Proper Use of MLA & APA Citation Format

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.