by Gavin Hayes
If you are writing an academic essay or other assignment, eventually you will face questions about formatting. Formatting is complicated by the fact that there are different formatting styles used in different classes and disciplines. Because different disciplines have different priorities, these styles each have their own requirements. Someone writing a research essay in sociology, for example, will have different needs than a student writing a literary analysis, and the formats used for each essay are tailored to make it easier for the reader to verify academic sources. The most common formats used at TRU are MLA and APA.
APA, or the American Psychological Association style, is usually used in the social sciences (sociology, psychology, etc.) and business classes. MLA, or the Modern Languages Association style, is most commonly used in humanities classes such as English. Although you will likely have to look up the specifics of each style, it can be helpful to have a basic overview of each so that you have some idea of what your essay should look like.
Some features are shared between both formats. Papers in either style should be double-spaced with one-inch margins and include a page number in the top right corner of each page. Both formats also include in-text citations for citing sources and a page with the complete citation for each source. In MLA, this page is called Works Cited, and in APA it is called References.
Beyond these similarities, however, there are many differences between the two styles. APA requires a title page with your name, the class that the assignment is for, and the due date (in addition to the title of the essay). For MLA format there is no separate title page, but this information is included on the first page. Essays in APA style also have a running head at the top of each page that gives a short form of the title, while MLA has no running head. An abstract, which gives a short summary of the essay at the beginning, is often used in APA but not in MLA.
To make things easier, here is a chart that summarizes the basics of each format:
| APA | MLA | |
| Double Space | Yes | Yes |
| Margins | 1” | 1” |
| Page Numbers | Yes | Yes |
| Title Page | Yes | No |
| Running Head | Yes | No |
| Abstract | Yes | No |
| Font Size | 12 pt. | 12 pt. |
| In-Text Citations | Author, Year, and page number |
Author and Page Number |
| Sources List | References | Works Cited |
There are many other specific requirements of MLA and APA style essays. For a more detailed look at the two formats, check the sources listed below.
Sources:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
Photo Credit:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leonid_Pasternak_-_The_Passion_of_creation.jpg
