References
PJMHS follows the American Psychological Association (APA), 7th edition, referencing style.
General requirements
Authors are responsible for checking every reference against the original source. Reference management software such as EndNote, Zotero, or Mendeley is recommended, with the output style set to APA 7th edition.
In-text citations
Use the author–date system. Cite the author's surname and the year of publication, either in parentheses or as part of the sentence. Include page numbers for direct quotations.
| Situation | Parenthetical citation | Narrative citation |
|---|---|---|
| One author | (Smith, 2023) | Smith (2023) |
| Two authors | (Smith & Ahmed, 2023) | Smith and Ahmed (2023) |
| Three or more authors | (Smith et al., 2023) | Smith et al. (2023) |
| Group author | First citation: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2022) Later citations: (WHO, 2022) |
First citation: World Health Organization (WHO, 2022) |
| Several works | (Ahmed, 2021; Smith et al., 2023) | — |
| Direct quotation | (Smith, 2023, p. 45) | Smith (2023) stated that “…” (p. 45) |
Reference list
- Title the list References and place it at the end of the manuscript, before tables and figures.
- Arrange entries alphabetically by the surname of the first author. Order works by the same author by year, oldest first. Use 2023a, 2023b for works by the same author published in the same year.
- Use a hanging indent of 1.27 cm (0.5 inch) and double line spacing.
- List up to 20 authors. For 21 or more authors, list the first 19, then an ellipsis (…), then the final author.
- Give authors' initials after their surnames, and use an ampersand (&) before the last author.
- Use sentence case for article and book titles; italicise journal names, volume numbers, and book titles.
- Write journal names in full, not abbreviated.
- Provide the DOI as a link in the form https://doi.org/xxxxx for every source that has one.
- Every in-text citation must appear in the reference list, and every entry in the reference list must be cited in the text.
Reference examples
Journal article
Format
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), pages. https://doi.org/xx.xxxx/xxxxx
Example
Ahmed, S. M., Khan, R., & Lopez, T. (2023). Adherence to antihypertensive therapy in primary care. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 12(4), 1021–1030. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx
Article in press / online first
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Name. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/xx.xxxx/xxxxx
Book
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the book (Edition ed.). Publisher. DOI if available.
Edited book chapter
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the chapter. In E. E. Editor & F. F. Editor (Eds.), Title of the book (pp. xx–xx). Publisher.
Report by an organisation
World Health Organization. (Year). Title of the report. URL
Web page
Author or Organisation. (Year, Month Day). Title of the page. Site Name. URL
Thesis or dissertation
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the dissertation [Doctoral dissertation, University Name]. Database or archive name. URL
Clinical practice guideline
Organisation. (Year). Title of the guideline (Report No. if any). URL
Dataset
Author or Organisation. (Year). Title of the dataset (Version x) [Data set]. Publisher. DOI if available.
Unpublished work and personal communications
Avoid citing unpublished work. Personal communications are cited in the text only, for example: (A. Ahmed, personal communication, March 3, 2026), with written permission from the person cited. Personal communications are not included in the reference list.
