A Refresher Course on
Documentation
MLA vs. APA Citation
A Quick Introduction / Review of
MLA 2009 RULES
What’s New in MLA 2009?
Use ITALICS now for large works, no
more underlining.
FOR EXAMPLE
Book Titles
 Play titles
 Movies
 Albums


ETC
The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 15 June 2011.
What’s New in MLA 2009?
The medium of the source consulted
must now be designated in the Works
Cited list.
EXAMPLE
Sewell, Said. “African American Religion: The
Struggle for Community Development in a
Southern City.” Journal of Southern Religion 4
(2001): n. pag. Web. 29 Jan. 2008.
(Online journal)
The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 15 June 2011.
What’s New in MLA 2009?
Search engines have improved so much
that MLA no longer requires URL
addresses.
Only insert them if your source would
be difficult to find with a
search engine!
The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 15 June 2011.
What’s New in MLA 2009?



Use n.d. for the date for no date of
publication
Use n.p. for no publisher or no place of
publication
Use n. pag. for no page numbers.
The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 15 June 2011.
What’s the Same?





1” margins all around
Plain font (like Times New Roman), 12 point,
double-spaced
Leave only one space after periods or other
punctuation marks
Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch
from the left margin
Create a header that numbers all pages
consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, onehalf inch from the top and flush with the right
margin.
The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 15 June 2011.
What’s the Same?



Do not make a title page for your paper unless
specifically requested
In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list
your name, your instructor's name, the course, and
the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text
MLA recommends that when you divide an essay
into sections that you number those sections with
an arabic number and a period followed by a space
and the section name.


1. Early Writings
2. The London Years
The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 15 June 2011.
What’s the Same?
Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was
marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful
feelings" (263).
 Romantic poetry is characterized by the
"spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings"
(Wordsworth 263).
 Wordsworth extensively explored the role of
emotion in the creative process (263).
Generally:
(Author’s last name page number)

The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 15 June 2011.
What’s the Same?



Still alphabetical by entry
Still double-spaced throughout
Follows the same basic format with the
aforementioned addendums
The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 15 June 2011.
A Quick Introduction / Review of
APA
TH
6
ADDITION RULES
When Should You Use APA?
APA is most commonly used to cite
sources within the social sciences.
While we use MLA in our English
classes, our colleagues use APA.
Our students need to know BOTH!
How is APA Like MLA?

The basic page formatting rules are
the same:
12 point, Times New Roman, DoubleSpaced Font
 1” Margins

The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 15 June 2011.
How is APA Unique?

Include a page header at the top of every
page



Has FOUR major sections:


Title page = Running head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER
All other pages= TITLE OF YOUR PAPER
Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and
References.
Title page with title of the paper,
the author's name, and the
institutional affiliation.
The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 15 June 2011.
First Page Side by Side Comparison
The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 15 June 2011.
How is APA Unique?


According to Jones (1998), "Students often
had difficulty using APA style, especially
when it was their first time" (p. 199).
Jones (1998) found "students often had
difficulty using APA style" (p. 199); what
implications does this have for teachers?
The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 15 June 2011.
How is APA Unique?

REFERENCES are listed at the end of the
essay, not Works Cited
The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 15 June 2011.
Get it? Got it? Good!
QUIZ TIME
Question One
True or False:
MLA and APA documentation both
require the same size font in
documents.
Question Two
True or False:
Aside from differences with in-text
documentation, MLA and APA are
virtually the same.
Question Three
Which type of documentation is
typically used by the social sciences?
A.
B.
C.
MLA
APA
Neither
Question Four
True or False:
MLA no longer requires URLs, as
long as the source is easily found
with search engines.
Question Five
True or False:
MLA recommends that writers
underline titles of books, movies,
and the like.
ANSWERS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
True –12 point font
False –Paper requirements differ
APA is used by social sciences
True—remember, hold the URL
False—writers should italicize these
items.
Putting it All Together
Please take a moment to reflect on this
presentation.
 How likely are you to remember this
information when you present this to
students in the fall?
 What are the most significant
distinctions to note about MLA and
APA?
 How comfortable are you with both
MLA and APA documentation?
Questions?
What do you still want to
know?
The End