The Manual of Dietetic Practice is the bestselling title in the nutrition and dietetics list. First published in 1988, the book is published on behalf of the British Dietetic Association; the UK governing body for dietitians. The book has grown from and been developed throughout its lifecycle to cover the principles of dietetics across its whole range; as such, it is in part structured around the dietetics curriculum (which assists heavy adoption potential) but is also seen as the go-to reference for practicing dietitians.

The structure of this new edition has been completely reworked to make information easier to find, and is now divided in two parts: General Topics, covering professional practice issues and nutritional basics; and Clinical Dietetic Practice, which makes up the majority of the volume and covers Nutrition Support and dietetic practice in individual areas of disease, from Respiratory and Renal Disorders to Mental Health and Palliative Care.

The new edition will also be accompanied by a companion site, www.manualofdieteticpractice.com, which will host downloadable copies of the appendices (tables and charts for reference) as well as tables and figures to download and references linking out to PubMed. Case study vignettes will also be available for each chapter (and these will be expanded in the Case Studies Companion currently at proposal stage but scheduled to publish at same time as the Manual if possible). There will also be useful links, classified by theme rather than chapter, which add to the links included in the book itself, and the site will link to the BDA, JHND and WOL pages. Finally, there will be an Updates section, and authors will be encouraged to send in brief updates and new references for their chapters which we will upload on a quarterly basis. Ideally this web presence will act as the basis for the next, sixth edition to become a major online reference.