Proper Use of MLA & APA Citation Format

MLA and APA are two ways to format your academic work.

MLA format, the Modern Language Association's guide to academic writing, has traditionally been used in humanities disciplines. APA, the American Psychological Association's style guide, is most often found in the social sciences. However, APA has become increasingly popular in the humanities.

Features

MLA and APA both encourage in-text citations rather than footnotes or end notes, but the citations are formatted differently. For MLA, list the author and page number in parentheses:

(Riordan, 353)

For APA in-text citations, include the author's last name, year of publication and, if quoting directly, a page number:

(Baily, 1995) or (Baily & Green, 1993: 67)

Both formats require long quotations to be indented and double-spaced, though APA specifies a five-space indent while MLA specifies a one-inch indent.

Function

Writers in the humanities, particularly English and literature, use MLA most often. Since APA is associated with the social sciences, it typically structures literature reviews or experimental reports. While APA can be effectively used in either humanities or hard sciences, MLA is mostly limited to literary disciplines.

Significance

The objective of using either format is to create a unified system of source citation, in order to inform the reader about your work's content and avoid accusations of plagiarism.

References

• Purdue Online Writing Lab: APA Formatting and Style Guide
• Purdue Online Writing Lab: MLA Formatting and Style Guide

Resources

• APA Style: APA
• MLA: What is MLA Style?