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APA Publication Manual at Amazon.com
  Guides to APA Style Research Papers
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APA Style is followed by over a thousand research journals in psychology and other fields. The style is documented in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.; 2009). The APA Publication Manual is focused on just that, preparing papers for publication. If you are writing a college research paper or theses the rules change a bit. The last (5th) edition gave special instructions for these works (see chapter 6), now lost to this new edition. Nonetheless, Doc Scribe has kept this lost knowledge alive while following the latest fashions in APA style. The guides at www.docstyles.com follow APA tradition for preparing final manuscripts--college and conference papers.
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Episode VI - A New Hope.  The APA Manual seeks to be true to its mission--It is a guide to preparing papers for publication in APA journals, not a guide to APA style. According to the APA website, it has been "organized to describe the writing process from idea to publication." It does that and no more. Papers intended for publication differ from from college research papers in their organization and formatting. The differences were once explained. The previous edition had a chapter on "Material Other Than Journal Articles." No more. Nonetheless, APA Lite continues the guidance from that sage edition. If you are crafting a college paper rather than a journal article, Doc Scribe's APA Lite is an excellent guide.
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pointer  Read Doc's review of the new APA Publication Manual.
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A Great Buy!  The new APA Manual is just $15.92 at Amazon.com in the paperback edition (link to APA Manual at amazon.com). This is almost half price. The retail bookstore price is $28.95, the spiral-bound version is $36.95, and the hardcover is $39.95. (Orders totaling $25 or more ship free from amazon.com with no sales tax.)
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APA Lite for College Papers
APA (Style) Lite for College Papers. The APA Publication Manual (2009) is 272 pages. Is this more than you need to know? It is a great reference, but a mediocre guide. A useful reference may answer all your questions, but a guide will answer the questions you didn't think to ask. APA Lite is a concise guide to applying the essential features of APA style to college research papers.

APA Lite icon APA Lite (Webpage) is up to date with the latest edition of the APA Publication Manual (2009). It focuses on the main features of the style, leaving the rest to the APA Manual. APA Lite replaces the APA Crib Sheet.
Quick Reference APA Lite (PDF).  The PDF version is for those who wish to print the guide. It has the same content as the online version (22 pages). Check back from time to time for the latest version.
APA Precis APA Lite Instructor's Precis (PDF). This is short summary of major changes to APA style, useful mostly to those familiar with the style (6 pages). If also explains how APA Lite adapts the style for college papers.
APA Quick Study APA Quick Study. Where do you start? The new (2009) APA Publication Manual is about 300 pages. What do you really need to know to craft a paper in this style?
AScribe Icon AScribe Reference Manager. This site has its origin in a computer program written in the early 1990s. Though obsolete technically, it organizes and formats references in contemporary APA style.
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AMERICAN SCIENTIST
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The Science of Scientific Writing by George Gopen and Judith Swan. This article was first published in the pages of the American Scientist in 1990. It was originally developed in a faculty writing workshop at the Duke Medical School. It has worn well the test of time. For many years it was embargoed on the American Scientist website. The embargo has lapsed and Doc has made it available in PDF format: The Science of Scientific Writing (90 KB).

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APA PUBLICATION MANUAL?
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Time to buy? The new APA Publication Manual (2009) is unusually affordable at Amazon.com for the moment ($15.92). Should you get it? If you are majoring in education or psychology--fields where the style is widely used--or your school has adopted the style for all academic writing it would be a useful investment.
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bullet    The new APA Manual is $28.95 at bookstores. There is no guarantee the Amazon.com price of $15.92 will hold for more than a few weeks or months.
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bullet    The new APA Manual surpasses all previous editions in the quality of its organzation and the economy of its content. It is 200 pages shorter than the last edition!
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bullet    The new APA Manual has a broad array of sample reference (96 sources vs 35 in APA Lite), and sample tables and figures (28 vs 3 in APA Lite). That's why its called APA Lite.
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bullet    The new APA Manual explains the structure and content of the various types of research papers--empirical studies, case studies, literature reviews, etc.--and has the best section on avoiding the use of biased language found anywhere.
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bullet    Grad Students! The new APA Manual connects you with the world of publication. It is entirely focused on publication; about a third of the content is only concerned with publication.

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AMA Style-Oxford Press APA Style Home Page Chicago Manual Home Page MLA Handbook Home Page spacer
Link to Amazon.com
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APA Manual
Amazon.com
 American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological
Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.  Links to Amazon.com: (Spiral Bound $33.25)
(Paperback $15.92 ). Free shipping on orders over $25, no taxes. .

Sixth Edition.   The latest edition of the APA Publication Manual has tightened its focus on writing for publication at the expense of those crafting college or conference papers--gone is the old chapter 6, "Material Other Than Journal Articles." Also gone are 166 pages of text, which is better news for students. The new edition will guide through the process of using Digital Object Identifiers in references, but will not show you how to format a title page unless you are writing for publication. The section on avoiding bias is still the best found anywhere. See what's changed at www.apastyle.org.

Warning! If you are interested in a used copy at amazon.com be sure it is the 6th edition.
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APA the Easy Way
Amazon.com
 Houghton, P. M., Houghton, T. J., & Peters, M. F. (2005). APA: The Easy Way!. Port Huron, MI:
Baker College. Link to Amazon.com:  (Paperback $10.95).

APA Easy? This handbook is a quick and simplified guide to the APA writing style. It was developed as a condensed version of the official APA Publication Manual and designed to be utilized as a supplement to the actual guide. One reviewer at Amazon.com writes: "APA The Easy Way is a godsend. It takes the pain of dealing with the APA Manual, cuts through the BS and tells you the 'meat' of what you really need to know to conform to this style of writing. All-in-all a very simple and easy-to-use guide that helps take the sting out of writing APA style" (Fronckowiak, 2005). The APA Manual is just $5 more!.

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NIST Guide
Taylor, Barry. N., & Thompson, Ambler. Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI)
(Special Publication 811, 2008 ed.). Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2008.
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Free guide for the metric system. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is the official representative of the United States before the Convention du Metre, the body that defines the International System of Units (SI) for the world scientific community. This is also known as the metric system. A free 90 page style guide is available from their website. The link is directly to the document in PDF format.
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Link to NIST SP811-2008: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/pdf/sp811.pdf (1.9 MB).
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Endnote
amazon.com 		Endnote (Bibliographies Made Easy?). Version X3. 2009. ISI Research Soft. Windows and Mac.
Amazon Student Versions $95: [Windows]
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Endnote automatically formats references for you--in standard AMA, APA, CBE, Chicago, ICMJE, and MLA styles, as well as a vast number of journal styles (over 1000). It is the standard of bibliographic software, required at many top universities. Surf for sources online; download bibliographic material from any online database or library catalog. The program comes with templates (for MSWord) that will set up your word processor for you! Endnote is your personal research assistant.
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A free 30-day trial version is available at the Endnote website.
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