It was this edition that brought the attention of the Federal Trade Commission who issued a Cease and Desist Order for misrepresentation in 1923 (Docket #994).
Under the direction of Douglas Downey, the New Standard was considered a "solid respectable set" for older students and family, though its lack of an index, inadequate coverage of controversial subjects, overly concise tone and poor, black and white illustrations.
[6] However, one of the sets strengths was its up-to-dateness, the 1985 edition including new or updated articles on such subjects as AIDS, compact disc players, Lech Wałęsa, Geraldine Ferraro, Milton Friedman, options trading, and the Space Shuttle.
None of the articles were signed, but 90 editors were listed at the beginning of Volume 1, together with a larger staff of 700 contributors, consultants, advisors and authentication.
Still the set was criticized for superficial treatment of controversial issues including abortion, adoption, race and intelligence and alcoholism.
And even with its strong revision system did not mention things such as Galileos's pardon by the Catholic Church, controversies regarding the Dead Sea Scrolls or then recent (1993) US Supreme Court cases regarding abortion.