APA vs.

MLA

What’s the Difference?

Overview
• What hasn’t changed
• What has changed
• What APA resources you can use
What hasn’t changed
• What you document
• Where you document
What hasn’t changed
• What you document
– Direct quotations
“Quotation marks should be used to
indicate the exact words of another”
(APA, 2001, p. 349).
What hasn’t changed
• What you document
– Direct quotations
– Paraphrases
Whenever you express an author’s ideas
in your own words, omit quotation marks,
but provide parenthetical documentation
(APA, 2001).
What hasn’t changed
• What you document
– Direct quotations
– Paraphrases
• Where you document
What hasn’t changed
• What you document
– Direct quotations
– Paraphrases
• Where you document
– Parenthetical documentation
• At the end of a quotation
• At the end of a paraphrase
What hasn’t changed
• What you document
– Direct quotations
– Paraphrases
• Where you document
– Parenthetical documentation
• At the end of a quotation
• At the end of a paraphrase
– Page of bibliographic references
What hasn’t changed
• Basic principles:
– Give credit where credit is due.
What hasn’t changed
• Basic principles:
– Give credit where credit is due.
– Provide enough information so you
(or interested readers) can find the original source.
What hasn’t changed
• Basic principles:
– Give credit where credit is due.
– Provide enough information so you
(or interested readers) so find the original source.
– Identify the source in parenthetical documentation,
and provide complete bibliographic information
in a separate page at the end.
What has changed
• Cover page
• Emphasis on dates
• Style for Internet citations
• Block quotations
• Acknowledging material quoted by the author
you’re citing
• Reference list
APA Cover Page
First words of title Page #

TITLE
Sub title

Name

Class
Teacher
Date
Emphasis on dates
In parenthetical citation:
“Each time you paraphrase another
author (i.e., summarize a passage or
rearrange the order of a sentence and
change some of the words), you will
need to credit the source in the text”
(APA, 2001, p. 349).
Emphasis on dates
In text:
In an influential article, Terrance, Petitto,
Sanders, and Bever (1979) argued that
apes in language experiments were not
using language spontaneously but were
merely imitating their trainers,
responding to conscious or unconscious
cues.
Emphasis on dates
In reference list entry:
Terrace, H. S., Petitto, L. A., Sanders,
R. J., & Bever, T. G. (1979). Can an
ape create a sentence? Science, 206,
891-902.
Emphasis on dates
In reference list entry:
Terrace, H. S., Petitto, L. A., Sanders,
R. J., & Bever, T. G. (1979). Can an
ape create a sentence? Science, 206,
891-902.
Note: authors are last name, first initial(s)
Titles use sentence cap., not title case
(capitalize only the first word, proper nouns,
and words after a colon)
Style for Internet citations
Basic format:
Levy, S. (2002, May 27). Great minds,
great ideas. Newsweek, 139,
54-58. Retrieved May 29, 2002, from
http://www.msnbc.com/news/
754336.asp
Style for Internet citations
If site is important:
Chou, L., McClintock, R., Moretti, F., Nix, D. H.
(1993). Technology and education: New wine
in new bottles: Choosing pasts and imagining
educational futures. Retrieved August 24,
2000, from Columbia University, Institute
for Learning Technologies Web site:
http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/publications
/papers/newwine1.html
Style for database citations
Basic format for an EBSCO article:
Holliday, R. E., & Hayes, B. K. (2001).
Dissociating automatic and intentional
processes in children's eyewitness memory.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology,
75(1), 1-5. Retrieved February 21, 2001,
from MasterFILE Premier database
(A59317972).
Definition of block quotations
In APA style, long quotations are set off:
Display a quotation of 40 or more
words in a freestanding block of
typewritten lines, and omit the quotation
marks. Start such a block quotation on a
new line, and indent the block about .5
inch. (APA, 2001, p. 117)
A source within a source
Wright (1999) argues that “the early
discharge of patients after surgery is the
Trojan Horse of increased privatization in the
field of health care” (as cited in Frost &
Krahn, 2000, p. 10).

Note: Wright does not appear in Reference List.

As cited in gives credit, but allows readers to match
parethentical dcumentation to reference list entry.
Reference List

• Use author-date citation system.

• Include only the references cited in the paper.
• References that others cannot access, such
as personal interviews, are cited
parenthetically, but do not appear in the
reference list.
APA Resources

• Best use:
1. Find a model that matches your source
2. Imitate the capitalization, punctuation,
and order of information
3. Double-check citation against model
(remember, EasyBib lies!)
Recommended APA Resources
• www.dianahacker.com/resdoc
– APA in-text citations
– APA list of references
– APA manuscript format
– Sample paper: APA style
Recommended APA Resources
• www.dianahacker.com/resdoc
• www.apastyle.org
• www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite6.html
• Google for APA and “EBSCO article”
CAUTION: be sure models are based on 5th edition
• Hamilton Style Guide
(available at www.word-crafter.net/CompII)