[.ca] Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (ISBN 1557987912)

It does the job:
As someone put it before, this book is REQUIRED. I had to buy it again because went back to school and my old edition was outdated. It does the job but it is not so easy to read. As an example, it is my favorite book to put me to sleep. However, it is excellent to address the format of your papers. As a professional and graduate student, I thanks the editors for having this around. I have not had any problem with my papers when I used this book. My professors think I am a specialist in APA. I just keep going back to this resource. Not my choice of reading but it helps enormously!!!

A bestseller because its required.:
Most people aren't crazy about this book but have to buy it because it is required- in other words, people buy this book because they have to use the format and style it discusses in order to write and submit a paper. Other than that, I don't know who else would go out of their way to buy this thing. It's thick and not thumb indexed the best. Anyone buying this book is also going to seriouly need the book "The Sixty-Second Motivator" to make it through things.

It's really tough but you will need it!:
I tried for a long time to deny using this book, even though I bought it off a course list and had it on my shelf. After being told several times by professors that my documents needed to be in APA style, with no quick description offered, I have been forced to go in and learn the format. It's a bit like learning a foreign language but since I've learned to use it, it's come up again, and again, and again, so I'm glad I finally did it. Check out "The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book" as well. It's a fun read, based on sound research, that let me test my EQ online. Boy, did I need my EQ skills while learning APA style!

Great book...BUT:
This book is extremely easy to use. Full of information and most of my teachers use it as a foundation for grading our papers...however, the text is written in a light font. It makes it very hard to read. I have to hold the book at an angle and keep moving several times. I even went to a book store and found the book, hoping that perhaps this book was faulty. Unfortunatly, this was not the case. Too bad, its a good product, just hard to read, especially when you're tired, you don't need to straining your eyesight to make it better to see. It's a shame. It is a terrific book, easy to follow, with plenty of do's and don'ts etc. The book is so good. I am seriously contemplating taking it to a Kwik Kopy and photocopying the entire book at a darker print to make it easier to read. The book is THAT GOOD.

A manual for professionals:
There are many style manuals available, and many different styles from which to choose (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.). For those who are involved in social science and medical research, often the APA style (American Psychological Association) is a required format, and expected. This is not my favourite format for several reasons, not the least of which is because the footnote/endnote notations do not include first names of authors (a big minus in my estimation). However, the system is a tried-and-true one, and one that shows little sign of decreasing in popularity among its adherents. That being said, this manual is not for the basic student or author. It does include sections on grammar and usage, but these are meant to be refreshers or references rather than teaching sections. The part that most people will use, the sections on citations in footnotes, endnotes, and in-line/in-text references, is somewhat inadequate here, as the internet and other forms of media have all expanded beyond the scope of the fifth edition. I find that, when I am forced to put something into the APA framework, I am invariably having to go to the internet rather than my guide (or other guides, such as Diana Hacker) because the reference forms simply aren't there. My first choice of reference form would be the MLA style; APA is somewhat lacking and somewhat confusing in many cases, but for those who need to follow this format, this is one of the better references available.