Long underscore in reference item with Biblatex-APA

Question

I need to refer to some case law in my thesis using APA style.

I'm using Biblatex with the following options:

\usepackage[backend=biber,style=apa,language=english]{biblatex}

I´m mostly following the examples available here.

However, when a case presents a citation like 576 U.S. ___, the three underscores don't appear correctly.

My .bib entry is like this:

@jurisdiction{Facebook_2021,
keywords    =   {cases},
title       =   {Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid},
citation    =   {592 U.S. \_\_\_},
url         =   {https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/19-511.html},
date        =   {2021}
}

The problem is that when I compile the file, the citation appears spaces between the underscores, like this: 592 U.S. _ _ _.

If I leave only the first backlash and remove the others, the final result is only one underscore: 592 U.S. _ , and if I remove all backlashes, so none underscore appears: 592 U.S.. I also receive lots of errors:

Missing $ inserted. Test\footfullcite{Facebook_2021}
Missing { inserted. Test\footfullcite{Facebook_2021}
Missing { inserted. Test\footfullcite{Facebook_2021}
Missing } inserted. Test\footfullcite{Facebook_2021}
Missing } inserted. Test\footfullcite{Facebook_2021}
Missing $ inserted. Test\footfullcite{Facebook_2021}

Does anyone have any idea on how to fix it?

Thanks!!

Can you show a minimal example that shows the problem? When I construct one, the underscores are not separated. Maybe this is a font issue? Alternatively you could use something like \rule{3em}{.5pt} instead of the underscores which would be font independent. — Alan Munn, Mar 11 '22 at 15:48
Are these underscores meaningful? I've never seen this kind of thing, but I don't know anything about legal citation practice. — Alan Munn, Mar 11 '22 at 15:49
@AlanMunn & everybody else who is wondering about this: https://law.stackexchange.com/q/972 — moewe, Mar 11 '22 at 15:59
@AlanMunn, yes, it is part of the reference, so it has to be there. — Luis Felipe, Mar 12 '22 at 10:05
@moewe, thanks for the link. I remember reading about it long ago but was not able to provide a good explanation. — Luis Felipe, Mar 12 '22 at 10:05

moewe · Accepted Answer · 2022-03-11T16:06:31.137

This appears to be a font issue. With some fonts (e.g. lmodern) \_\_\_ looks like one continuous underscore.

\documentclass[american]{article}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{babel}
\usepackage{csquotes}
\usepackage{lmodern}
\usepackage[backend=biber, style=apa]{biblatex}
\begin{filecontents}{\jobname.bib}
@JURISDICTION{11.4:2,
  TITLE         = {Obergefell v. Hodges},
  CITATION      = {576 U.S. ___},
  URL           = {https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf},
  DATE          = {2015}
}
\end{filecontents}
\addbibresource{\jobname.bib}
\addbibresource{biblatex-examples.bib}
\begin{document}
Lorem \autocite{sigfridsson,11.4:2}
\printbibliography
\end{document}

With other fonts it looks like three underscores with a little but of space between them. In those cases it is probably necessary to fake the desired output with a rule (inspired by How can I display baseline and create text on it?).

\documentclass[american]{article}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{babel}
\usepackage{csquotes}
\usepackage[backend=biber, style=apa]{biblatex}
\newsavebox\textbox
\newrobustcmd\tripleunderscore{%
  \leavevmode
  \sbox\textbox{___}%
  \rule{\wd\textbox}{.45pt}}
\begin{filecontents}{\jobname.bib}
@JURISDICTION{11.4:2,
  TITLE         = {Obergefell v. Hodges},
  CITATION      = {576 U.S. \tripleunderscore},
  URL           = {https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf},
  DATE          = {2015}
}
\end{filecontents}
\addbibresource{\jobname.bib}
\addbibresource{biblatex-examples.bib}
\begin{document}
Lorem \autocite{sigfridsson,11.4:2}
\printbibliography
\end{document}

You can play around with the value .45pt to achieve the desired line thickness. You can also directly give the length of the underscore yourself if you are not happy with the length LaTeX calculates, e.g.

\newrobustcmd\tripleunderscore{%
  \leavevmode
  \rule{2em}{.45pt}}

Long underscore in reference item with Biblatex-APA

1 Answers1