Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition [Hardcover]

American Psychological Society (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1557987904 | ISBN-13: 978-1557987907 | Publication Date: July 2001 | Edition: 5 Sub

In addition to providing clear guidance on grammar, the mechanics of writing, and APA style, the Publication Manual offers an authoritative and easy-to-use reference and citation system and comprehensive coverage of the treatment of numbers, metrication, statistical and mathematical data, tables, and figures for use in writing, reports, or presenta tions.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 439 pages
• Publisher: Amer Psychological Assn; 5 Sub edition (July 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557987904
• ISBN-13: 978-1557987907
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 7.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (340 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #47 in Books > History > Historical Study > History of Ideas

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

241 of 286 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Unhelpful Guide about an Unenlightening Style, May 6, 2004

By 

doomsdayer520 (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (Paperback)

Like some of the other reviewers, I am in a program of advanced study in which APA is the "accepted" style of citation for scholarly research. As we can see, APA is an absolutely dreadful citation style, especially with its prohibition of footnotes, leading to incomprehensible paragraphs in which your prose is murdered by names and dates in parentheses. The lack of required page numbers in your citations also allows you, if you're so inclined, to transform your references into all sorts of unsupported speculation and conjecture, and no reader will be able to prove or disprove what you're saying. I realize that arguing about the merits of APA style is not the same as reviewing the merits of this book. But the weaknesses in the core citation style are so prevalent that it would be impossible to create a book of this nature with any sort of usefulness.

Now let's get to the trouble with this particular book. First, it is unnecessarily humungous, trying to beef up the very thin body of APA citation requirements (which by the way can be found for free all over the internet) with hugely unenlightening chapters on basic writing style and methods. Infinitely better guides on how to actually write and conduct research can be easily found elsewhere. Even when you do want to find instructions on the core requirements of APA citation style, this is an annoyingly difficult task in this atrociously organized and indexed book. A thin and under-compiled index sends you to hard-to-find section numbers rather than page numbers. And finally there is the practice of this book's publishers to promote a "new edition" which is merely the same as before with a couple of new entries, sold with a new cover and of course a new full price. In case you're wondering, about the only new information in this edition concerns how to reference websites and online publications. Once again, this info can be found for free on the internet, while you could also spend a pittance on a used copy of the supposedly "outdated" previous edition.

This book gets two stars because it is nominally useful (at least in theory) if you're stuck with it. But if you find yourself required to use the talent-crushing APA style in your attempts to write something of importance, first try to convince your mentors that APA is inherently anti-intellectual. Then find a way to get out of any requirements to buy this unhelpful book, and find the information on the internet instead. [~doomsdayer520~]

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 5th Edition APA Publication Manual, October 17, 2002

By 

smartnurse123 (Slidell, LA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (Paperback)

Even though there are only a few changes to the 5th edition, I would recommend getting it. It is too confusing to use an older edition especially if you are pressed for time or have never used this type of manual before.

Also I recommend marking your book with tabs such as in the "Reference Citations in Text" section or the "Reference List" chapter. Marking the book with tabs helped me find my way to the information that I needed over and over again. I've tended to use the same type of references throughout my graduate courses.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Small changes, big headaches, October 14, 2001

By 

"cqurban" (Fairfax, VA ,United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (Paperback)

As an ABD-PhD candidate who's required to use APA format (and halfway through a dissertation using APA 4th edition), the small changes in this latest edition do little to add clarity and readability to a manuscript, but much to frustrate: Underlining references has been replaced with italics; after utilizing first-line indents in a Reference list (easier for a word processor) we've now gone back to second-line hanging indents; and none of these changes are clearly discussed in a "Revisions in the 5th Edition" chapter, you need to find them on your own in each chapter. I appreciate the updated guide for citing electronic resources, but the remainder seems to be aimed at "buy yet-another version" rather than major improvements and substantive changes. Maddening! If you're required to use it, you're stuck. Otherwise, keep the old 4th edition.