75 MLA and APA: A Point-by-Point Comparison

Christina Frasier

Learning Objectives

  • Differentiate between the main components of MLA and APA formatting styles

 

APA MLA
Title page Title (in bold), writer’s full name, date submitted, course OR college name, all centered  No title page
First page of paper Center title (in bold); begin body on next double-spaced line Center title; begin body on next double-spaced line
Title case Titles of articles, books, reports, and other works appearing in the text of the paper; title of the paper; titles of periodicals; table titles; figure titles. NOTE—article titles in the Reference entries do not use title case. Titles of articles, books, reports, and other works appearing in the text of the paper; title of the paper; titles of periodicals; table titles; figure titles
Page numbers Upper right corner  Upper right corner
Margins 1” top, bottom, and sides 1” top, bottom, and sides
Spacing Double-spaced Double-spaced
Font Legible font (generally Times New Roman 12 point) Legible font (generally Times New Roman 12 point)
Citations Parenthetical in-text with author, year, and either page number OR paragraph number  Parenthetical in-text with author and page number
Sources References (in bold): only include sources cited in text; double -space entries with no extra spaces in between entries Works Cited: sources cited in-text or consulted; double-space entries with no extra spaces in between entries.

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From College to Career: A Handbook for Student Writers Copyright © by Christina Frasier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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