APA 7th Edition Reference Guide
BJIKS APA 7th Edition Citation & Referencing Guide
To maintain international scholarly standards and ensure flawless indexing compatibility, the Bharat Journal of Integrated Knowledge Systems (BJIKS) requires all manuscripts to strictly adhere to the APA (American Psychological Association) 7th Edition formatting style.
1. Core Principles of APA 7th Edition
- Author-Date System: In-text citations must include the author’s surname and the year of publication.
- Alphabetical Order: The reference list at the end of the manuscript must be arranged alphabetically by the primary author’s last name.
- DOI Integration: You must include active, clickable Digital Object Identifier (DOI) URLs (e.g., https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx) for all journal articles and digital resources where available.
2. In-Text Citation Formats
Use the following formatting rules depending on the number of authors assigned to the cited work:
| Author Type | Parenthetical Citation (At the end of a sentence) | Narrative Citation (Embedded within a sentence) |
|---|---|---|
| One Author | Recent trends show critical shifts in soil health (Katherasala, 2026). | Katherasala (2026) argued that synthetic inputs damage soil architecture. |
| Two Authors | Academic support systems improve research outcomes (Suresh & Rajesh, 2026). | According to Suresh and Rajesh (2026), institutional frameworks are evolving. |
| Three or More Authors | Multi-centric data confirms these sociology dynamics (Suresh et al., 2026). | Suresh et al. (2026) demonstrated that integrated knowledge systems are essential. |
| Organization / Corporate | Food security depends directly on localized agricultural policy (World Bank, 2025). | The World Bank (2025) reported substantial growth in sustainable farming practices. |
Important Rule for Multiple Works: If you are citing more than one source inside the same set of parentheses, separate them using a semi-colon and list them alphabetically by the first author’s surname: (Katherasala, 2026; Suresh & Rajesh, 2026).
3. Reference List Examples (End-Matter)
Your final REFERENCES list should include the complete metadata for your citations. Use these exact structural templates based on the source type:
A. Journal Articles (With and Without DOIs)
- Template: Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of the article. Title of the Periodical, Volume(Issue), Page numbers. URL/DOI
Example (With DOI):
Example (Without DOI):
B. Books (Print and Digital)
- Template: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the book. Publisher. DOI/URL (if applicable)
Example:
C. Book Chapters (In Edited Volumes)
- Template: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the chapter. In E. E. Editor (Ed.), Title of the book (pp. xx–xx). Publisher.
Example:
D. Online Reports, Datasets, and Websites
- Template: Organization or Author. (Year, Month Day). Title of the work. Website Name. URL
Example:
4. Reference Management Tools (Highly Recommended)
To eliminate manual formatting errors, BJIKS highly encourages authors to utilize automated reference management software during manuscript draft preparation. These applications generate flawless APA 7th metadata that compiles perfectly into our systems:
- Mendeley (Free reference manager and academic network)
- EndNote (Professional research styling tool)
- Zotero (Open-source, easy-to-use research browser extension)
Policy & Formatting
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