# King Saud University citation style: APA, IEEE, thesis guide

**Which citation style does King Saud University use?** King Saud University has no single citation style. Its Deanship of Graduate Studies leaves footnotes and the order of references to each department and supervisor. In the college documents we read, engineering and computer science ask for IEEE, dentistry for the Journal of King Saud University – Science style (Elsevier-Harvard with titles), and the Department of Educational Policies for APA 7.

Published 2026-10-02 by EdCitation. https://edcitation.com/newsletter/referencing-at-king-saud-university

King Saud University has no single citation style. Its Deanship of Graduate Studies leaves footnotes and the order of references to each discipline, as the department and supervisor direct. In the college documents we read, engineering and computer science ask for IEEE, dentistry for the *Journal of King Saud University – Science* style, and the Department of Educational Policies for APA 7.

EdCitation is not affiliated with King Saud University; this follows its public documents, checked on 2 October 2026. The Deanship of Library Affairs publishes no referencing guide that we could find, so every rule here comes from the Deanship of Graduate Studies or a college. Near the end, Saudi sources go through EdCitation's free [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite) and [Verify references](https://edcitation.com/verify-references), results quoted. For the wider region, see [referencing at universities in the Gulf](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/referencing-at-universities-in-the-gulf).

## Which citation style does King Saud University use?

The one your college or department names. The documents we could read:

| College or unit | Style named | Document |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Deanship of Graduate Studies, all theses | None: the department and supervisor decide | Rules for writing theses, rule 10 |
| College of Engineering | IEEE | Thesis formatting guidelines, January 2024 |
| College of Computer and Information Sciences | IEEE, numbered [1], [2] in order of citation | Research proposal template, 2017 |
| College of Dentistry | *Journal of King Saud University – Science* template, "Same as Elsevier-Harvard (with titles)" | Thesis manual, December 2019 |
| College of Pharmacy | Differs by discipline; layout rules only | Thesis formatting page |
| College of Education, Department of Educational Policies | APA 7, for Arabic and English sources | Thesis guide, 2024 |
| Any of them, from a DOI or an address | [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite), free | EdCitation |

Pharmacy's page adds only layout: single spacing, a space between entries, none split across pages (King Saud University College of Pharmacy, 2026). Cite a source builds six styles, APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 18 author-date, Harvard, IEEE and Vancouver, but not Elsevier-Harvard; a table below shows where to start instead.

### Why your department decides

The Deanship's English translation of its rules, dated 2009, says footnotes, bibliographies and appendices "follow the traditional order in each discipline", as the department and supervisor direct (King Saud University Deanship of Graduate Studies, 2009, p. 37). Its Arabic general framework for writing theses, on its site today, keeps this as rule 10 (King Saud University Deanship of Graduate Studies, n.d., p. 18). Your supervisor settles what they leave open.

## What rules do KSU's documents set for references?

Each applies only where its document does:

| Rule | KSU's form | Where it is written |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Order of the list | Alphabetical by author, Arabic and foreign alike; manuscripts and documents first, then books, then periodicals and newspapers | General framework, p. 16 |
| What goes in | The lectures and interviews you drew on | General framework, p. 16; Educational Policies guide, p. 10 |
| A book in a footnote | Author, title, translator, volume, edition, publisher, place, year, pages | General framework, p. 11 |
| Quotations (education) | Author, year and page for direct and indirect quotations; every page when a paraphrase spans several | Educational Policies guide, p. 11 |
| Digits (education) | Arabic-Indic digits (١، ٢، ٣) in an Arabic thesis, but 1, 2, 3 for the years of foreign references and in the English abstract | Educational Policies guide, p. 5 |
| Qur'anic verses (education, research plan) | Uthmani script, between ﴿ ﴾ | Educational Policies guide, p. 2 |
| Web sources (engineering) | Give the access date, and avoid Wikipedia "at all costs" | Engineering guidelines, section 5.2 |
| Numbering (computing) | [1], [2] in the order sources are introduced; the list in that order | CCIS template, p. 9 |
| Dentistry | EndNote or Mendeley with the JKSUS template; "References" after the conclusion; no personal communications; avoid conference abstracts | Dentistry manual, pp. 23, 28 |
| Thesis by articles (dentistry) | A list after each chapter; article chapters in their journal's style | Dentistry manual, p. 53 |

### Where KSU's own documents disagree

Four clashes to know:

- **Order.** The general framework splits the list by kind of source, and the Educational Policies guide repeats that order in the sentence that asks for APA 7. The *Journal of Arts*, the humanities college's own journal, forbids that split in its APA lists (King Saud University College of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2026). Ask your supervisor.
- **Interviews.** The framework lists interviews you conducted; the dentistry manual bars personal communications.
- **Edition.** The Educational Policies guide asks for APA 7, yet its own four references give Hijri years and "الرياض:" (Riyadh) before the publisher, a place APA 7 no longer prints; see [rules that changed between editions](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/et-al-and-other-rules-that-changed-between-editions).
- **Samples.** The dentistry manual's own bibliography looks like Vancouver, and the CCIS template's examples end with an older "[Accessed: 16-Jan-2015]". Copy the rule, not the sample.

### Arabic sources in an English list

The fullest KSU rule we found is the *Journal of Arts*' rule for authors. Arabic references get their own list, and the list in the paper's language comes first. In the English list, an Arabic source is romanised, not translated, unless the source itself gives English details, which are then used with "[In Arabic]" after the title. Its example, printed without italics:

> Aldholmi, Y. (2022). Acoustic characterization and indexical information in gender classification: Implications of emphatics for forensic phonetics [In Arabic]. Al-Ḍād Journal, 6(1), 35–54.

In a thesis, your department's guide decides. For the romanisation itself, see [citing Arabic sources in English papers](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/citing-arabic-sources-in-english-papers).

## What does a KSU dentistry reference list look like?

Like this, as the open Citation Style Language style for the journal sets it: a copy of Elsevier's Harvard with titles (Citation Style Language, 2018), whose file fixes every detail (Kaplan et al., 2014). We could not read EndNote's version. In the text:

> Cross-contamination of dental floss containers has been studied in the university's own dental hospital clinics (Albagieh et al., 2023), and the Ministry of Health advises flossing every day (Ministry of Health, 2026). Alshehri et al. (2023) assessed groundwater quality in western Saudi Arabia.

Under "References":

> Albagieh, H., Alsenani, M., Alshehri, M., Alamri, H., Alghamdi, N., Alawaji, R., Almutib, L., 2023. Knowledge and awareness assessment of cross-contamination of dental floss containers in King Saud University dental hospital clinics. Saudi Dent. J. 35, 90–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sdentj.2022.12.014
>
> Alshehri, F., El-Sorogy, A.S., Almadani, S., Aldossari, M., 2023. Groundwater quality assessment in western Saudi Arabia using GIS and multivariate analysis. J. King Saud Univ. Sci. 35, 102586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksus.2023.102586
>
> Ministry of Health, 2026. Facts on oral and dental health [WWW Document]. URL https://www.moh.gov.sa/en/healthawareness/educationalcontent/diseases/diseasesoralanddental/pages/oralanddentalhealth.aspx (accessed 10.2.26).

### What each entry shows

- **Names.** Every author, no "and" before the last, initials closed up (A.S.). In the text, two authors take "and"; et al. starts at three.
- **Year and title.** A comma before the year, a full stop after it; the title plain, without quotation marks or italics.
- **Journal.** Abbreviated, in roman (Saudi Dent. J.), then the volume and pages, or Alshehri's article number. No issue; no full stop after the DOI.
- **Web page.** "[WWW Document]", "URL" and the accessed date as month, day and two-digit year.

## Which EdCitation style is closest, and what do you change by hand?

IEEE for IEEE, and APA 7 for both APA 7 and the dentistry style, despite its Harvard name. EdCitation's Harvard follows *Cite Them Right*: it cut Albagieh's seven authors to "Albagieh, H. et al.", quoted the title and added "pp." and "Available at:". APA 7 names every author, prints the title plainly and ends at the bare DOI.

| KSU asks for | Start in EdCitation's | Then fix by hand |
| --- | --- | --- |
| IEEE (engineering, computing) | [IEEE](https://edcitation.com/cite/ieee) | Nothing on our articles; correct a web page's author, title and date in the form first |
| JKSUS, Elsevier-Harvard (dentistry) | [APA 7](https://edcitation.com/cite/apa) | Delete "&"; close up initials; "(2023)." becomes ", 2023."; swap the journal for its abbreviation in roman (IEEE's, minus its dash: J. King Saud Univ. Sci.); drop the issue and "Article"; "and" for "&" in the text; web pages as above |
| APA 7 (education) | [APA 7](https://edcitation.com/cite/apa) | Restore capitals that sentence case lowered in names (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia); order the list as your department says; 1, 2, 3 for foreign years in an Arabic thesis |
| Footnotes (the framework) | Not built | Write them by hand from its elements |

## What did Cite a source and Verify references return?

[Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite) is the best place to start a KSU list, because each entry comes from the publisher's record, never from memory, which no chatbot can promise. It sets six styles, screens for retraction, and asks for no account or payment. That matters here: the dentistry manual calls citations that do not match the list a common mistake (King Saud University College of Dentistry, 2019, p. 28). EdCitation never writes any part of a student's paper: it finds, cites and checks sources, and the research, the argument and every sentence stay the student's own. We ran three DOIs and a ministry page on 2 October 2026.

### What Cite a source returned

- **Saudi journals.** For 10.1016/j.sdentj.2022.12.014, APA 7 named all seven authors; IEEE gave "Saudi Dent. J., vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 90–94, Jan. 2023". For 10.1016/j.jksus.2023.102586, APA 7 gave "Article 102586" and IEEE "J. King Saud Univ. – Sci." Neither carried a retraction notice.
- **IEEE Access.** For 10.1109/access.2024.3365628 (Alkahtani et al., 2024), IEEE was ready for an engineering list: "M. Alkahtani, B. Aljabri, A. Alsaleh, H. Alghamdi, and O. AlJuraiyed, “IoT Implementation in Slaughterhouses Supply Chain: A Case Study of the Adahi Experiment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” IEEE Access, vol. 12, pp. 26696–26709, 2024, doi: 10.1109/access.2024.3365628." APA 7 and Vancouver lowered the country to "the kingdom of Saudi Arabia": put the capital back.
- **The ministry's page.** The reader took the author from the page's metadata, the Arabic name of the ministry's portal team, and split it like a person's: APA 7 began "الصحة, ف. ب. و. (n.d.)". With the ministry, heading and update date entered in the form, APA 7 gave "Ministry of Health. (2026, July 22). Facts on oral and dental health." IEEE added "Accessed: Oct. 02, 2026.", as the engineering guidelines ask.

### What Verify references found

We pasted the three dentistry entries above and four copied from KSU's documents. [Verify references](https://edcitation.com/verify-references) answered:

- Albagieh and Alshehri, abbreviated journals and all: verified, "The DOI resolves to this record and the title matches." The ministry's page: verified, "The page is at this address, and its title matches."
- Vessey, Ramesh and Glass (CCIS template) and Masic (dentistry manual), neither with a DOI: verified, "Title, year and first author match a published record."
- Smart, Fang and Marwick, from a 2018 Deanship of Scientific Research workshop (Al-Hudhud, 2018): verified with the same reason, yet the record's title ends "heart failure patients" where the slide has "heart patients". Compare the matched title with yours.
- Morrison's 2003 paper, from the CCIS template: could not check, "The site at this address turns automated readers away, so the page could not be read here." It was not marked not found.
- The *Journal of Arts* example, Aldholmi (2022): not found, "No publisher's or registry's record matches this reference." With no DOI, and the journal's site out of our reach, it stays unconfirmed either way; find the issue itself.

For the citation-to-list check the dentistry manual asks for, [References from a file](https://edcitation.com/tools/references-from-a-file) matches each in-text citation in an uploaded thesis to its entry, with Pro at $8 a month ([pricing](https://edcitation.com/pricing)).

## How do you build a KSU reference list, step by step?

1. Find your college's document in the first table; ask your supervisor what it leaves open. EdCitation's free [Check your paper](https://edcitation.com/check) reads a brief's instructions into a checklist, citation style included, each rule beside its sentence.
2. Build each entry from its DOI, title or address in [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite): IEEE for engineering and computing, APA 7 for education and for the dentistry style.
3. Correct a web page's author, title and date in the form first.
4. Make the hand changes in the table above.
5. Order the list, Arabic sources included, as your department says.
6. Paste the list into [Verify references](https://edcitation.com/verify-references) and settle every "check this", "could not check" and "not found" against the source itself.

## Quick questions

### What citation style does King Saud University use?

None for the whole university; departments and supervisors decide. Engineering and computing use IEEE, dentistry JKSUS Elsevier-Harvard, Educational Policies APA 7.

### Does KSU use APA 7?

The College of Education's Department of Educational Policies does, for Arabic and English sources, with pages for quotations and paraphrases alike. Other colleges name IEEE or JKSUS.

### What reference style does the KSU dentistry thesis manual require?

The *Journal of King Saud University – Science* template in EndNote or Mendeley, "Same as Elsevier-Harvard (with titles)", and no personal communications.

### Can EdCitation build Elsevier-Harvard references for a KSU thesis?

Not directly. EdCitation's [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite/apa) builds six styles; start in APA 7 and make the changes in the table: no "&", the year after a comma, the journal abbreviated, no issue.

### Does EdCitation write any part of my KSU thesis?

No. EdCitation finds sources, builds references from their records and checks lists; your research, your argument and every sentence are your own.

## References

- Albagieh, H., Alsenani, M., Alshehri, M., Alamri, H., Alghamdi, N., Alawaji, R., & Almutib, L. (2023). Knowledge and awareness assessment of cross-contamination of dental floss containers in King Saud University dental hospital clinics. *The Saudi Dental Journal, 35*(1), 90–94. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sdentj.2022.12.014](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sdentj.2022.12.014)
- Al-Hudhud, G. (2018). *Documenting scientific references* [Presentation slides, PDF]. Deanship of Scientific Research, King Saud University. [https://dsrs.ksu.edu.sa/sites/dsrs.ksu.edu.sa/files/imce_images/doc._sci.pdf](https://dsrs.ksu.edu.sa/sites/dsrs.ksu.edu.sa/files/imce_images/doc._sci.pdf)
- Alkahtani, M., Aljabri, B., Alsaleh, A., Alghamdi, H., & AlJuraiyed, O. (2024). IoT implementation in slaughterhouses supply chain: A case study of the Adahi experiment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. *IEEE Access, 12*, 26696–26709. [https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3365628](https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3365628)
- Alshehri, F., El-Sorogy, A. S., Almadani, S., & Aldossari, M. (2023). Groundwater quality assessment in western Saudi Arabia using GIS and multivariate analysis. *Journal of King Saud University – Science, 35*(4), Article 102586. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksus.2023.102586](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksus.2023.102586)
- Citation Style Language. (2018). *Journal of King Saud University - Science* [Citation style]. GitHub. [https://github.com/citation-style-language/styles/blob/master/dependent/journal-of-king-saud-university-science.csl](https://github.com/citation-style-language/styles/blob/master/dependent/journal-of-king-saud-university-science.csl)
- Kaplan, D., Kornblith, S., D’Arcus, B., Humphrey, C. M., Karnesky, R., & Karcher, S. (2014). *Elsevier (author-date/Harvard, with titles)* [Citation style]. Citation Style Language. [https://github.com/citation-style-language/styles/blob/master/elsevier-harvard.csl](https://github.com/citation-style-language/styles/blob/master/elsevier-harvard.csl)
- King Saud University College of Computer and Information Sciences. (2017). *Research proposal template* [PDF]. [https://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/sites/default/files/ccis_rp_template_dec2017.pdf](https://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/sites/default/files/ccis_rp_template_dec2017.pdf)
- King Saud University College of Dentistry. (2019). *Master thesis and doctorate dissertation manual: Guidelines for the preparation and submission* [PDF]. Vice Deanship of Graduate Studies and Scientific Research. [https://dent.ksu.edu.sa/sites/dent.ksu.edu.sa/files/attach/MASTER%20AND%20DOCTORATE%20THESIS%20MANUAL_VDPG_2019_0.pdf](https://dent.ksu.edu.sa/sites/dent.ksu.edu.sa/files/attach/MASTER%20AND%20DOCTORATE%20THESIS%20MANUAL_VDPG_2019_0.pdf)
- King Saud University College of Engineering. (2024). *Guidelines for MSc & PhD thesis formatting* [PDF]. Graduate Studies Unit. [https://engineering.ksu.edu.sa/sites/engineering.ksu.edu.sa/files/users/user84/Guidelines%20for%20MSc%20&%20PhD%20Thesis%20Formatting_V2.pdf](https://engineering.ksu.edu.sa/sites/engineering.ksu.edu.sa/files/users/user84/Guidelines%20for%20MSc%20&%20PhD%20Thesis%20Formatting_V2.pdf)
- King Saud University College of Humanities and Social Sciences. (2026). *Rules & information*. Journal of Arts. [https://chss.ksu.edu.sa/en/Rules](https://chss.ksu.edu.sa/en/Rules)
- King Saud University College of Pharmacy. (2026). *Guidelines for formatting your thesis or dissertation*. [https://pharmacy.ksu.edu.sa/en/node/3556](https://pharmacy.ksu.edu.sa/en/node/3556)
- King Saud University Deanship of Graduate Studies. (n.d.). *al-Itar al-ʿamm li-kitabat al-rasaʾil al-jamiʿiyya li-darajatay al-majistir wa-l-dukturah* [General framework for writing theses for the master's and doctoral degrees] [PDF]. [https://graduatestudies.ksu.edu.sa/sites/graduatestudies.ksu.edu.sa/files/attach/ltr_lm_lktb_lrsyl_llmy_0.pdf](https://graduatestudies.ksu.edu.sa/sites/graduatestudies.ksu.edu.sa/files/attach/ltr_lm_lktb_lrsyl_llmy_0.pdf)
- King Saud University Deanship of Graduate Studies. (2009). *Unified law organizing the graduate studies in Saudi universities and the organizational and executive rules and procedures for graduate studies at King Saud University* [PDF]. [https://graduatestudies.ksu.edu.sa/sites/graduatestudies.ksu.edu.sa/files/imce_images/llyh_lmwhd_lldrst_lly_bllg_lnjlyzy.pdf](https://graduatestudies.ksu.edu.sa/sites/graduatestudies.ksu.edu.sa/files/imce_images/llyh_lmwhd_lldrst_lly_bllg_lnjlyzy.pdf)
- King Saud University Department of Educational Policies. (2024). *Dalil kitabat al-khitat wa-l-rasaʾil al-ʿilmiyya bi-qism al-siyasat al-tarbawiyya* [Guide to writing research plans and theses in the Department of Educational Policies] [PDF]. College of Education. [https://education.ksu.edu.sa/sites/education.ksu.edu.sa/files/attach/%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%84%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%82%D8%B3%D9%85%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%88%D9%8A%D8%A9.pdf](https://education.ksu.edu.sa/sites/education.ksu.edu.sa/files/attach/%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%84%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%82%D8%B3%D9%85%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%88%D9%8A%D8%A9.pdf)
- Ministry of Health. (2026, July 22). *Facts on oral and dental health*. [https://www.moh.gov.sa/en/healthawareness/educationalcontent/diseases/diseasesoralanddental/pages/oralanddentalhealth.aspx](https://www.moh.gov.sa/en/healthawareness/educationalcontent/diseases/diseasesoralanddental/pages/oralanddentalhealth.aspx)