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What Is Mla Used For

APA vs MLA Style | The Key Differences in Format and Citation

APA vs MLA: The key differences in citation and formatting.

APA and MLA are two of the most commonly used citation styles.

The APA manual (published by the American Psychological Association) is more often than not used in social science and education fields.

The MLA Handbook (published by the Modern Language Clan) is more often than not used in humanities fields.

In both styles, a source citation consists of:

  • A brief parenthetical citation in the text
  • A full reference at the terminate of the paper

However, citations look slightly different in each mode, with different rules for things like title capitalization, writer names, and placement of the appointment.

There are besides some differences in layout and formatting. Download the Word templates for a correctly formatted paper in either way.

APA template MLA template

This article follows the ninth edition of MLA style and the seventh edition of APA Style. The APA sixth edition rules can exist found here.

In-text citations in APA and MLA

Both MLA and APA use parenthetical citations to cite sources in the text. However, they include slightly dissimilar data.

An APA in-text commendation includes the writer'south last name and the publication year. If you're quoting or paraphrasing a specific passage, you also add a page number.

An MLA in-text citation includes the writer's last name and a page number.

When there are 2 authors, APA Style separates their names with an ampersand (&), while MLA uses "and." For three or more authors, list the first writer followed past "et al." in both styles.

APA MLA
i author (Taylor, 2018, p. 23) (Taylor 23)
2 authors (Taylor & Kotler, 2018, p. 23) (Taylor and Kotler 23)
3+ authors (Taylor et al., 2018, p. 23) (Taylor et al. 23)

APA reference list vs MLA Works Cited list

In both APA and MLA manner, you listing total details of all cited sources on a split page at the end of your paper. In APA this is normally called the reference list; in MLA it is chosen the Works Cited.

The formatting of source entries is different in each style. Using the interactive tool, you can switch between APA and MLA style citations for common source types.


You tin automatically create your in-text citations and references in either style using the free Scribbr Commendation Generators.

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MLA vs APA formatting

The general formatting guidelines for APA and MLA are similar. Both styles recommend:

  • 12 pt Times New Roman font
  • Double spacing
  • 1-inch margins

The primary differences betwixt APA format and MLA format involve the title folio, running head, and block quoting guidelines.

Title page and header

In APA, a separate comprehend page is required. It lists the championship of your newspaper, your total proper noun, your institution and section, the course the newspaper is for, your instructor'due south name, and the due date, all centered and double-spaced.

APA title page - student version (7th edition)

In MLA, no title page is required (though your instructor may require you lot to include one). Instead of a title page, you lot add a 4-line header on the showtime page.

The header is left-aligned and double-spaced, and lists your full proper noun, your instructor's name, the course title or number, and the submission date. The paper'due south championship is centered on a new line under the header.

MLA header

Running head

In MLA, your last name and the page number appear as a running head at the top of every page, both right-aligned.

MLA running head

An APA header also includes a right-aligned folio number. In manuscripts that will exist submitted for publication, you should also include an APA running head with a shortened version of your newspaper's championship (upwards to l characters long), all in capitals and left-aligned.

This running head is not required in educatee papers (unless instructed otherwise).

APA running head (7th edition)

Block quote formatting

Block quotes are long quotations that are set on a new line and indented as a cake, with no quotation marks.

In APA, any quote of 40 words or longer should be formatted as a cake quote. In MLA, block quote formatting is used for quotes of more than than iv lines of prose or more than iii lines of poesy.

In both styles, the in-text citation is added later the period at the end of a block quote.

The reader speedily becomes familiar with Nick Carraway'south relationship with Jay Gatsby, as the very first mention of the character illustrates both his admiration and disdain:

Only Gatsby, the human who gives his proper name to this volume, was exempt from my reaction—Gatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn. If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, and so at that place was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to ane of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles abroad. (Fitzgerald, 1925, p. 4)

The reader quickly becomes familiar with Nick Carraway'southward relationship with Jay Gatsby, as the very first mention of the character illustrates both his adoration and disdain:

Only Gatsby, the human being who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction—Gatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected contemptuousness. If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away. (Fitzgerald 4)

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What Is Mla Used For,

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