For APA 7, you must space after the following punctuation marks:

  • Punctuation at the end of a sentence. These could be commas or periods

           During the pandemic, many people struggled to survive.

  • After commas, colons, and semi colons

The students were glad to see their teacher again; he had been gone for two months.

  • Periods that separate the different parts of a reference.

Osmani, F., & Maliqi, B. (2012). Performance management, its assessment and importance.  Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 41, 434 – 441.

  • Periods between the initial of a name

M. J. Johnson

Avoid inserting punctuation in the following situations:

  • After the internal periods of abbreviations

e.g., U.S., i.e.

  • Periods within identity-concealing labels for participants taking pats in a study or research

T.Y.R

  • Colons in ratios

 1:3

Adapted from: (APA, 2020, p. 154)

Exercises

 

Sources

The American Psychological Association. (2020).  Publication manual of the american psychological association 7th edition