Measuring Competence in APA Writing Style: Scale Development and Psychometric Evaluation of Indonesian University Students

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.