APA Reference Format

APA Style Referencing Guidelines for the Journal

Reference Integrity: Referencing is the ethical practice of crediting others for their work. For this purpose, AJAS adopts the American Psychological Association (APA) referencing style.

Quotations

1. Direct Quotations

  • For direct quotes of less than 40 words, enclose the quote in quotation marks and include (the author's last name, year, and page number).
    Example: "A set of principles and laws that people believe in" (Abdul Raouf & El-Masri, 2013, p. 12)
  • When the quote is 40 words or more, present it in a freestanding block of typewritten lines and omit the quotation marks.
    Example: Qadan (2014) defines it as: “Commitment between two parties requires crowd cooperation and solidarity to achieve general societal goals” (p. 20).

2. Indirect Quotations 

  • One Author: For paraphrased content, the citation should include the author's last name and year of publication at the end of the paraphrase.
    Example: Technology has become a crucial component in flipped classrooms, with some tying its effectiveness directly to the success of this educational model (Al-Khazi, 2019).
  • Or the author's last name (year) should be mentioned before the quote.
    Example: Al-Salem’s (2013) study found that the degree of possession of creative leadership characteristics among education directors is generally moderate.
  • When citing two authors, mention (both last names each time the reference occurs).
    Example: The study confirmed the positive relationship between trust in colleagues and motivation (David & Tony, 2019).
  •  Or mention the last name of the first author and the last name of the second author (year) before the citation.
    Example: Al-Qaddoumi and Abdul-Haqq (2001) also conducted a study on the importance of cooperative learning in increasing students' academic achievement. 
  • For three or more authors, cite only the first author's last name followed by "et al." and the year of publication.
    Example: (Al-Khazi et al., 2019).
  • Or only the last name of the first author is mentioned followed by the word “et al.” (Year) before the quotation.
    Example: Al-Ghanem et al. (2010) confirm that attention to personal values is consistent with the goals of kindergarten in the State of Kuwait.

Referencing a group of authors (university, organization, association, institution, company...)

  • The full first name of the group should mentioned each time, along with the year of publication.  If the group is well-known and has an abbreviation, the full name should mentioned the first time, writing [abbreviation of name], with the year in parentheses. On subsequent occasions, only the abbreviation is written with the year of publication.
    Example: First citation: Alcohol and drugs can affect brain health (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2003).
    Second citation: Alcohol and drugs can affect brain health (NIMH, 2003).

General Rules for Citations

  • When citing multiple references for the same point, arrange them alphabetically.
  • If the reference is written in the text without brackets, the Authors' names should be ordered as stated in the original reference.
    Example: Marsick and Watkin (1996) believe that organizational learning is an essential part of the organization's entity.
  • If the same source is cited multiple times in a single paragraph, include the year in subsequent citations only if it is the first citation of the reference in the paragraph.

Reference List at the End of the Paper

1. Journal Articles:

  • Single author: Last name, First initial. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), Page range. DOI if available.
    Example: Pym, A. (2001). Introduction: The return to ethics in translation studies. The Translator, 7(2),129-138. https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2000.1528359
  • Multiple Authors: Last name, First name of the first author, Last name of the second author, First name of the second author. (the year).  Title of the article. Name of the journal, volume (issue), page number. The digital identification DOI, if available.
    Example: Kalsnes, B., & Olof, A. (2017). Understanding news sharing across social media: Detailing distribution on Facebook and Twitter. Journalism Studies, 18, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2016.976446

2. Electronic Journal Articles:

  •  Last name, First initial. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), Page range. DOI if available.
    Example: Christensen, G., Dafoe, A., Miguel, E., Moore, D. A., & Rose, A. K. (2019). A study of the impact of data sharing on article citations using journal policies as a natural experiment. PLoS ONE, 14(2), 121-145. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0225883

3. Books:

  • Single author: Last name, First initial. (Year). Title of the book (Edition if available). Publisher.
    Example: Baker, M. (2018). In other word: A coursebook on Translation (2nd ed.). Routledge.
  • Multiple Authors: First Author's last name, first name, second author's last name, second author's first name. (Year). Title of the book (i. edition number, if any). Publishing House.
    Example: Dickins, J., Harvey, S., & Higgins, I. (2017).  Thinking Arabic Translation: A course in
    translation method: Arabic to English     (2nd ed.). Routledge.  
  • Book without an author name: Title of the book. (Year). Publisher.
    Example: Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary (11th ed.). (2003). Merriam-Webster.
  • Book Chapters: Author's Last name, Initials. (Year). Chapter title. In Editor's Initials. Editor's Last name (Ed.), Book title (pp. pages). Publisher.
    Example: Saks Berman, J. (1995). From Chicago to Rainbow Bridge: In search of changing woman. In E. F. Williams (Ed.), Voices of Feminist Therapy (pp. 11–25). Harwood Academic Publishers.

4. Manuscripts under publication

  • Author's last name, First name. (Publication status). Research Title. Magazine name.
    Example: Watermeyer, B., Hunt, X., Swartz, L., & Rohleder, P. (in press). Navigating the relational psychic economy of disability: The case of M. Psychoanalytic Dialogues.

5. Articles from websites

  • Article Known information: Author's last name, First name. (Year of publication, month, day). Article title. Web site name. Website link to the article.
    Example: Harris, B., & Zucker, S. (2015, August 9). Haussmann the demolisher and the creation of modern Paris. Smarthistory. https://smarthistory.org/haussmann-the-demolisher-and- the-creation-of-modern-paris
    Note: Article title should be Italic.
  • Unknown article. Author: Article title. (Year of publication, month, day). Web site name. Website link to the article.
    Example: causes of anxiety. (2019, April 2). Web Medicine. https://www.webteb.com/mental-health/diseases/
  • Article on a site that is constantly updated: author's last name, first name. (Year of publication, month, day). Article title. Web site name. Retrieved by date, month, day, year, from the website link to the article.
    Example: Clement, T. (2019, September 30). Adopt-a-book activity. OER Commons. Retrieved October 4, 2019, from https://www.oercommons.org/authoring/58499-adopt-a-book- activity/view

6. Wikipedia encyclopedia

  • An article in the Wikipedia encyclopedia On sites that are constantly updated, such as the Wikipedia encyclopedia, and with an archive of topics, APA recommends that the article be authenticated from an archived copy so that the reader can access the actual source that you used, and there is no need to mention the retrieval date here.
    Article title. (Date of archived version: year, month, day). In the Wikipedia encyclopedia. Electronic link to the article.
    Example: Plato. (2019, October 15). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plato&oldid=921406823
  • If there are no archived copies available, or if the information is in the updated version of the article, the article is documented and the date of retrieval is mentioned.
    Article title. (Date of last update: year, month, day). In the Wikipedia encyclopedia. Retrieved by date, month, day, year, from the electronic link to the article.
    Example: Plato. (2018, June 19). In Wikipedia. Retrieved in June 27, 2018 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato

7. University theses (MA or PhD)

  • Unpublished university dissertation: Author's Last name, First name. (Year of Publication). Thesis title [Unpublished doctoral dissertation or master's thesis]. Name of the body awarding the degree.
    Example: Samson, J. M. (2016). Human trafficking and globalization [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
  • Published dissertation: Author's Last name, First name. (Year of Publication). Thesis title [PhD thesis or master’s thesis, name of the degree awarding body]. publisher. Website link
    Example: Boudreaux, C. M. (2015). The city framed: A photographic examination of space and violence in Ciudad Juarez [Doctoral dissertation, Tulane University]. Tulane University Theses and Dissertations Archive.
    https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3A27939/datastream

8. Manuscript presented at a conference as a scientific paper or poster

  • Author's last name, first name. (Year of publication, month, day-to-day). Research title [Research or poster submitted]. Name of the conference, location of the conference.
    Example: Pang, K. (2005, July 19-22). Transforming schools into learning organizations: operationalization of peter senge's framework [Poster presentation]. International conference on knowledge, culture and change in organizations, Rhodes, Greece.

9. Print and electronic newspapers

  • Printed newspaper: Author's last name, first name. (Year of publication, month, day). Article title. Newspaper name. page number.
    Example: Schwartz, J. (1996, September 30). Obesity affects economic, social status. The Washington Post, pp. 7.
  • Electronic newspaper: author's last name, first name. (Year of publication, month, day). Article title. Newspaper name. Website link.
    Example: Klein, J. (2018, May 8). How the father of computer science decoded nature’s mysterious patterns. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/science/alan-turing-desalination.html.
    Note: NewsPaper Name should be italic.

General Rules for Reference List

  • Begin with the title "References." If there are Arabic and foreign references, start with Arabic references followed by foreign or English ones.
  •  Arrange the references alphabetically. Disregarding the definite article "Al" at the beginning of Arabic names and without numbering.
  • Arabic references are aligned to the right, while foreign references are aligned to the left.
  • The first line of each reference is without an indentation. If a reference spans multiple lines, subsequent lines should have an indentation.
  • No spaces should precede punctuation marks (full stop, commas, question marks, exclamation marks, etc.), and spaces should follow them.
  • End each reference with a full stop, except for electronic sources, where a full stop is not placed after the URL.
  •  Ensure consistent font size and style across all references.
  • For multiple works by the same author, arrange them chronologically from oldest to newest. If there are multiple works by the same author in the same year, label them with "a"&"b" etc.
    Example: Al-Hamoud, Mustafa (2003a).
                      Al-Hamoud, Mustafa (2003b).
    Example: Berndt (1981a).
                      Berndt (1981b).

 

Author:

  • List the family name followed by the first initial.
  • Use a comma between authors and precede the last author's name with an ampersand (&).
  • If the author's name isn't available, please begin with the article or book title.
  • Government and official entities are considered authors if no specific author is mentioned, such as "Ministry of Information" or "Kuwait University."

Date:

  •  In books and research papers, only mention the publication year.
  • Provide the full date (year, month, day) for online articles and encyclopedias.
  •  If the date is unavailable, use (n.d.), meaning no date.

Title:

  • The book's title, master's or doctoral thesis, research paper, or conference poster is always in italics.
  •  The title of an online article is also in italics.
  •  Include the journal name and volume number in italics for journal articles. You can use a forward slash (/) for separation.

Journal, Volume, and Issue:

  •  After the journal name, use a comma (not a full stop) to separate the volume and issue numbers. For example: "Educational Journal, 12(3), 44-56."
  • There is no space between the volume and issue numbers.

Gratitude to Prof. Fahad Alkhazi and Ms. Batoul Al-Hendal for their contributions to the content.