Citation In MLA Or APA, What The Best?

There are various ways to avoid plagiarism while writing assignments. For example paraphrasing, referencing, formatting citation etc. Today we are going to talk about differences in format and citation and what are the key differences between MLA and APA.

Both MLA and APA are documentation styles that are used to format assignment papers to give it a uniform format. But they are quite different from one another.

Here are some key differences that differentiate both

APA Style Vs MLA Style

• The format that is used in subjects that defines behavioral social sciences such as history, communication, psychology, sociology including business courses preferred by the American Psychological Association is known as the APA format. Whereas on the other hand MLA is used in mostly in subjects like humanities, that includes art, literature and theatre. It is preferred by modern language association. Some universities prefer only one style from the two. Here most of the times preference is given to APA instead of MLA. This is because APA is a style that affects multiple areas of the study. Students who are enrolled in online colleges and universities are often instructed to use the APA style. However both are written using double spaced in the font size of Times Roman 12.

• The purpose of both MLA and APA were entirely different. MLA was introduced to be used to cite books and literary works that include anthologies. Whereas APA was created for scientific writing where the recent sources are highly important, therefore citation methods of both are very different. In case of MLA the referencing style goes as (author’s last name, page number in parenthetical citation.) Whereas in case of APA style goes as (Authors last name, publication year, and only a page number just in case a direct quote is cited.)

• In case of APA style every page contains the title of paper on the left and page number on the right. Whereas in case of MLA style the author name and page number both are on the right side.

Conclusion

To conclude it can be said that among all the methods of avoiding plagiarism the best and most tied method is using the correct formatting style while writing assignments. The formatting style that needs to be used in the assignment is mentioned in the guidelines provided to the students. Mostly universities that prefer using one uniform universal formatting style prefer using the APA format that affects multiple areas of the study. Students who are enrolled in online colleges and universities are often instructed to use the APA style. This style is preferred by the American Psychological Association and is commonly used in subjects like history, communication, psychology, sociology etc. On the other hand MLA is preferred by modern language association and is used in subjects like humanities.

In the APA vs. MLA Style APA is considered to be the most preferred stle of writing and is universally acclaimed. Students who have lack in knowledge in the citation and formatting stles can seek immediate guidance from SourceEssay experts.