Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition » (6th Edition)

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 new and expanded 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

• new 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;
  
• new 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 new section on presenting historical language that is inappropriate by present standards;
  
• new guidelines for reporting inferential statistics and a significantly revised table of statistical abbreviations
  
• new instruction on using supplemental filescontaining 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 new 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 on-line 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

What's New in the Sixth Edition?

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

• New discussions of the creation, submission, and storage of supplemental data.
  
• New guidelines for referencing electronic sources.
  
• New and expanded reference examples for a variety of on-line sources.
  
• Redesigned APAstyle website, expanded to provide tutorials, on-line 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.

• New examples throughout the book have been drawn from publications in education, business, and nursing as well as psychology.

	List of Tables, Table Examples, Figures, and Figure Examples
	Preface
	Introduction
1	Content and Organization of a Manuscript	3
	Quality of Content	4
	Characteristics of Articles	6
	Parts of a Manuscript	10
	Quality of Presentation	29
2	Expressing Ideas and Reducing Bias in Language	31
	Writing Style	31
	Grammar	40
	Guidelines to Reduce Bias in Language	61
3	APA Editorial Style	77
	Punctuation	78
	Spelling	89
	Capitalization	94
	Italics	100
	Abbreviations	103
	Headings and Series	111
	Quotations	117
	Numbers	122
	Metrication	130
	Statistical and Mathematical Copy	136
	Tables	147
	Figures	176
	Footnotes and Notes	202
	Appendixes	205
	Reference Citations in Text	207
4	Reference List	215
5	Manuscript Preparation and Sample Papers to be Submitted for Publication	283
	The Author's Responsibilities	284
	General Instructions for Preparing the Paper Manuscript	284
	Instructions for Typing the Parts of a Manuscript	296
	Sample Paper and Outlines	305
6	Material Other Than Journal Articles	321
	Theses, Dissertations, and Student Papers	321
	Converting the Dissertation Into a Journal Article	326
	Material for Oral Presentation	329
	Material Published in Abbreviated Form	330
7	Manuscript Acceptance and Production	331
	Transmitting the Accepted Manuscript for Production	332
	Reviewing the Copyedited Manuscript	335
	Proofreading	336
	After the Article is Published	342
8	Journals Program of the American Psychological Association	345
	Policies Governing the Journals	345
	Editorial Management of Manuscripts	357
9	Bibliography	363
App. A	Checklist for Manuscript Submission	379
App. B	Checklist for Transmitting Accepted Manuscripts for Electronic Production	385
App. C	Ethical Standards for the Reporting and Publishing of Scientific Information	387
App. D	References to Legal Materials	397
	App. E: Sample Cover Letter	411
	Index	413