Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Psychological Association (APA) are two common style guides used for writing academic papers. MLA is primarily used in the liberal arts and humanities. APA is used within social sciences (e.g. psychology, education, sociology).
If you are just starting to write papers for college or are a graduate student, your instructors will include the style that is required for assignments in the assignment guidelines. In addition, they may require additional preferences (e.g, a different style to the cover page). Pay attention to these requirements because instructors will remove grade points if a student does not follow the formatting for approved grammatical and citation requirements. (more…)
