Customer Reviews

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fourth Edition

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4 star:		(2)
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Problem: You are a student or professional of the Social Sciences; you must write research papers. You are required to follow APA style and format for your writings. Action: You acquire the APA "bible," its Publication Manual, 4h edition. Problem: You now search for answers to your APA style and format questions. You scavenge for hours. Action: You know that the information you need is all there, but where? You experience the Psychological Rite of Passage known as the "Twilight Zone of Altered States of Reference Logic." Problem: The Manual is not intuitive. Solution: Develop your own cognitive cues and frames to make sense of the book's layout. Even though I was familiar with its third edition, I still used lots of post-it stick-em things temporarliy attached to sections. And then get on with it.

First things first. This is "THE" APA Manual. You will be using this if you are writing any academic papers in the social sciences - period. Like most manuals of style, it is extremely insightful in many ways, and just as idiosyncratic in others. Oh, and it is not an easy read. *Get over it!* If you are opening this book for the first time anytime within 90 days of your due date, you've got bigger problems, trust me!

The 4th edition is somewhat changed from the 3rd edition, and the 5th edition is little changed from the 4th, so the economist in me says that it pays to buy the less expensive and just as useful 4th edition.

In conclusion, this is actually a useful book, though it is less than optimally organized and not exactly a page-turner. Still, if you are in the social sciences, you have to use it, and use it you will. Get past all the "my gawd, I can't believe how fast 5 years flew by, I'm out of extensions and all of a sudden my paper is due" frustrations. Get a copy, learn how to use it and use it well - just like you've done with a million other less than user-friendly, yet essential references.

Good luck!

Hillysun.com offers software compatible with MS Word V6 that automates the formatting of APA papers. The Manual is still handy to have, but the software, FormatEase, saves a lot of time!

The fourth edition of the APA *Manual* is, despite some of the flaws others have noted, very useful to those studying or working within the social sciences. While our current breed of word processing programs have indeed been a great benefit to academic writers, we cannot forget the orgins of academic writing linger from long before the computer age. This book offers a complete and varied guide to how to write for a field of disciplines. I would compare it to the *American Medical Association's Style Manual* as I also use this reference quite often in that both books truly offer a great deal of information that is useful in science-related writing. We are lucky to have something that is this complete.

The third edition of the APA manual was easier to use. The fourth edition was awful? This fifth edition is only slightly improved. I do not know why anyone thinks the APA format is the way to go. If this terrible format is going to continue, I hope someone at Microsoft invents an APA checker to go with Microsoft Word.

It is a must have reference if one wants to get a good grade on papers. Is it easy to read?- No. But I find nothing easy about school. It is a comprehensive manual.

Item came promptly with no problems. Very satisfied with the condition of the manual. This was exactly what I needed and much less expensive (which is great for a college student used to paying college bookstore prices)!
Thanks

This was really good--it got to me in time and was in great condition! Thank you!

Good refernce for writing papers in APA or MLA format. The book is easy to read and easy to browse through to find specific guidelines.

This order came within a few days and was wrapped very securely in waterproof packaging. I was very impressed at the care that went into sending this to me!Many thanks!