APA vs MLA: Citation and Formatting Differences

You only get one chance to make a good first impression on college admission boards, instructors, and capstone defense commissions. All it takes to ruin it is the wrong font or messed up title page. That’s why formatting is so important and why understanding the difference between MLA and APA is critical for your long-term academic success.

Moreover, as these formatting guidelines cover citations, improperly formatted in-text citations and reference lists may cause you no end of trouble when your paper goes through a plagiarism checker. So, in some ways, understanding the distinctions between APA style vs MLA style can protect you from plagiarism accusations. 

So, what is the difference between MLA and APA?

Before we can compare the two, we need to fully grasp what each style is about. We’ll start by answering the question, “What is APA and MLA?” Then, we’ll go over their applications, as well as all the similarities and differences in page layouts, header and list formatting, citations, and reference list guidelines.

Important: This post discusses the latest editions of MLA and APA paper format: the 7th edition of APA and the 9th edition of MLA. If your professor requires you to use an older edition of either style, you’d better check our blog for relevant instructions. 

MLA and APA Overview

What does MLA style mean? It stands for the Modern Language Association and provides recommendations for academic writing in humanities, language, literature, and history studies. 

What does APA format stand for? It’s short for the American Psychological Association, making this style the preferred option for social studies, medical and nursing schools, as well as some hard sciences.

What is MLA and APA format? It’s a set of instructions published by either organization and adopted by schools and scientific journals to ensure readability and unification across papers within these fields. There are no hard, nationwide rules for using one style over the other, so you should always refer to your school’s writing guidelines or ask your professor or TA about their preferences.

Although many students think about them in terms of MLA style vs APA style, they share plenty of similarities. For example, both require in-text citations and a list of properly formatted references at the end of the paper. Still, there are subtle nuances you should be aware of to use the right college research paper format and score the top grade. Let’s go over all the major formatting requirements. 

Basic Formatting Guidelines

Once you learn which formatting style you need to use, I suggest going over the MLA and APA rules via respective handbooks. But if you want a quick guide on a proper research paper setup, check out the table below that highlights the main MLA and APA differences.

Formatting requirements	APA	MLA
Page size	Standard, 8.5 x 11 inches	Standard, 8.5 x 11 inches
Page margins	1 inch on all sides	1 inch on all sides
Page header	Running head + page number, flush right	Last name + page number, flush right
Typeface	Any legible font (Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, Georgia, etc.)	Legible font with the distinction between regular font and italics (i.e., Times New Roman)
Font size	10 pt to 12 pt	12 pt
Line spacing	Double	Double
Title page	Required	Not required

As you can see, there are plenty of MLA and APA similarities, too. After all, the formatting requirements are primarily focused on making your works easy to read and digest. The biggest difference in general MLA and APA formatting lies in the use of title page and page headers.

For an MLA-style paper, you don’t need a title page unless the instructor requires one. Instead, in the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your professor’s name, the class name, and the date. Below, place the title of the paper in the center of the page and start the first paragraph with a half-inch indent. 

For an APA-style paper, create a separate title page, listing the title of the paper, your name, affiliation, class name, professor’s name, and assignment due date. Center all of them and place them in the middle of the page. Another distinction of MLA vs. APA is the use of running head in the latter, though it’s mostly used for academic publications, and students can leave it out. 

In-Text Citation Requirements

Citations are probably the biggest difference between MLA and APA. After all, where the former requires you to specify the name of the author and the page you’re citing (which is critical for literature and linguistics), the latter is more interested in the author’s name and publication year (which is more important for soft sciences than the page number). 

You can find the most common MLA and APA citation differences in the table below.

On the one hand, you can notice that MLA and APA in-text citations handle certain specific cases the same way. For example, if the reference has three or more authors, you don’t have to list them all, weighing down your paper. On the other hand, MLA and APA citation styles handle paraphrasing and direct quotes differently. Whereas there are no changes to the MLA format, a quote in APA style requires an addition of the page number from where the quotation comes. 

You should also pay attention to the punctuation in MLA and APA format citations. MLA in-text citations come without commas, while APA-style citations do need commas between the names and publication years. These subtle differences may seem inconsequential but can get you in trouble with automated plagiarism checkers that can distinguish between 

MLA and APA. 

Additional Formatting Considerations

Although we’ve covered major MLA and APA formatting rules for citations, there’s still a lot of ground to cover. Instead of going over each format in turn, let’s consider their requirements side by side and see what’s the core difference between APA and MLA when it comes to formatting the contents of your paper. 

Check out the major MLA and APA distinctions in the table below.

Formatting requirements	APA	MLA
Abstract	On a new page titled “Abstract” (centered, boldface, no quotation marks). Text of up to 250 words on a new line without indent.  “Keywords:” (indented, italic) with a list of keywords under the abstract text.	An abstract is not required but can be included at the beginning of the paper. It’s usually 100 to 250 words long.
Headings	Five levels of headings are possible Level 1: Centered, boldface, title case heading. The text starts a new paragraph. Level 2: Flush left, boldface, title case heading. The text starts a new paragraph. Level 3: Flush left, boldface italic, title case heading. The text starts a new paragraph. Level 4: Indented, boldface title case heading ending with a period. The text continues on the same line. Level 5: Indented, boldface italic, title case heading ending with a period. The text continues on the same line.	Five levels of headings are possible. Any formatting is possible as long as the headings of different levels are formatted consistently throughout the paper. Headings can be numbered and non-numbered.
Block quotes	When quoting 40+ words, introduce the quote with a colon and start on a new line, indented 0.5 inches from the left margin, and use the new margin for the whole quote. Include an in-text citation after the closing punctuation.	When quoting four or more lines of prose or three or more lines of verse, introduce the quote with a colon and start on a new line, indented 0.5 inches from the left margin, and use the new margin for the whole quote. Include an in-text citation after the closing punctuation.
Footnotes	At the bottom of the page or on a separate page before the References	At the bottom of the page or on a separate page before the Works Cited
Tables	The table number (left aligned, boldface) and table title (left aligned, italic) are placed above the table. Only use horizontal borders necessary for clarity; no vertical borders are allowed.	The table number and table caption in Title Case are placed on separate lines above the table. No periods or additional punctuation marks are necessary.
Figures	The figure number (left aligned, boldface) and figure title (left aligned, italic) are placed above the figure. Legend can be present within the image and notes — under it.	The figure caption includes “Fig. No. Figure Title and reference (if applicable).” Captions are placed under the image. There should always be an in-text reference for each figure.
Lists	Arabic numbers are used for numbered lists with full sentences or paragraphs. Bullets are used for lists without chronology or hierarchical order and can contain incomplete sentences or phrases.	Lists are introduced with a colon and can be numbered or bulleted if the items are not complete sentences. Each item begins in lowercase and does not require closing punctuation unless they represent the continuation of a sentence. In this case, include a semicolon at the end of each item and “and”/”or” after the last semicolon.
List of references	A separate section titled “References” (centered, boldface)	A separate section titled “Works Cited”

It’s obvious from the table above that the MLA writing style is somewhat more forgiving and less rigid when it comes to formatting. For instance, MLA and APA header guidelines are drastically different, as MLA lets you settle on the style you’re most comfortable with. By the way, you can use the same heading formatting for MLA as you would for APA to make your life easier.

Still, looking at figure and table MLA and APA format requirements, it should be easy for you to identify the formatting style used at a glance. APA-style tables will never use vertical borders, while MLA-style images will always have their numbers and captions below rather than above. 

At the same time, some requirements are pretty similar, such as MLA and APA numbering rules, as well as endnotes and footnotes. Even block quotes look the same across both styles, though there are different requirements when it comes to what constitutes a long enough quote to deserve such treatment.

Of course, I couldn’t fit the contents of the complete MLA vs. APA guidelines in a short blog post. So, I urge you to refer to the relevant handbooks if you have additional questions about proper formatting. 

Wrapping Up

Proper formatting is tedious and time-consuming, but your efforts will be rewarded by an excellent first impression and foolproof safety from unintended plagiarism accusations. By now, you know there are no winners or losers in the battle of APA vs MLA, as both styles have specific applications. Although they share many similarities when it comes to formatting for readability, the key difference between MLA and APA lies in citations, both in-text and full entries in the list of references.

Still, if formatting is a chore you wish to avoid, there are two options open to you. First, you can use automatic citation generators and hope they work well enough to avoid glaring mistakes. Second, you can get professional formatting services from a reputable company like Write My Paper for Me. Either way, you will save your time and energy for research and writing. But if you prefer to tackle the formatting challenge on your own, bookmark this post and come back when you need a quick MLA and APA comparison reminder.