Nathan Cook
April 5, 2007
When writing an essay paper there is many things to consider. One of the primary steps when writing an essay is to pick which type of style to write the paper in. Two of the most popular styles are the APA style and the MLA style. I will explain the similarities between the APA and MLA styles and then there differences.
The MLA style and the APA style are both widely used and work excellent. Both styles are commonly used when writing research papers. Both styles’ documentation consists of two dimensions: (1) a listing of sources at the end of the paper, and (2) in-text documentation within the body of the paper (Burns, 2007). Also each styles reference or works cited page is in alphabetical order according to the last name of the author. “In both APA and MLA, the in-text documentation appears in parentheses” (Burns, 2007). Also both styles insist the papers be double spaced and in a legible font.
MLA, which stands for Modern Language Association, is mostly used in English studies. The MLA style consists of a set of guidelines which make it easier for people to read a paper. The MLA style also includes a header in the upper right hand corner that will help number the pages. The Works Cited Page lists all the sources cited in the paper and should be headed Works Cited. MLA has a specific format for labeling papers. The MLA style advocates that the following should be at the top left of the first page: “name, professor, class, day/month/year” (2007, ¶ 5).
APA, which stands for American Psychological Association, is widely used for social science manuscripts and theses (2007, ¶ 1). The APA style suggests that a title page be used and be the first page of the paper. APA also uses what is called an abstract. An abstract is just an overview of the essay. Also APA format sometimes uses headings. The headings help keep the paper organized and make reading the paper sometimes easier for the reader. The reference...