4.8: APA vs. MLA

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Frost & Samra et al.
Kellogg Community College

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Quick Reference Chart: APA vs. MLA

APA

MLA

(American Psychological

(Modern Language Association)

Association) Nursing, business, social sciences (sociology, psychology, social work, etc.)

Literature and the humanities (art, film, music, etc.)

(Jones, 2011, p. 68)

(Jones 68)

(Amani & Mader, 2011, p. 68)

(Amani and Mader 68)

(Amani, Li, & Mader, 2011) 1st time

(Amani et al. 68) (Amani et al., 2011)

subsequent times (United Nations, 2013)

(United Nations) or

or (“Study Finds,” 2014, para. 5)

(“Study Finds”)

Give credit to the original speaker in your signal phrase, but cite the source where you found the direct quotation:

As lawyer Sara Gomez

As lawyer Sara Gomez notes, “....” ( as cited in

notes, “....” ( qtd. in Jones Jones, 2012, p. 45).

45).

Indent the quotation 1⁄2 an inch,

if the passage is 40 words or longer.

if the passage will take up more than four lines.

Author, A. A. (Year). Title

Last name, first name. of book: Subtitle of book.

Title of the Book. Publisher, City, State: Publisher.

Date.

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article: Subtitle of article. Title of Periodical Volume (Issue), page numbers. doi:# In which subjects is this citation style used?

Sample in-text citation: one author

Sample in-text citation: two authors

Sample in-text citation: three to five authors

Sample in-text citation: no author or page #

Sample in-text citation: an indirect quotation (i.e. quoting someone who was quoted within a source)

Formatting long/block quotations:

Book

Last name, First name and

Article from library

First name Last name. “Title of the Article.” Title database

of the Periodical , vol. #, no. #, year, pages. Database Name, doi:#.