Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
a reference book offering guidelines on how to present written material in the behavioral and social sciences clearly and effectively. Based on the special requirements of psychology but applicable to sociology, business, economics, nursing, social work, criminology, and other disciplines as well, the Publication Manual describes the editorial style established by the American Psychological Association (APA) and used in all of the books and journals that it publishes (i.e., APA style). Besides guidance on the content and organization of a manuscript, the Publication Manual offers direction on such points as grammar and the mechanics of writing, the uniform use of punctuation and abbreviations, the construction of tables and figures, the selection of headings, the citation and formatting of references, and the presentation of statistics. The forerunner of the Publication Manual was a brief article published in the February 1929 issue of the APA
journal Psychological Bulletin. A revised and expanded version of these instructions was published as a first edition of the Publication Manual in 1952. The second edition was published in 1974, the third in 1983, the fourth in 1994 the fifth in 2001, and the sixth in 2010. The first electronic version was made available in 2013.