When Standards and Technical Specifications Appear in Malaysian Research
Malaysian postgraduate researchers in engineering, manufacturing, construction, environmental science, information technology, and healthcare frequently cite technical standards — documents produced by standards bodies like the Department of Standards Malaysia (DSM), the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), or the British Standards Institution (BSI). These documents specify requirements, procedures, or guidelines for technical practice and are legitimate and often essential primary sources for research examining compliance, design, or evaluation against established benchmarks. Knowing how to cite standards and technical specifications in APA correctly is a practical citation skill for researchers in these fields.
The APA 7th Format for Standards Documents
In APA 7th, standards are cited similarly to reports, with the standards body as the author and the standard number included as a key identifying element. The format is: Standards Body Name. (Year). Title of standard (Standard No. XXXX). Publisher. URL if available.
Example for a Malaysian standard: Department of Standards Malaysia. (2021). Safety of household and similar electrical appliances (MS IEC 60335-1:2021). Department of Standards Malaysia.
Example for an ISO standard: International Organisation for Standardisation. (2015). Quality management systems — Requirements (ISO 9001:2015). ISO. https://www.iso.org/standard/62085.html
The standard number — MS IEC 60335-1:2021, ISO 9001:2015 — is a critical identifying element that should always be included because it uniquely identifies the specific version of the standard being cited. Standards are revised and renumbered over time, and citing without the standard number leaves the reader unable to determine which version was used.
In-Text Citations for Standards
In-text citations for standards follow the standard APA author-date format: (Department of Standards Malaysia, 2021) or (ISO, 2015). The standards body name may be abbreviated in subsequent citations if it was introduced fully at the first citation: “International Organisation for Standardisation [ISO]” at first mention, then “(ISO, 2015)” subsequently. If the standard number is important to the argument — as it typically is when you are specifying which version of a standard a product or practice complies with — you may include it in the text: “The design complies with ISO 9001:2015 (ISO, 2015), which specifies quality management system requirements.”
Checking Standards Citations During Proofreading
During proofreading, check standards citations for two specific issues. First, verify that the standard number in the citation matches the version actually used in the research. Standards are regularly updated, and citing an older version when a newer one was in force during the research period requires explanation. Second, verify that the standards body name is spelled out correctly and consistently — “International Organisation for Standardisation” uses the British spelling of “Organisation” even in English-language publications, which is a common error that proofreading should catch. Citing standards and technical specifications in APA with this level of precision ensures your technical sources are as rigorously attributed as your academic literature.
