Formatting and Citing with APA
and MLA
APA Basic Formatting
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Your essay should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11") with 1" margins on
all sides. APA recommends using 12 pt. Times New Roman font.
Your essay should also include four major sections: the Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and
References.
Title Page  must include title, author’s name, and institutional affiliation
– Example:
Formatting and Citing with APA and MLA
Chelsie N. Pasley
Longwood University
**Include the page header flush left with the page number flush right at the top of the page. Please
note that on the title page, your page header/running head should look like this:
Running head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER
Abstract  center the word “abstract” (no bold, formatting, italics, underlining, or quotation marks)
– Beginning with the next line, write a concise summary of the key points of your research (Do
not indent)
– Should be between 150 – 250 words
– Include keywords: indent, type Keywords: (italicized), and then list your keywords
Main Body  typically consists of introduction, 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion
**Pages after the title page should have a running head that looks like this:
TITLE OF YOUR PAPER
APA References (basic citations)
• Must be hanging indentations
Jefferis, David (1999). Artificial intelligence: Robotics and Machine Evolution.
New York: Crabtree Pub. Co.
• Must be in alphabetical order
• Maintain the punctuation and capitalization that is used by the journal in its title.
– For example: ReCALL not RECALL or Knowledge Management Research & Practice not
Knowledge Management Research and Practice.
• Capitalize all major words in journal titles
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Basic format for books
– Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location:
Publisher.
Basic format for in text citation
– (Jones, 1998, p. 199).
– Or you can put “According to Jones (1998), _________________.”
**page number encouraged but not required
MLA Basic Formatting
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Your essay should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11") with 1"
margins on all sides. MLA recommends using 12 pt. Times New Roman font.
Your essay should include a header that numbers all pages consecutively flush in the upper
right-hand corner. Type last name, page number. (Note: Your instructor may ask that you omit
the number on your first page. Always follow your instructor's guidelines.)
In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the
course, and the date.
Center the title. Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks; write the
title in Title Case (standard capitalization), not in all capital letters.
**Do not make a title page for your paper unless specifically requested
If you have any endnotes, include them on a separate page before your Works Cited page.
– Entitle the section Notes (centered, unformatted).
Include reference page at the end
MLA References (basic citations)
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Label the page Works Cited (do not italicize the words Works Cited or put them in
quotation marks) and center the words Works Cited at the top of the page.
Must be hanging indentations
Must be in alphabetical order
Capitalize each word in the titles of articles, books, etc, but do not capitalize articles
(the, an), prepositions, or conjunctions unless one is the first word of the title or
subtitle.
– For example: Gone with the Wind, The Art of War, There Is Nothing Left to Lose.
Basic format for books
– Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of
Publication. Medium of Publication.
Basic format for in text citations
– (Wordsworth 263).
– Or you could put, “According to Wordsworth, ___________________” (263).
Examples: MLA or APA?
• Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House.
Denver: MacMurray, 1999. Print.
• Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science.
New York: Penguin, 1987. Print.
• Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). Guide to
preparing manuscripts for journal publication.
Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association.
Recommended websites to visit…
• https://owl.english.purdue.edu/
• http://www.apastyle.org/
• http://www.mlahandbook.org/fragment/publi
c_index