Differences between APA vs MLA: Which Format to Use?

Academic world is based on strict regulations when it comes to writing, starting with a college essay and up to science publications. Generally, there are three pretty common citation styles in American higher education: APA, MLA, and Chicago. Their main goal is to provide proper citations, avoid plagiarism, create unified paper structure system. Chicago style is used for history and economics, so, it is usually directly offered together with an assignment. When it comes to APA vs MLA, not everything can be as clear or easy for students. They both are very common, that’s why have similarities as well as differences. So how to choose the right one for your assignment and what are key standards for each one? This article has all necessary information to help you master both APA and MLA. There are plenty of sites to write essays for money if you need additional help from professionals.

History and Standard Guidelines of APA

This style originates in guidelines of the American Psychology Association that created rules for journal articles publications and books. It was first established in 1929 to help authors to structure their works, as well as create a unique style of references and citations. Key idea is not to distract a reader, but to provide the most comprehensive text with proper headlines,  works cited list, avoid plagiarism. APA is commonly used for scientific papers, documents, lab reports. It also dictates language use standards when it comes to academic works. Its guidelines are being constantly updated to eliminate sexist, racist or intolerant language. You can always use APA citation generator free to save some time.

APA standards include:

• Double-spaced lines;
• Times New Roman 12, one-inch for all margins;
• The upper right part of every page has a number + a short title of the work;
• Footnotes/endnotes are also double-spaced;
• In-text citations include author, year of publication, and page (Slezinger, 2016, p.6) for direct quotations. Paraphrased idea should include author’s name + year (Slezinger, 2016);
• The reference list is composed in bibliographic order;
• Alphabetical order for authors and then chronological for works (if there is more than one work of an author);
• Authors’ names in the references list are given in the formula Last name + First Initial + Middle initial (Sloss D.M.);
• In periodicals’ titles, only the first word is capitalized, with no quotation marks;
• The title is centered.
• Include abstracts for long papers.

History and Standard Guidelines of MLA

The difference between MLA and APA starts with the history of these styles. This one is provided by the Modern Language Association for literary research and scientific works in the field of humanities. The key difference is that MLA is more detailed when it concerns references and citations. It is also most commonly used in the present tense of verbs. MLA vs APA have one more significant difference: the first one is focused on the names of authors and treats old sources as well as new studies. The second one, on the contrary, is focused on the year of referenced books or publications, preferably the newest and relevant ones. Get your essay written by a professional apa paper writer! Get loved by teachers!

MLA standards include:

• Double-spaced lines;
• Times New Roman 12, one-inch for all margins;
• Bibliographical list of works cited;
• Alphabetical order for authors and alphabetical order for works (if there is more than one of one scientist);
• Direct in-text citations have only name and page, without a comma (Slezinger 242); indirect citations have only page (According to Slezinger (242), technologies evolve…);
• No extra line-break between citations;
• Page number with author’s name on the upper right corner (Moran 3)
• Articles’ titles are taken in quotation marks, every word should be capitalized.

MLA versus APA format: A Comparative table with Examples

The MLA style (Modern Language Association) is mostly used for Humanities, Literature, and Arts. The purpose of the MLA style is to use citations and mention the paintings, books, and multimedia projects. The APA style (American Psychological Association) is most common for technical writing that is used for engineering and social sciences. The purpose of the APA citation is used for scientific journals, technical lab assignments, and analytical writing. We help you find the highest-quality research proposal writing service on the web.

One of the key aspects in which MLA is different from APA is the format of bibliographic citations and in-text citations (the author-page format for MLA and the author-date format for APA). Obviously, one can find a set of differences in formatting rules as well.

Here’s a short table of key differences between formats, so you can easily use MLA or APA.

You can use the title page generator to create a cover page.

Which is better MLA or APA?

Which of the two formatting styles is better? Well, it depends on the use scenario! When working with fictional literature (published in large volumes), MLA is more appropriate since in-text citations refer explicitly to the info by mentioning the specific page. By contrast, when working with short publications (e. g. academic articles, often published online, without page numbering), APA in-text citations seems more appropriate (they only help identify the work, but importantly, they mention the year, which allows to easily track the chronology of research).

APA vs MLA: Does Paper Subject Matters?

Before you decide when to use MLA or APA you need to check assignment – maybe your professor has depicted citation format already. If not, you can choose one on your own. Generally, they differ in subjects they are used to. So whether you need to pick APA or MLA is defined by the field of science you are conducting the research at.

• APA is used for social sciences, such as: Psychology, Sociology, Nursing, Criminology, Social Work, Business, Education.
• MLA format is used for humanities, such as: History, Literature, Language, Philosophy, Arts, Theatre, Religion, Anthropology, Law and Politics.

If neither instructions nor the subject informs a choice of a given citation format, juat, think about which style would work better with your content.

According to the Course and subject guides belonging to the University Library System of the University of Pittsburgh, Chicago/Turabian style is generally used in the field of Business. If the field is related to sociology (e. g. management), then APA could be the preferred style.

Example How to Format References/Works Cited in Two Styles

Book:

MLA: Moran, Dylan. Greek Theater. Macmillan Group, 2017.

APA: Moran, D. (2017). Greek Theater. London: Macmillan Group.

An Article:

MLA: Slezinger, Sarah and Julio M. Down. “Cognitive Tools in Children’s Home Education”. American Psychology, vol.37, no.3, 7 Feb. 2015, pp.110-116. University of Michigan Online Library, doi: 11.12007 / tox.30567. Accessed 11 April 2018.

APA: Slezinger, S., and Down J. (2015). Cognitive tools in children’s home education. American Psychology, 37(3), 110-116. doi: 11.12007 / tox.30567.

Conclusion

MLA vs APA format is not an impossible choice, especially when one is writing for a particular subject. However, it may be complicated to apply, as there are so many details that should be followed. Maybe you think that it’s better to use your time and concentrate on the research itself, then you can seek professional help with editing. EduBirdie professionals can help you with any citation format and edit your assignment so that it’s a masterpiece. As an alternative, try free MLA citation generator at EduBirdie on your own. This way you can always be sure that your citations are in the right place.

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