Muhammad Dwirifqi Kharisma Putra, Wardani Rahayu, Khusnul Bayu Aji
Background: The American Psychological Association (APA) style is a convention adopted by many universities worldwide. However, students find it difficult to apply the correct APA 7th edition format. Objective: This study developed and validated a curriculum-based questionnaire to assess students’ competence in formatting journal articles according to APA style. Method: We recruited 1,117 participants online (69.2% master's students and 30.8% doctoral students) from various Indonesian universities. Each participant completed our 30-item Student Competence in APA 7 Writing Style (SCAWS) scale. We used simple Rasch models to evaluate the scale's psychometric properties. Results: The Rasch analysis confirmed model fit based on global-fit statistics. Totally, 27 of the 30 items were found to fit the Rasch model. The scale's reliability was .813, indicating strong internal consistency. Conclusion: The 27-item SCAWS scale provides a valid measure suitable for use in educational and psychological research. Teaching implications: The SCAWS scale appears to offer lecturers a useful instrument for diagnosing postgraduate students’ difficulties in understanding the APA 7th edition writing style and provides recommendations for addressing their weaknesses in specific areas. © The Author(s) 2026
Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia; Department of Educational Research and Evaluation, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia; Vocational College, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
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