When writing a dissertation or thesis, your instructor probably will require you to follow one of two popular style formats for your paper, APA Style or MLA Style. Although both formats are similar, they do have subtle differences that you'll need to know.
Generally, you select the style to follow based on the subject matter of the paper you're writing. Each style treats the formatting of the paper a little differently to meet the citation needs for the subject matter.
I. CHOOSING YOUR STYLE
For the most part, your instructor will select the style of formatting that you'll use for your paper. If you have a choice, however, you can follow these suggestions for deciding which style to use.
APA STYLE.
Use APA Style for subjects related to the social sciences, such as business, criminal justice, economics, law, and medical subjects, including nursing and psychology. The American Psychological Association created the APA Style, and you can visit apastyle (dot) org on the Internet to find more information on APA Style. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is the full listing of APA Style guidelines and APA formatting rules.
MLA STYLE.
Use MLA Style for subjects related to the humanities and liberal arts, such as literature, mass communications, and media studies. The Modern Language Association oversees the development of MLA Style, and you can visit mla(dot)org on the Internet for more information. For undergraduate students, use the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (sometimes shortened to MLA Handbook) as the guide to following MLA Style. For graduate students and professionals, use the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (sometimes shortened to MLA Style Manual) to find official rules and guidelines for MLA Style.
II. THE DIFFERENCES
If you still are not sure which style you should use with your paper, here are some formatting differences between APA Style and MLA Style. Choose the style that will allow you to format your paper and deliver the information to your readers in the most efficient manner.
ABSTRACT.
This difference in this category is pretty obvious: APA Style requires an abstract page, while MLA Style does not. An abstract is a short summary of your paper.
IN-TEXT CITATIONS.
With both styles, use the last name of the author(s) in any in-text citation. With APA Style, you also include the year of publication. With MLA Style, you include the page number of the information you cited along with the name of the author(s), but you do not include the year of publication. By including the year of publication, APA Style gives the readers a chance to decide how much relevancy to place on a particular source, based on its age. With the subject matter used with MLA Style, however, the age of the sourced material usually isn't as vital to its relevancy, so MLA Style doesn't list the year of publication.
With both styles, remember that the in-text citation is simply a method of ensuring that your readers can easily find the full citation in the reference list or works cited page at the end of the paper. You don't need extensive information about the source for an in-text citation.
PAGE NUMBERS.
With both styles, the page number appears in the upper right corner of each page, but each style has different additional information. With APA Style, you must include a running title to the left of the page number on each page. A running title is a two- or three-word summary of the title of your paper. With MLA Style, include the author's name to the left of the page number on each page.
REFERENCE LIST FORMATTING.
With both APA Style and MLA Style, when listing each of your sources on the reference list page (APA Style) or works cited page (MLA Style), use the full last name of the author(s) in each entry. In APA Style, you also list only the initials of the first and middle name of each author. In MLA Style, you spell out the entire first and middle name of each author. (Middle name information is optional.)
TITLE PAGE.
APA Style requires a title page, but MLA Style does not. If you choose to skip the title page with MLA Style, simply include your name, your instructor's name, your course, and the full date in the upper left-hand corner of the first page. Then center the title on the page, followed by your main text.
You'll also find several subtle differences between APA Style and MLA Style in capitalization and punctuation rules. However, those differences are too numerous to list here, and they probably won't affect your decision on which style to use with your paper.