MLA, APA, Chicago Explained
There are three main citation styles used at Warner Pacific University: MLA, APA, and Chicago/Turabian. The different styles are used in different settings. Whichever style you choose to use, use this style consistently throughout your research paper.
MLA and APA are considered in-text citation styles. The styles require that you leave a brief citation after the quote or paraphrase, but leave the rest of the citation for the Works Cited (MLA) or References (APA) page at the end of the essay.
- MLA style emphasizes the author and the page number of the original source you are citing. This allows for scholars to be able to refer to the page of the text that you are citing, which is why it is the preferred style to humanities research.
- APA is the style of the American Psychological Association and is common in the social sciences. While APA is also an in-text citation style, it emphasizes the author and year the source was published. This allows for scholars to see how research has evolved over time, rather than an in-depth look at the writing itself.
The third common citation is Chicago Style (also known as Turabian Style). It is a footnote style of citation, which provides the source information at the bottom of the page. This style is used commonly in historical research. It allows the scholar to focus upon the information being presented and not to be distracted with the citation information.