Rating: 
Summary: it's not Amazon's fault....
Review: ...that the APA keeps making us (psychologists, psych students, etc.) buy new editions of this lovely volume.... it's only slightly different from the last version, but it's just enough to drive anyone batty. Worth the purchase ONLY if writing psychological papers is in your future and if you are completely unfamiliar with APA style.
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Summary: Flaws in the APA "Bible"
Review: It takes some nerve to question the "bible." Yet the, "Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association," a major sourcebook for scholarly writing, has a major deficiency. Every detail of written style, format, correctly referencing every imaginable work, and creating bibliography lists is minutely explaiined and provided with clear illustrations. My criticism is of a practical nature. Today, the scholarly writer need no longer rely on 4" x 6" index cards for organizing references. Indeed, computer programs such as EndNote Plus (available since 1989-90, by the way) can save enormous time for the serious writer in organizing and also providing a database for references to be used in writing manuscripts; directly. Moreover, with the press of a key it creates a perfect reference list according to the APA format (!) at the end of a manuscript. This is accomplished in a matter of seconds. One would have thought that time saving modernization of publication by the computer should have occupied one chapter, at least, in the Fourth Edition of the Publication Manual of the APA..
Rating: 
Summary: "Unashamedly prescriptive"
Review: A Danish professor in psychology, Franz From, once said about this manual that if he had to follow these rules, he would not be able to contribute to psychology. Franz From represented phenomenological psychology, which did not consider American behaviorism to be an ideal, contrary to. It is well known that there exist different approaches in psychology and the social sciences. Few people consider, however, that this is not restricted to the choice of methods and subject matter, but also concerns the way papers are written and the scientific communication system is designed. In a way it is paradoxical, that a manual on how to write psychological papers do not consider psychological and related research on the writing process. The most valuable critique about this manual comes from people who are connected to COMPOSITION STUDIES, e.g. Charles Bazerman (1988) and the psychologist Douglas Vipond (1993). There have also been a debate on this manual in American Psychologist. The view, that there are objective, neutral rules for human behavior (incl. doing research and writing) can be termed positivism. The opposite view, that such rules have consequences for what can be done (and therefore implicit priorities for what should be done) can be termed non-positivism. In my view positivism simply can be proved wrong. If we are going to advance psychology or other (social) sciences we should not built on wrong premises. My own professional interest in this manual, and in the epistemological debate about this manual is connected to my research in information science. Information science is about storage and retrieval of documents, texts and "information". In the coming age of full text electronic documents we have to know as much as possible about their composition, and the factors, that influences the way they are composed. Here I find composition studies to be one important contributor. Bazerman, C. (1988). Shaping written knowledge: The genre and activity of the experimental article in science. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Hjørland, B. (1997). Information seeking ans subject representation. An activity theoretical approach to information science. Westport, Connecticut & London: Greenwood Press. Vipond, D. (1993). Writing and Psychology. Understanding writing and its teaching from the perspective of composition studies. Westport, Connecticut & London: Praeger.
Rating: 
Summary: a must have
Review: admittedly enough, there are flaws and it isn't the easiest read or as user friendly as it could be. but still, it is a book every social science student and professional should have. there is nothing i need to say, it speaks for itself .
Rating: 
Summary: APA Manual - The discourse of the discipline.
Review: APA Manual - The discourse of the disciplinary regime. Simply stated, this book is poorly organized and makes the reader wade through many pages in an attempt to find the 'correct answer.' The object? - because I are studying under a disciplinary regime and must conform to what the knowledge experts tell us is real.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money.
Review: As a graduate student in psychology, I suggest that the best way to learn APA style is to obtain a copy of a manuscript from a TA or your academic advisor. This book is ineptly organized and its own "style" is stultifying. The only saving grace is that it includes "pictures" of text formated in APA-style. A big complaint is that the Publication Manual pretends that the only kind of article written by psychologists involves presenting the results of an empirical investigation. Another is the unwieldy and illogical system of citation (especially of material found on the Web). Also, I would like for the publishers to at least acknowledge that what is actually published in professional journals often bears no resemblance to the format required for submission. Whatever you do, do not buy the APA Style Helper software.
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Summary: Small changes, big headaches
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: In and Out
Review: As usual, the APA felt the need to change the format around but at least some things retured to the way they were in the 3rd edition. Not fun, but is a must for all the social science writers out there!
Rating:
Summary: Better than nothing.
Review: Coming from a literature background, I was used to the MLA handbook. I find the MLA handbook more comprehensive and explanitory than the APA Manual. This book was just not easy to use, but it was better than having nothing at all. Buy it only if you REALLY have no other choice.
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Summary: 5th Edition APA Publication Manual
Review: 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.
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