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Differences between MLA and APA Styles of Documentation
| MLA | APA | |
|---|---|---|
| Governing Body | Modern Language Association | American Psychological Association |
| Users | Humanities | Social Sciences |
| aka | Author-Work | Author-Date |
| Bibliographic list | Works Cited | References |
| Order of entries in bibliographic list | Alphabetical by author, then alphabetical by work | Alphabetical by author, then chronological by work |
| Names | Last, First, Middle Initial | Last, First Initial, Middle Initial |
| Dates | Not used in-text | Prominent in-text |
| Article Titles | In quotation marks | Not in quotation marks |
| Capitalization | All Major Words Capitalized | First words only capitalized |
| Notes (Foot or End) | Not used for references | Not used for references |
| In-text parenthesis | (Name space page number) | (Name comma year comma p.#) |
| Example | (Levin 13) | (Levin, 1982, p. 13) |
| And | Spelled out | Ampersand except running text |
| Secondary citation | ( qtd . in Levin 13) | (cited in Levin, 1982, p. 13) |
| Publisher's names | Many abbreviated | Rarely Abbreviated |
| Trailing punctuation | Not underlined | Underlined |
| Multiple works by same author | Works alphabetical, three hyphens and a period for name | Works chronological, name repeated for each entry |
| Et al | Four or more authors | Six or more authors |
| Tense of reporting | Present: Smith claims . . . | Past: Smith claimed . . . |
