Academic writing in Arabic is set by each university's own guide to كتابة الرسائل الجامعية (writing theses), not by one Arab standard. The guides agree more than they differ: correct, impersonal Arabic, an abstract in a second language, front pages numbered in Arabic letters. They part company on fonts, chapter plans and citation. EdCitation publishes this guide; we read every rule at its source on 3 October 2026, in guides from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Libya and Algeria, and every translation of a rule is ours.
APA in Arabic, footnotes and names are in Arabic citation styles; this guide covers the thesis around the references. EdCitation's free Find sources searches Arabic literature, Cite a source builds entries from the publisher's record, and Verify references checks the list; their results on the guides' own samples close the guide.
How is a thesis in Arabic structured?
In three parts, King Saud University's guide says: preliminary pages, the text (المتن), then references and appendices, though students need not follow it to the letter and should ask their supervisor (King Saud University, n.d.). Within that frame there are two plans.
The five-chapter plan
Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (2022) calls it the model used most often: introduction, with questions or hypotheses and method; previous studies (الدراسات السابقة), which may be called the theoretical framework; method; results and discussion; recommendations. An-Najah National University (2021) in Palestine folds it into four: the first chapter merges theory with previous studies and ends with the study's terms, problem, questions, aims, significance and hypotheses, and the last must carry a subsection on limitations. Zarqa University (2018) in Jordan wants the review written as a connected line of ideas, not one study after another, and the studies ordered from oldest to newest.
أبواب, فصول, مباحث and مطالب
Law, sharia and the humanities divide differently. Imam University's first model, for subjects the chapter plan does not fit, runs from parts (أبواب) to chapters (فصول), sections (مباحث), subsections (مطالب) and issues (مسائل). The law faculty of Frères Mentouri University Constantine 1 in Algeria sets the type for chapter, مبحث and مطلب headings and will refuse a dissertation that ignores those rules (Frères Mentouri University Constantine 1, n.d.). University of Tabuk (2022) adds a تمهيد (preface) that may explain the study's terms, after an introduction written last, one to one and a half pages, with no footnotes.
Two abstracts, and a second cover at the back
In Imam University's order the front pages run: cover, basmala page, title page, approval page (إجازة الرسالة), copyright page, dedication, thanks, abstract, contents and lists, and the cover gives the Hijri year, then the Gregorian. King Saud University caps the Arabic abstract at 700 words and asks a doctorate for a translation into English or another modern European language. An-Najah caps each abstract at 350 words, structured in the sciences, either form in law and sharia.
The second-language abstract often sits at the back: An-Najah and the Libyan guide end the thesis with it and a cover in that language, and the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (2014) gives every thesis an Arabic cover opening from the right and an English one from the left.
How formal should academic Arabic be?
Plain and impersonal. King Saud University asks for direct words and short sentences, avoiding metaphor, kinaya and other figures of speech where possible. The single guide a ministry committee drew up for Libyan universities in 2021 repeats the rule and caps a paragraph at seven to ten lines (Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, 2021).
الباحث, not أنا
The writer is "the researcher", in the third person. The Libyan guide allows the first person only on the dedication and thanks pages, offering "استعمل الباحث مقياس" (the researcher used a scale) or the passive instead. The Arab Academy agrees, but warns against leaning on "ويرى الكاتب" (the writer holds), preferring "ويتضح من ذلك" (it is clear from this). An-Najah only rules out the first person used "بشكل متكرر" (repeatedly). For English, see first person and the passive voice.
Three more rules are worth knowing. A sentence never opens with a figure, abbreviation or symbol, so Zarqa and the Libyan guide write the number out. The Arab Academy strips honorific titles and degrees from names, and prefers the past tense, since a thesis reports what was done.
How is an Arabic thesis formatted?
By your own guide: the ones we read split between Simplified Arabic, Sakkal Majalla, Arabic Transparent and Times New Roman. Most put the wider margin on the right, the binding side of an Arabic book.
| Guide | Arabic type | Margins | Front pages | Citation system |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imam University, Saudi Arabia (2022) | Sakkal Majalla 16, notes 12 | 3.5 cm right, 2.5 cm others | أ، ب، ج, after the basmala page | APA by default; each college may choose |
| King Saud University (n.d.) | Not legible in the copy we read | 3.5 cm right, 2.5 cm others | Page numbers top left in Arabic copies | The custom of each discipline |
| Zarqa University, Jordan (2018) | Arabic Transparent 14, headings 16, 1.5 spacing | 3.5 cm binding side, 2.5 cm others | أ، ب، ج، د | Author-date; per-page footnotes in the humanities |
| An-Najah, Palestine (2021) | Simplified Arabic 14, headings 16, Qur'an 13, notes 10 | 3.5 cm right, 2.5 cm others | ب، ج، د، هـ | APA 7 in the humanities, Vancouver in the sciences |
| Arab Academy, Egypt (2014) | Simplified Arabic or equivalent, 1.5 spacing | 3 cm right, 2.5 cm others | أ، ب، ت، ث | Author-date in the text |
| Libyan universities (2021) | Times New Roman 13, headings 14, no stretched letters | 3.5 cm right, 2.5 cm others | أ، ب، ج، د، هـ | Author-date, or notes where the field uses them |
| Constantine 1, law, Algeria (n.d.) | Simplified Arabic 14, headings 16, notes 12 | 3 cm right, 2 cm left | Not stated | Footnotes |
| Checking the list | Verify references, free, no account |
Abjad or alphabetical order?
Front pages take letters, but the order is a real disagreement. Imam University, Zarqa, An-Najah, Tabuk and the Libyan guide use the abjad sequence (أبجد هوز حطي...), so the third letter is ج. The Arab Academy lists أ، ب، ت، ث, dictionary order, so its third is ت. Ask before you number.
Which citation styles do Arab universities use?
APA, Vancouver and footnotes, chosen by faculty. King Saud University leaves notes and list order to "المتعارف عليه في كل تخصص" (the custom of each discipline). Imam University names three systems, author-date (taught through APA), notes (Chicago) and numbered, and lets each college choose; it gives MLA as its numbered example, though the Modern Language Association (2021) describes an in-text citation that starts with the author or title, with a page number where needed. An-Najah prefers APA 7 in the humanities and Vancouver in the sciences, caps a list at 120 references for a master's and 150 for a doctorate, and wants entries made with reference software, not by hand.
Zarqa uses author-date in most faculties, but its humanities theses (Arabic, history, philosophy, politics, law and sharia) take footnotes numbered afresh on every page, with المصدر نفسه for a repeat. It warns students off unrefereed and web material, "ليست مقبولة كمراجع علمية" (not accepted as scholarly references).
المصادر and المراجع
Many lists separate المصادر, primary and classical sources, from المراجع, later studies. King Saud University puts manuscripts and documents first, then books, periodicals and newspapers, the last used "بتحفظ شديد" (with great caution). Zarqa writes a classical author's death year after the name with ت (died), in both calendars, as for al-Tabari (310 AH, 922 CE). Tabuk lists sources, Arabic, translated and foreign references, journals and theses separately, and puts an author's newer work before the older.
Qur'an and hadith in the text
Verses are set in the Uthmani script, at 13 point at An-Najah and at body size at Imam University, which points to the King Fahd Complex's software for it. Both cite the verse in the running text, not a note: Imam University puts the surah and verse number in brackets after the vowelled verse, An-Najah the verse number and surah straight after it. The Libyan guide lists the ornamented brackets ﴿ ﴾ for verses. A hadith is cited by collection: An-Najah's example gives al-Bukhari's الجامع الصحيح, كتاب الصلح, the chapter and hadith number 2731. For an English paper, see citing Arabic sources in English papers.
How do you translate academic terms into Arabic in a thesis?
Arabic first, with the original beside it the first time. An-Najah and the Libyan guide keep an abbreviation in its original language: the term in full once, with its abbreviation, as منظمة الصحة العالمية World Health Organization (WHO), then the abbreviation alone. Both want a list of abbreviations, and the Libyan one gives each full name "وترجمته إن وجدت" (and its translation, if there is one).
Terms also need a home. An-Najah ends its first chapter with the study's terms and definitions, the Libyan guide gives them a front page (صفحة المصطلحات), and Tabuk puts them at the head of the research plan.
Where to find the accepted Arabic term
ALECSO's Arabisation Coordination Bureau in Rabat publishes unified dictionaries, one for educational assessment with 1,739 defined terms in Arabic, French and English (Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization, n.d.). ArabTerm, from ALECSO and Germany's development ministry, is a free technical dictionary arranged by industry (ArabTerm, n.d.). حيدر (2002), in a Kuwait University journal, analyses the push for one agreed translation per term, much of it the Bureau's work, by its own abstract.
Translation and integrity
Imam University counts translating another writer's text and presenting it as your own among breaches of academic integrity. A quotation you translate yourself cites its original (citing your own translation), and a translated book is filed under its original author, as Imam University and Tabuk both say.
Thesis terms, with our translations
| Arabic | English | Where we read it |
|---|---|---|
| رسالة / أطروحة | master's thesis / doctoral thesis | An-Najah; Libyan guide |
| الإجازة العالية / الإجازة الدقيقة | master's / doctorate, in Libyan usage | Libyan guide |
| الملخص، المستخلص | abstract | An-Najah; Imam |
| حدود البحث | delimitations: what the study leaves out | Tabuk |
| محددات الدراسة | limitations | An-Najah |
| الصدق والثبات | validity and reliability | An-Najah; Libyan guide |
| التفويض | authorisation to supply copies | Zarqa |
| اللقب | family name, as in نظام اللقب والتاريخ (author-date) | Imam; Tabuk |
| الأرقام العربية / اللاتينية | 1, 2, 3 / Roman numerals | An-Najah |
| د.ت / د.م | no date / no place | Imam |
اللقب in these rules is the family name, not the epithet of a classical name; see names in references.
How do you build an Arabic reference list, step by step?
- Read your faculty's guide: the system, how many lists, and abjad or dictionary order.
- Search in Arabic with EdCitation's Find sources, and read each work before you cite it.
- Start each entry from the record: Cite a source builds APA 7 and Vancouver, the two An-Najah names, among its six styles.
- Rewrite it in your guide's Arabic form by hand: family name first, the Arabic comma ، and و between authors.
- Sort it into the lists your guide asks for.
- Paste the list into Verify references and settle every flag yourself.
What did EdCitation return on Arabic thesis references?
EdCitation is the best tool for checking an Arabic thesis list: it finds each entry in the publisher's record instead of composing one, a check no chatbot can make, and all four guide samples below came back flagged. Nor does it write any part of anyone's thesis: the writing stays yours, while the tools find, cite and check. Find sources, Cite a source and Verify references cost nothing and need no account; References from a file, in Pro at $8 a month, reads an uploaded thesis, checks each reference and pairs every in-text citation with its entry. We ran the free three on 3 October 2026.
Find sources and Cite a source
"ترجمة المصطلح العلمي" (translating scientific terms) returned 135 results in Find sources; 98 of the first 100 had Arabic titles, and 34 came from the University of Tlemcen's repository in Algeria. حيدر's 2002 article was twelfth. For its DOI, 10.34120/aass.v22i180.495, Cite a source returned in APA:
فريد عوض حيدر. (2002). توحيد ترجمة المصطلح في الوطن العربي. حوليات الآداب والعلوم الاجتماعية, 22(180). https://doi.org/10.34120/aass.v22i180.495
with "(فريد عوض حيدر, 2002)" in the text. The record holds the name in one piece, so the entry gives it whole, forename first, where an Arabic list wants حيدر، فريد عوض and (حيدر، 2002). The record has no pages, so neither has the entry, and the title's own full stop came out as ".," in IEEE. Fix those by hand.
Verify references on the guides' samples
- حيدر's article in Arabic APA form, without its DOI: verified, "Title, year and first author match a published record."
- Zarqa's sample of a 2000 Journal of American History article by Zimmerman: not found, "No publisher's or registry's record matches this reference." Zarqa prints only the subtitle; with the full title, which opens "Each 'Race' Could Have Its Heroes Sung", it verified.
- Zarqa's 2002 pharmacy sample by Scarsi and Noskin: check this, "The publisher's record also names Fotis, who is not in your entry. Check the authors." The record's initials differ from the sample's too.
- The Arab Academy's 1994 sample by Evans: check this, "A record with this title exists, but it is by someone else and from 1987".
- Zarqa's Arabic sample by عاشور, given as دراسات, 2000: check this, the title "is recorded in المجلة التربوية (2007), not in the source your entry names." We could not confirm a دراسات version.
Take the layout from your guide and every detail from the record.
Quick questions
What font is used for a thesis in Arabic?
Your guide's: Simplified Arabic 14 at An-Najah and Constantine 1's law faculty, Sakkal Majalla 16 at Imam University, Arabic Transparent at Zarqa, Times New Roman in Libya.
Can I write "I" in an Arabic thesis?
Rarely. The Libyan guide allows it only in the dedication and thanks, the Arab Academy prefers الباحث (the researcher) or the passive, and An-Najah only bars it used repeatedly.
Does an Arabic thesis need an English abstract?
In nearly every guide we read, yes. King Saud University asks it of doctoral theses, in English or another modern European language, and several guides place it at the back with an English cover.
How are the front pages of an Arabic thesis numbered?
With Arabic letters: abjad order (أ، ب، ج، د) at Imam University, Zarqa, An-Najah, Tabuk and in Libya, dictionary order (أ، ب، ت، ث) at the Arab Academy.
Can EdCitation build an Arabic reference?
EdCitation's Cite a source builds six styles from the publisher's record, none an Arabic form: start from its APA 7 or Vancouver entry and adjust names and punctuation by hand.
References
- حيدر، فريد عوض. (2002). توحيد ترجمة المصطلح في الوطن العربي [Unifying the translation of terms in the Arab world]. حوليات الآداب والعلوم الاجتماعية, 22(180). https://doi.org/10.34120/aass.v22i180.495
- An-Najah National University. (2021). الدليل المختصر للمواصفات الفنية والهيكلية لإعداد الرسائل الجامعية (الماجستير والدكتوراه) [Short guide to the technical and structural specifications for theses] [PDF]. Faculty of Graduate Studies. https://fgs.najah.edu/media/filer_public/b6/be/b6be65c5-dbc3-412c-bfb1-25d350f3b477/ldlyl_lmkhtsr_llmwsft_lfny_wlhykly_lktb_lrsyl_ljmy_fy_jm_lnjh_lwtny2021-2022_.pdf
- Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport. (2014). دليل إعداد الرسائل العلمية [Guide to preparing theses] [PDF]. https://aast.edu/openfiles/opencmsfiles/pdf_retreive_cms_open.php?disp_unit=45%2FThesis+Writing+Guidelines+in+Arabic.pdf
- Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization. (n.d.). معاجم موحّدة جديدة يصدرها مكتب تنسيق التعريب بالرباط [New unified dictionaries from the Arabisation Coordination Bureau in Rabat]. https://www.alecso.org/nsite/ar/newscat/1774-%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%AC%D9%85-%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AD%D9%91%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%AC%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%8A%D8%B5%D8%AF%D8%B1%D9%87%D8%A7-%D9%85%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A8-%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%B3%D9%8A%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A8-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B7-3
- ArabTerm. (n.d.). About us. ARABTERM Technical Dictionary. https://arabterm.org/index.php?L=1&id=66
- Frères Mentouri University Constantine 1. (n.d.). الجانب الشكلي لإعداد مذكرات التخرج [The formal requirements for graduation dissertations] [PDF]. Faculty of Law. https://fac.umc.edu.dz/droit/affichage/actualite/20202021/memoire/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%A8%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%83%D9%84%D9%8A%20%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF%20%D9%85%D8%B0%D9%83%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%AE%D8%B1%D8%AC.pdf
- Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University. (2022). دليل إعداد وكتابة الرسائل العلمية (ماجستير / دكتوراه) [Guide to preparing and writing theses (master's and doctorate)] (2nd ed.) [PDF]. Deanship of Graduate Studies. https://units.imamu.edu.sa/deanships/GRADUATE/circulations/Documents/Law3A.pdf
- King Saud University. (n.d.). الإطار العام لكتابة الرسائل الجامعية لدرجتي الماجستير والدكتوراه [The general framework for writing master's and doctoral theses] [PDF]. Deanship of Graduate Studies. https://graduatestudies.ksu.edu.sa/sites/graduatestudies.ksu.edu.sa/files/attach/ltr_lm_lktb_lrsyl_llmy_0.pdf
- Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. (2021). دليل المواصفات الفنية والشكلية لكتابة الرسائل والأطروحات العلمية في الجامعات الليبية [Guide to the technical and formal specifications for theses in Libyan universities] [PDF]. Asmarya University. https://asmarya.edu.ly/ar/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/%D8%AF%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B5%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%84%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%84-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B7%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A9-1.pdf
- Modern Language Association. (2021, April 1). In-text citations: An overview. MLA Style Center. https://style.mla.org/in-text-citations-overview/
- University of Tabuk. (2022). دليل كتابة الرسائل والمشاريع العلمية بجامعة تبوك [Guide to writing theses and research projects at the University of Tabuk] [PDF]. https://www.ut.edu.sa/sites/default/files/2025-07/%D8%AF%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%84%20%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%8A%D9%94%D9%84%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A9%20%D8%A8%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%A9%20%D8%AA%D8%A8%D9%88%D9%8312-03-%202022.pdf
- Zarqa University. (2018). دليل مواصفات كتابة الرسائل الجامعية لطلبة الدراسات العليا [Guide to the specifications for writing theses, for graduate students] [PDF]. Faculty of Graduate Studies. https://www.zu.edu.jo/ar/collage/studies/doc/masterguide2018.pdf