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General Differences between MLA and APA

Many students ask for a list of the main differences between MLA and APA. Please see below.

The main differences between MLA and APA are as follows:

TypeMLA FormatAPA Format
Date:– The date follows the publisher in the citation and is not in parentheses.– The date follows the author and is in parentheses.
Author’s Name:– The author’s full name (first and last) is spelled out.– The author’s last name is spelled out and the first name is reduced to initials.
Capitalization:– All major words in the title are capitalized and the title is underlined.– Only the first word of the title, the first word of a subtitle, and any proper nouns (like names) are capitalized. Everything else is lowercase. Also, the title is written in italics.
Source Page:– The source page is called a “Works Cited”.– The source page is called a “References”.
In-Text Citations:– MLA uses the last name of the author and the page number.– APA uses the last name of the author and the date.
– MLA does not uses commas to separate the material, or p. pp. before the page numbers.– APA does use commas and, if a page is mentioned, uses p. and pp.

Differences between MLA and APA Examples:

MLA: (Burns 101)
APA: (Burns, 1999, p. 4)

Here are two comparison examples:

MLA:
Klaphake, Elizabeth. My Life as an English Professor. Bellevue,
Nebraska: Bellevue University Press. 1999.

APA:
Klaphake, E. (1999). My life as an English professor. Bellevue,
Nebraska: Bellevue University Press.

Credit:

Bellevue University’s Writing Center.

{ 1 comment… add one }
  • Ahmad March 29, 2012, 8:42 am

    Very helping stuff for students

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