MLA Referencing Overview
Key Difference Between MLA and APA Style
There are a few aspects on which students can distinguish MLA and APA style:-
Type |
MLA Style |
APA Style |
Author’s Name |
Only author’s first and last name are written. |
Author’s last name is mentioned and the first one is reduced to initials. |
Date |
Date comes after the publisher’s name and is not in bracket. |
Date is placed after the author’s name and is parenthesized. |
Source Page |
Source page is named as ‘work cited’ |
Source page is named as ‘reference’ |
Capitalization |
In this case, every major word in the title is uppercased. |
Here, only first letter and proper nouns are uppercased. |
In-text Citations |
Write only author’s name and page number while citing in any document. Also, no need to separate the two by placing a comma. Ex- (Adam 110) |
Write author’s name with date and page number separated by comma. Also, one has to write p. or pp. before writing page number. Ex-(Adam, 1991, p.110) |
For example:
MLA
Specter, Harvey. My Experience as a Closer. Cambridge,
Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1999.
APA
Specter, H(1999). My Experience as a Closer. Cambridge,
Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Have a look at the following examples for citing various reference sources:
1.) Citations for Books
Books with One Author
The referencing format for books with one author is given below:
Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication
For example:
Rhodes, David. She Came When It Was Too Late. Alexandria: Oxford, 2004. Print.
Book with Two Authors
In case there are two or more writers, then the difference lies in spelling out the name of the authors and rest of things remain the same. The format is given below:-
Lastname, Firstname, and Firstname Lastname. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication
For example:
Rossmond, John. and Peter Hawkins. Adaptation: Studying Film and Literature. India: McGraw, 2008. Print.
Citing Chapter from an Edited Book
When referencing an individual chapter, always mention the page numbers. The format is written below:-
Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Chapter." Title of Book. Ed. Editor's Name(s). Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page range of entry. Medium of Publication.
For example:
Banks, Jessy. “A Boy for All Purpose: Male Melodrama.” Teen Story. Ed. Martin Davis and Kay Dwella. London: British Film Institute, 2009. 17-28. Print.
Citing an Edited Book in a Series
The citation for edited book in a series more or less remains the same except an addition of series name number at the end. The format is given below:-
Lastname, Firstname, and Firstname Lastname, eds. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. Medium of Publication. Series name no.
For example:
Print Example
Markus, Andrews and Berns Zimm, eds. Tragedy vs Comedy in late 19th-Century. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2012. Print. Trends in Film- Making Classic 13.
Online Example
Markus, Andrews and Berns Zimm, eds. Tragedy vs Comedy in late 19th-Century. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2012. Web. Trends in Film- Making Classic 13. 8 Feb. 2013.
2.) Citations for Articles
Readers are hereby informed that the below-mentioned citations are explicitly for journal articles from printing sources.
Citations of Articles from Print Journal
Follow the format to acknowledge the contribution of other writers in your work.
Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): pages. Medium of publication.
For example:
Mathews, Christine K. "The Political Life of Greatest Rulers." Theatre Survey 45.1 (May 2008): 41-59. Print.
Citations of Articles With Two or More Authors
The only difference is in the way of writing the authors name while other things remain the same. See the format below:-
Lastname, Firstname of first author, Firstname Lastname of second author and Firstname Secondname of third author. "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): pages. Medium of publication.
For example:
Bobeley, Pettrick and Jessica Pearson. "Social media and its impact on humans." Media, Culture & Society 35.6 (2013): 771-781. Web. 5 June 2014.
Citation of Articles from a Library Database
The example is given below for your convenience.
Oliver, A. Susan. "the Vampire Client." Journal of Popular Film and Television 27.2 (1999): 24-31. Communication And Mass Media Complete. Web. 17 Mar. 2009.
Tools for creating MLA Book references: