New (6th) Edition of the American Psychological Association's Publication Released

11-Nov-2009

There is a new (6^th) edition of the American Psychological Association's Publication Manual (more commonly referred to as the "APA Style Guide"), and it contains changes in its guidelines for citing sources in an academic paper. Some of the changes have caused rather heated discussions on various academic email listservs between librarians and professors who are unhappy with the changes and APA editors who have been defending them. The ISU Library is keeping copies of both the 5^th edition (the standard for APA style since its publication in 2001) and the 6^th edition at the Help and Information Desk. Professors who are assigning papers to be written using APA style are encouraged to take a look at the new edition and see what the current citation guidelines are. Less controversially, the Modern Language Association (MLA) has also published a new edition of their style guide, the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, and a copy of this is also available at the Help and Information Desk, as well the general collection, reference collection, and the Vet Med Reading Room reference desk.

• Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, 5^th ed. Call number: BF76.7 P83 2001
• Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, 6^th ed. Call number: BF76.7 P83 2009
• MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7^th ed. Call number: LB2369 G53 2009