Customer Reviews

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association

5 star:		(207)
4 star:		(69)
3 star:		(42)
2 star:		(22)
1 star:		(85)

 

 

I just received my copy. As a psychology professor, this text is required for my bookshelf--the same is true for students in this field. However, I was upset to learn that APA has already issued 7 typewritten pages of corrections to this manual, and they will not exchange the first printing for a newer print. This is a resource that you will use for years! Wait to purchase until the kinks have been ironed out and they are on a second or third printing of the manual! I am also disappointed that they do not clearly delineate the changes from the 5th edition. It looks to me that there are few important changes (2 spaces between sentences, etc.). Save your money for at least a few more months!

I was very irritated to find that many errors existed in the 6th edition. I also contacted APA regarding the errors. They are not going to exchange the book for a corrected edition. They made several lame excuses for the errors and for not replacing it. My second email to APA pointedly expressed my displeasure with their stance - copied below...

To have grammar and writing errors in a book about grammar and writing is shameful. How much does your organization really care about the reputation it is presenting? Do you have editors reviewing your works before publication? Are your editors paying attention to their work? If you cannot hold yourself to the standards you have set out in your own publication, then your publications should not exist!

If you need this book, demand a corrected reprinting! If you are a university, you also demand a corrected reprint. This organization should not set standards they are not going to comply with. I give them an "F"

Update: 3 months after submitting my complaint to APA I received a letter stating that a reprint was in the works and that anyone who bought the edition with all the mistakes would have a short time span to return it, without charge and postage covered, for the corrected addition. My faith was somewhat restored in the power of honest critical reviews.

Do not buy the first printing of the APA manual, 6th edition under any circumstances. There are errors on eighty (80) of its pages. How outrageous for a manual on writing style! As of 10/20/09, APA refused to exchange their error full copies with corrected second printings. Despite the fact that the list of errors goes on for 7 pages, the Editorial Director of APA books stated "there are no errors that impede using the manual with full confidence." Many of the errors are in the sample papers -- a part of the manual so many of us use as an important reference. The abuse of power that APA is wielding over students required to purchase this book for classes, along with graduate students and professors who must write in this style for journals is alarming. APA goes on to state that with its 80 pages of errors in this edition that "it is within my control, as a true expert who has been intimately involved with each stage of this project, to verify for you without hesitation that the first printing is correct, accurate, and fully functional." As a Professor, when I grade papers, I say to my students that 3 APA errors will get them docked 1/2 a letter grade. If I were to grade this APA manual, it would not only get an F, there aren't enough letters in the alphabet to go low enough for the number of errors it contains. Meanwhile, APA is happy to take everyone's money for the book they know we all have to purchase in so many fields of study.

A formal boycott of this edition successfully led to a second printing in which the errors were corrected. As long as you order a new copy, not a used one, you should be safe. If you buy a used copy, make sure that you do not get a first edition -- it is a complete waste of money.

Given all the emotional responses around the mistakes in the new edition, I was worried about ordering my copy. However, it just arrived, and as promised, it's the corrected version (the second printing) of the 6th edition. The changes to the style included in the manual are an improvement, particularly in the way electronic resources are cited. Additionally, the organization of this edition is better. Overall, I'm pleased.

The following information was sent to my university from APA:

We regret that there are errors in the 6th edition of the Publication Manual and the inconvenience this has caused you. We are working on ways to make it right.

We have produced a detailed corrections summary which is more exhaustive and easier to use than the original summary on the web. This document notes all the known errors in the Manual and puts them in some context. A PDF version of the supplement is available now. You can access the corrections summary from a link on the APA homepage (www.APA.org <http://www.apa.org/> ). We are also going to print the supplement. If you want a printed version they should be available by November 2 through the APA Service Center - 800 374-2721.

If the corrections supplement doesn't meet your needs we will send you a replacement copy of the second printing (the second printing corrects all the known errors) of the Manual at no cost to you. We are making this replacement process available to anyone who purchased the manual. In order to receive a replacement manual you will have to return your current copy of the 6th edition to APA no later than December 15. We would like to make this transaction as cost neutral to you as possible so we are currently researching being able to provide you with pre-paid postage you can use to return the book to us. This process will be available by November 2. If you are interested in a replacement copy please contact the APA Service Center after November 2 for further information - Service Center staff can be reached at: 800 374-2721.

FYI I called the number, they were very receptive and are sending a UPS barcode by email for a book exchange.

Easier to read with a lot less pages. The 6th edition is a mere 272 pages vs. a whopping 439 pages in the 5th edition. This improves its portability and lap-use. ( I never could understand why a book that insists on 1 inch margins all around used 1.5 inch margin on the outer margins and left so much wasted unused space on the pages).

Material has been streamlined to reflect more of the electronic resources currently being used and the more obscure material has been consolidated. The newly added chapters on ethics, the publication process and journal article reporting standards are quite helpful. Some reviewers complained about the elimination of the chapters on writing for publication. Since each journal has it's own specific criteria for manuscript submission, I don't consider this a huge loss. Still has lots of sample for various references (and even includes video blog sources like you-tube) and information on how to display data results (Including radiologic and imaging data like MRI images)

So glad I bought the newest version, especially since it's currently half the price of the old version and a lot more user friendly and up to date. If you required to use the APA style, I strongly suggest buying this book.

Those of us writing and publishing in the social sciences depend on this publication manual to be factual and accurate. So it's a darned shame that the APA did not behave responsibly with this edition. Recently they released 4 pages of "editorial errors" and 5 pages of content errors. And to add insult to injury, they refuse to replace these early editions with corrected ones.

My advice - WAIT UNTIL A LATER PRINTING and HOPE THAT APA has corrected it's many errors. My students want to know how many points the APA will get taken off for "poor performance" - I say they failed! I am rarely motivated to review a book and then so scathingly. Shame on you APA.

I was nervous about ordering this because of the problems with the first printing, but I just got my copy from Amazon today (January 20) and it is indeed the second printing. Thanks!

Amazon should NOT be selling this first, error-laden printing of this book! The APA has issued a second printing with errors corrected. This is NOT clear from the Amazon website. I am VERY disappointed. Now I have to go and print out the pages of corrections (found on the APA website, thankfully).

This is the second printing of this edition . It has all the corrections. It was a little more in price, but the cheaper ones were not the corrected printing. I am using this for all my term paper's so it was important to me that it was corrected. The ring binding makes it easier to lay flat then the bound editions.