How to avoid pirated or counterfeit copies of APA Style manuals

Despite the famous Onion articleopens in new window, the people who make writing and editing style guides generally don’t really view each other as adversaries. We do have common nemeses, though: online piracy and counterfeiting.

With regard to the APA Style manuals, online piracy is the practice of scanning and distributing the print books as digital copies, usually as PDF files. These may appear to be official APA Style ebooks, but they are inferior to our authentic ebook copies in ways we describe later in this post. Counterfeiting is the practice of copying the manuals, printing them with low-quality materials, and selling them as though they are the high-quality printed products published by APA. In addition to using low-quality materials, these counterfeit copies include formatting errors and other mistakes and are often missing pages or sections.

Some unofficial books that describe APA Style are also a problem, particularly for students. Unofficial APA Style books that are designed to look as though they were published by APA are usually poor quality, cover irrelevant topics, and include errors or incomplete information. These books may have titles similar to those of official APA Style manuals and use similar colors and designs on the covers, but the text is different, not comprehensive of APA Style guidelines, and not approved by APA.

Counterfeit and low-quality unofficial books about APA Style are often sold for prices just slightly less than authentic APA Style manuals. Many people are tricked into buying them and are then disappointed when they receive or download the book.

1. PDF copies are often low-quality scans and sometimes incomplete.
2. PDF copies are rarely accessible, which means that they do not include alt text or full descriptions for images, do not have proper screen-reader friendly headings, and do not follow other best practices for accessible documents. The authentic digital versions of the manuals, available on Kindleopens in new window, RedShelfopens in new window, and VitalSourceopens in new window, are fully accessible.
3. Print and PDF copies often contain errors not found in the authentic versions. When counterfeiters reproduce the manuals, they often overlook necessary italics (as in the reference examples), accidentally omit pages or whole sections, and introduce typos or other errors. These errors can cause readers to make mistakes in their learning and application of APA Style guidelines.
4. Print counterfeits are often poor quality—counterfeiters usually use low-quality paper and binding materials, which means the book tears and falls apart easily.
5. Books with intentionally similar branding—on the front and back covers and in the table of contents—but different content in the text may not include all the guidelines the reader needs and definitely have not been reviewed or approved by the APA Style team. The accuracy of the guidelines in these kinds of books is unknown. They can also be poorly organized and even include deliberate redundancies (e.g., repeating sections) to artificially boost the page count. This makes the book appear more comprehensive than it is and results in a more difficult reading and learning experience. These kinds of books may also be printed with lower quality materials than the official APA Style manuals.

1. First, we are communicating with you, our readers. We want students, educators, researchers, copyeditors, and everyone who relies on our products to receive the highest quality, authentic APA Style products. We want you to be informed about these issues, and we appreciate having heard from customers who unintentionally purchased counterfeit copies but reached out to us to share photos and discuss the problem.
2. We are working with book distributors and other vendors to be sure they know how to recognize counterfeit copies that may be in their inventory. If you suspect that you have purchased a counterfeit copy of an APA Style manual, please write us at Stop Piracy and include photos of the book. We can help.
3. We are also collaborating with other publishers whose books counterfeiters have targeted.

APA Style guidelines are presented in the official APA publications: the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.) and the Concise Guide to APA Style (7th ed.).

PDF copies of the manuals are not authentic, as APA does not publish the manuals in PDF form. As noted earlier, the only authentic ebook versions of the manual are available on Kindle, RedShelf, and VitalSource.

Check out our Counterfeit Identification Guide to learn about errors to watch for and to compare with your print version of the Publication Manual. Each printed paperback, spiral-bound, and hardcover copy of the Publication Manual includes a QR code on the back cover. If you scan the QR code, you will be directed to an APA Style page with information on how to verify whether your copy is legitimate. Note that counterfeit copies of the manuals often include a pirated QR code, so the presence of the code on the book is not a guarantee of its authenticity, but the information on our Verify That Your Book Is Authentic page will help you determine whether your book is the real thing. When in doubt, feel free to write us.

Books with misleading and confusing titles and cover art do not include all the content of the authentic Publication Manual or Concise Guide to APA Style. One way to check, especially before making a purchase, is to compare the table of contents in the book you are considering purchasing against the official tables of contents we’ve posted on our website.

When in doubt, another strategy is to check any reviews or comments, where disappointed buyers may have shared images or descriptions of the content.

One way to be 100% sure: You can purchase the Publication Manual and Concise Guide to APA Style directly from the APA website (with free shipping within the United States, including Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories). We guarantee our inventory to be authentic.

If you suspect you have a counterfeit copy, please contact us at Stop Piracy.