How to cite sources in APA and MLA
APA and MLA both list the same details about a source, but they order and punctuate them differently. This guide shows both styles side by side for a journal article, a book and a web page, with the in-text citation for each.
The short version
- Collect the details from the source itself: authors, title, date, publisher or journal, volume, pages, DOI or URL.
- Choose the style your instructor or journal requires - APA or MLA.
- Format the reference entry using that style's order and punctuation.
- Add an in-text citation wherever you use the source, and keep the full list alphabetical.
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A journal article in both styles
Sara Khan and Min-Jun Lee, 2019, Journal of Education, volume 12, issue 3, pages 45-67.
A book in both styles
The main differences
| Feature | APA 7 | MLA 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Author names | Last name and initials | Last name, then full first name |
| Date | Straight after the author, in brackets | Near the end |
| Title capitalisation | Sentence case | Title case |
| Article titles | Plain | In quotation marks |
| Several authors | Up to 20, with & before the last | Two in full; 3 or more: first author, et al. |
| List title | References | Works Cited |
In-text citations
APA uses the author and year: (Khan & Lee, 2019). MLA uses the author and, when you quote or point to a specific place, the page: (Khan and Lee 52). A full reference entry for every source goes in the list at the end, in alphabetical order by the first author's last name.
Where to find each detail
- Book: title page and copyright page. Add the edition only if it is not the first.
- Journal article: the article's first page or web page shows the journal, volume, issue, pages and DOI. Prefer the DOI to a URL because it does not break.
- Web page: the author or organisation, the date published or updated, the page title and the site name. Leave the date out (APA writes n.d.) if there is none.
Mistakes to avoid
- Mixing styles inside one document.
- Capitalising titles in the wrong style (APA article titles in title case).
- Forgetting to italicise the right element: the book or journal title, not the article title.
- Leaving out the DOI when one exists.
Always check the current edition and any extra rules from your instructor or publisher, because departments sometimes add their own.