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Overview

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is the style manual of choice for writers, editors, students, and educators in the social and behavioral sciences. It provides invaluable guidance on all aspects of the writing process, from the ethics of authorship to the word choice that best reduces bias in language.

Well-known for its authoritative and easy-to-use reference and citation system, the Publication Manual also offers guidance on choosing the headings, tables, figures, and tone that will result in strong, simple, and elegant scientific communication.

The sixth edition offers instruction on publication ethics, statistics, journal article reporting standards, electronic reference formats, and the construction of tables and figures.

The sixth edition has been revised and updated to include

  • ethics guidance on such topics as determining authorship and terms of collaboration, duplicate publication, plagiarism and self-plagiarism, disguising of participants, validity of instrumentation, and making data available to others for verification;
  • journal article reporting standards to help readers report empirical research with clarity and precision;
  • simplified APA heading style to make it more conducive to electronic publication;
  • updated guidelines for reducing bias in language to reflect current practices and preferences, including a section on presenting historical language that is inappropriate by present standards;
  • guidelines for reporting inferential statistics and a significantly revised table of statistical abbreviations;
  • instruction on using supplemental files containing lengthy data sets and other media;
  • significantly expanded content on the electronic presentation of data to help readers understand the purpose of each kind of display and choose the best match for communicating the results of the investigation, with examples for a variety of data displays, including electrophysiological and biological data;
  • consolidated information on all aspects of reference citations, with an expanded discussion of electronic sources emphasizing the role of the digital object identifier (DOI) as a reliable way to locate information; and
  • expanded discussion of the publication process, including the function and process of peer review; a discussion of ethical, legal, and policy requirements in publication; and guidelines on working with the publisher while the article is in press.

Key to this edition of the Publication Manual is an updated and expanded Web presence.

Visit the APA Style® web site to

  • Look up additional supplemental material keyed to the book
  • Test your knowledge of APA Style with a free tutorial on style basics
  • Learn about the changes in the sixth edition with a free tutorial reviewing key revisions
  • Sign up for an online course to enrich and enhance your understanding of APA Style
  • Read the APA Style blog and share your comments on writing and referencing
  • Consult frequently asked questions to sharpen your understanding of APA Style
  • Examine additional resources on such topics as ethics, statistics, and writing
  • Familiarize yourself with submission standards for APA books and journals

Highlights of the Sixth Edition

Book has been updated to acknowledge and incorporate advances in computer technology.

  • Discussions of the creation, submission, and storage of supplemental data
  • Guidelines for referencing electronic sources
  • Expanded reference examples for a variety of on-line sources
  • Redesigned APA Style website, expanded to provide tutorials, online courses, and other resources for learning APA style

Book has been reorganized and streamlined for ease of use

  • Organized to describe the writing process from idea to publication, it begins with background information on ethical issues in publishing, then moves on to manuscript structure and content, then writing style and rules, then graphics and references, then guidance on working with the publisher.
  • Sample paper section has been moved up and featured to better exemplify manuscript structure and content.
  • Like discussions have been moved to one place in the book, with discussions of function followed by instruction on form.

Focus has been broadened to include readers in the behavioral and social sciences.

  • Information specific to APA has been moved to the web, where it is more broadly accessible and can be updated frequently.
  • Examples throughout the book have been drawn from publications in education, business, and nursing as well as psychology.
Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures

Foreword

Preface

Editorial Staff

Introduction

  1. Writing for the Behavioral and Social Sciences
    • Types of Articles
    • Ethical and Legal Standards in Publishing
    • Ensuring the Accuracy of Scientific Knowledge
    • Protecting the Rights and Welfare of Research Participants
    • Protecting Intellectual Property Rights
  2. Manuscript Structure and Content
    • Journal Article Reporting Standards
    • Manuscript Elements
    • Sample Papers
  3. Writing Clearly and Concisely
    • Organization
    • Writing Style
    • Reducing Bias in Language
    • General Guidelines for Reducing Bias
    • Reducing Bias by Topic
    • Grammar and Usage
  4. The Mechanics of Style
    • Punctuation
    • Spelling
    • Capitalization
    • Italics
    • Abbreviations
    • Numbers
    • Metrication
    • Statistical and Mathematical Copy
    • Equations
  5. Displaying Results
    • General Guidance on Tables and Figures
    • Tables
    • Figures
    • Presenting Electrophysiological, Radiological, and Other Biological Data
  6. Crediting Sources
    • When to Cite
    • Quoting and Paraphrasing
    • Citing References in Text
    • Basic In-Text Citation Styles
    • Reference List
    • Reference Components
  7. Reference Examples
    • Types and Variations
    • Examples by Type
    • Appendix 7.1: References to Legal Materials
  8. The Publication Process
    • Editorial Process
    • Author Responsibilities

Appendix: Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS), Meta-Analysis Reporting Standards (MARS), and Flow of Participants Through Each Stage of an Experiment or Quasi-Experiment

References

Index

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