Rating: 
Summary: APA Publication Manual
Review: I continue to be disappointed with the APA Publication Manual in its fifth iteration. Though it maintains its cause, it is less than adequate on clarity and user friendliness. I would think after five tries one would get it right.
Rating: 
Summary: You can't write a paper without it!
Review: I found this version a lot more "user friendly" than the previous version, which I thought was very confusing. The fact that this resource is offered as "spiral bound" makes it a plus also. The sections that deal with proper grammar and punctuation use are logically formatted and easy to understand. After writing a couple of papers using this book I can honestly say that I am "getting the hang" of using the APA format.
Rating:
Summary: Great resource!
Review: I think this book is a great resource for anyone who needs to write papers in APA. It is very thorough and well-organized. I've been thankful for it when writing term papers!
Rating:
Summary: got a good price on an older edition
Review: I'm using this book as a reference only. I was lucky to get an older edition for less money. This book was reccomended reading for the courses that I am taking this semester. Thanks.
Rating: 
Summary: I'd hate to see the previous editions
Review: If this is the improved edition, I'd HATE to see the others. There is no other way to say this...this book has the most constipated, illogical, completely un-user friendly format I have ever seen in any reference book. Use it if you want to spend hours thumbing through looking for some pattern for the format of the book. You "might" be able to locate the specific information you're looking for if you're lucky. Here's an example. They give you this big-ol' list at the beginning of the reference section which lists everything you'll find in that section. Okay...that's good. Then you go to the section you want (say, section 19) and "great!" you find the general topic you want. All the sudden, BLAM, Section "l9" refers you to example forty-something and you have to flip-flip-flip to get to an example, which should have logically been in section 19 to start. Arrgh! Don't send me somewhere else to get an example...give it to me in that section! There is also a didactic, confusing numbering system. For example, 3.02 is for commas, but then you're referred to section 3.48 for exceptions. Geez...just put them there in the comma section...there's only 7 exceptions. If someone is smart, they'll write a book to help grad. students read this book. Okay...okay...so the book is not just for grad. students, but still....it's used by them and recommended to them as the definitive guide. In my opinion, this is complete wasted money. I'm sure I'll be able to find the relatively basic information I need for in-text citations, reference page, etc. on the web. The authors need to sit down and think about EVERYONE who uses this book.
Rating:
Summary: I'd hate to see the previous editions
Review: If you have any need to write in APA, this book is a must. This is the standard by which your work will be judged. If you are not familiar with APA format, you may find this book very unwieldy and confusing at first. A great way to get started is to just open it to page 306-320, which is a sample paper written and formatted in APA style. Each salient feature is denoted with a comment balloon referring you to the applicable section of the guide. This simple technique should get you started.
Many people complain about the overabundance of seemingly useless and needless information. However, I feel that the completeness of the guide is its strength. The guide deals with every facet of the a concern in a very thoughtful, complete way. Sometimes I find myself laughing at the completeness that the guide gives a particular topic, but at times when I am seeking to answer a specific formatting, grammar, or organizational question, I am extremely thankful for that completeness.
This book is indispensable, one of my most-referred-to reference materials. If you are writing an APA style paper for a class in school and won't ever need to use it again, go to the public library at borrow it. If you will be writing often, you should definitely buy it. No matter what, don't write an APA-style paper without it.
Rating:
Summary: If required to write in APA, you can't live without it
Review: If you have any need to write in APA, this book is a must. This is the standard by which your work will be judged. If you are not familiar with APA format, you may find this book very unwieldy and confusing at first. A great way to get started is to just open it to page 306-320, which is a sample paper written and formatted in APA style. Each salient feature is denoted with a comment balloon referring you to the applicable section of the guide. This simple technique should get you started.
Many people complain about the overabundance of seemingly useless and needless information. However, I feel that the completeness of the guide is its strength. The guide deals with every facet of the a concern in a very thoughtful, complete way. Sometimes I find myself laughing at the completeness that the guide gives a particular topic, but at times when I am seeking to answer a specific formatting, grammar, or organizational question, I am extremely thankful for that completeness.
This book is indispensable, one of my most-referred-to reference materials. If you are writing an APA style paper for a class in school and won't ever need to use it again, go to the public library at borrow it. If you will be writing often, you should definitely buy it. No matter what, don't write an APA-style paper without it.
Rating:
Summary: Ya Gotta Have It
Review: If you plan on doing any research in the social sciences in any way shape or form whatsoever, you must have this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Unhelpful Guide about an Unenlightening Style
Review: 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~]
Rating:
Summary: This is required for all social/educational/psych writing!
Review: Not a whole lot to add to what's already known about this particular book. I've had it probably for five years. It's a necessary addition and a requirement for many graduate classes in any field of social, educational, and psychiatric endeavor. Since I drifted from a 'hard' science (neuroscience) into education, I needed to relearn writing skills that were appropriate for this field. Many requirements are different in order to get published in the journals in these areas, from the hard science journals I was familar with. This book is a guide (less boring and more organized) than many. It's a definite 'must-have' for any one in these areas: and I get really irritated with students who have to borrow my personal volume, when they should be wise and know they need to buy it for themselves! It isn't that expensive, especially in comparison to my medical and legal textbooks! Geesh, get it already!!! Karen Sadler,
SCience Education,
Univeristy of Pittsburgh
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