospacers there was an increase in reading speed of 3 percent when reading text with two spaces following periods, as. The contraction technique takes the first three letters of a word plus the last letter. How many spaces after a period in a sentence answers. Books, magazines, newspapers, advertisements, and anything else created by professionals in typographic design use one space after periods. Some prefer two spaces and some prefer one space after a period. If you decide to submit what youve written to a publisher, you can always get rid of the extra spaces with the search and replace feature. When typing on a typewriter, each character took up the same amount of space on the page. Legalwriting nerds have been bemoaning lawyers use of two spaces after a period for years.

Nothing says over 40 like two spaces after a period. Among their rules was that we should use one space after a period instead of two so thats how we should do it. Insert ellipsis after the period slightly different than before. There is a general presumption against double spacing after a period. And they, in turn, pass the rule along to the next generation of writers. After my podcast explaining why we now put one space after a period at the end of a sentence, rebecca wrote in to ask how many spaces go after a colon just as with the period, it used to be common to put two spaces after a colon, but now most style guides that address the matter e. The bluebook uses two methods of abbreviating words. And that is why the topic of last weeks reader poll was about how many spaces one should use between. In the era when type was set by hand, it was common to use extra space sometimes quite a bit of it after periods, a practice that continued into the first half of the twentieth century.

May 08, 2015 if you learned to type on a typewriter, youre going to hate what i say next. Well, it is, because the bluebook says it must be so. Effective punctuation handout 1 columbia law school. Unless the citation is a citation clause, every citation, whether in a footnote or in a brief, must end with a period. Sentence spacing guidance is provided in many language and style guides. Use nonbreaking spaces to prevent the ellipsis dots from being separated by a line break. The nation was rocked this week by a paradigmshattering study.

May 11, 2018 one thing that apparently still has the power to infuriate people, though, is how many spaces should be used after a period at the end of an english sentence. California style manual for many years, the california style manual has served as the official guide for styling citations to legal materials in documents filed with state courts in california. Rather, the second citation must be introduced with a comma. Accord accord is commonly used when two or more sources state or clearly support the proposition, but the text quotes or refers to only one. Identifies authority referred to in text no signal 3. A proper word processor or typesetting program has strict rules about breaking words and lines. I was taught to use two spaces after a period in my high school typing.

But for most kinds of writing, the two space habit is, in fact, no longer the rule. Correct use of ellipses, on the other hand, shows that the writer has carefully attended to detail, and thus increases the readers confidence in the reliability of the written work. The final two digits are always important, but repetitious digits may be dropped. Debate about two spaces after a period in legal writing. Do not put a space after the opening or before the closing. For any quotation that is 50 words or longer, use a block quotation. This relation can be supportive, comparative, or contradictory.

There should not be a space between the abbreviation of the source type and the number. These include a normal word space as between the words in a sentence, a single enlarged space, and two full spaces. But for most kinds of writing, the twospace habit is, in fact, no longer the rule. Typing two blank spaces at the end of every sentence is one such habit. The majority of style guides that use a latinderived alphabet as a language base now prescribe or recommend the use of a single space after the concluding punctuation of a sentence. Perhaps for this reason, some style manuals notably the bluebook and the gpo. What happens next is, apparently, a subject of hot debate. Similarly, the law of one jurisdiction may be cited as being in accord with the law of another. Generations of law students, lawyers, scholars, judges, and other legal professionals have relied on the bluebook s unique system of citation in their writing.

In all my years of writing about type, its still the question i hear most often, and a search of the web will find threads galore on the subject. To follow up on our earlier post, titled legal writing. Block quotations are always single spaced, justified, and indented on both the right and left sides. Oxford comma writers disagree on whether lists of three or more should include a comma before the and or or and the last item in the list. But, if you begin a new textual sentence after a citation, that new sentence will be two spaces after the citation. But if you begin a new sentence after a citation, that new sentence will be two spaces after the citation. Lots of people still do it because it used to be a rule, and thats how they were taught.

As a sentence by itself, it must also be separated by the next sentence by two spaces. Apparently, requiring two spaces after a period is a timehonored mistake. When did cmos first recommend one space instead of two. The bluebook says nothing about doublespacing, and it follows the onespace rule both in its own text and in its examples. Besides, the argument in favor of two spaces isnt any less arbitrary. Include a space between abbreviations containing two or more letters. If a sentence otherwise ends with a question mark or exclamation point, the period is omitted. Published work these days rarely features two spaces after a period. I declare it once and for all aesthetically more appealing to have two spaces after a period. How to quickly remove double spaces in word laptop mag.