APA and MLA Showdown: Our Defense of APA

When we read the most recent UCWbLing post (by theDePaul University’s Center for Writing-based Learning) last week, we couldn’t just sit by and watch APA style get crushed by MLA. We had to step up to APA’s defense. Not that APA needs any defending, but…

With experience in Chicago, MLA, and APA, we have admiration for and frustration with each style. During our time at Walden, however, we have come to have a new appreciation for APA. Many consider it to be a long list of overly picky and hard-to-learn arbitrary rules, and we don’t disagree that MLA is the easier style to learn. But, we’re still in APA’s corner, and here’s why:  

1. The serial comma

APA and MLA both use the serial comma (meaning you add a comma before “and” in a list of three or more items), and this rule ensures clarity for your reader, as each item you are listing is neatly separated. Who doesn’t like an easy-to-read list? The difference comes in each style’s directions regarding serial commas: APA style is perfectly clear that serial commas are expected, as evidenced by the serial comma’s appearance in APA’s index (under comma, serial). APA even gives examples in two places (p. 64 and 88). MLA style also suggests writers use the serial comma, but it isn’t listed in the index; instead, you need to investigate the comma section of the manual and interpret the example MLA gives. APA’s clear and direct approach ensures that all users know to use this handy little rule. 

2. Citation formatting

In APA style, citations require the date of publication for the source that you’re citing, like this: Shiell (2013) or (Shiell, 2013). In MLA style, your citation includes the author name and page number, and you only include dates in your reference entries. This small rule can make a big difference in terms of the credibility of your research, however. Presenting the date within the citation immediately tells readers the currency of the source (how recently it was published, which gives a sense of how up-to-date—or outdated—the research might be) and which source you’re citing (which is helpful particularly if you’re using multiple works by the same author). Imagine reading an entire article about technology only to realize its central claim is based on research from the 1960s; bummer, right?

3. Page numbers (or lack thereof)

In MLA, your citations must include a page number, regardless of whether you’re quoting or paraphrasing the source. Page numbers are also required for quotations in APA, but APA only recommends that writers include a page number when paraphrasing if they want to point readers to the exact page where the information is from. For paraphrases in APA style, a page number is not required, and generally not included. This guideline makes a lot of sense. When summarizing and paraphrasing from sources, you’re not always going to pick out a single sentence to use from the middle of a long article or book. Instead, you will often communicate information or ideas that the author presented throughout the work. Imagine if your citations included strings of page numbers pointing out every time the author mentioned that information or idea. Reading citation after citation of (Oyler, 2013, p. 4, 7, 9, 10, 20-23, 40, 66, etc.) would get a little tiresome, wouldn’t it?  

4. Heading formats

It’s true, APA style has more rules than MLA about how to format your headings. You’re probably thinking, Who cares if my level 3 heading is tabbed, bolded, in sentence case, and followed by a period and the first line of the paragraph? Your readers care, that’s who. Using consistent formatting for your heading levels helps readers understand the relationship of your paper’s sections to one another. MLA recommends that writers use consistent heading formatting, but only throughout a document—there are no guidelines on consistent formatting from paper to paper. Do you want to read a paper where every heading is bolded, underlined, italicized, and size 22 font? We thought not. Understanding the organization of a paper is easier when you’re familiar with an established set of heading levels (and it’s easier on the eyes) than when you’re trying to decipher the writer’s own formatting scheme.

5. Abstracts

You might think it’s good news that MLA style doesn’t require abstracts (nor does it give guidance on abstracts)—less work for you, right? But think about your last research paper or an upcoming research project and the number of articles you’ll need to sift through to find the ones relevant to your topic and purpose. There’s no way you’re going to read all of the articles you find, even with a successful database search method. Instead, you’ll first take a look at an article’s abstract, and then maybe you’ll skim through the text and look at the headings (see how understanding heading scheme at a glance could come in handy?) to decide if you should spend time fully reading the article. APA’s abstract requirement and guidelines help you learn how to write and format a strong abstract, which you’ll need for long papers and for works you hope to publish.  

So, APA is the clear winner…right?

The 6th edition in all its glory.

While we do have a soft spot for APA, APA is only the best style guide for certain students and certain types of writing, just like MLA, or Chicago, or another style is more appropriate for other students and different disciplines. If you’re using APA, that’s great (and we have a lot of resources to help). If you’re required or have the option to use a different style, that’s fine, too. The important thing is learning to follow a style guide and properly document your sources. Whichever style you use, writing your paper in a consistent and accepted way helps your readers see you as a credible researcher and writer, find your original sources, and focus on your ideas rather than your formatting.

Thanks to the UCWbLing Blog for a thought-provoking post!

Writing Instructor and Coordinator of Social Media Resources Anne Shiell has an MA in English (yes, she used MLA). Writing Instructor and Coordinator of Webinar Writing Instruction Beth Oyler is working toward her MA in English (she is also using MLA).