TOPIC:

MLA & APA

FORMATS
GROUP MEMBERS
SYED JAMAL AKHTAR
TALHA JAFFAR
ABDUL MOIZ
TALAL MASOOD
ABRAR NASIR
 Formatting

• Formatting refers to the appearance or presentation of your essay.

• Another word for formatting is layout.
• Most essays contain at least four different kinds of text: headings, ordinary
paragraphs, quotations and bibliographic references.
 Why is formatting important?

• Formatting is important for two reasons:

• It makes your essay look like an essay (rather than a letter or a note to a
friend).
• It helps to make your essay more readable.
• All readers are influenced by the presentation of a text. If your essay looks
like an essay and is easy to read, the reader will be more likely to have a
favorable attitude to what you have written.
 Academic Paper Formats

Academic research papers may be written in different formats depending on

the type of paper being written. Commonly used styles are:
MLA (Modern Language Association) - used in literature, arts and the
humanities
APA (American Psychological Association) - used in social sciences, such as
psychology and education
 IMPORTANT THUMB RULE

• Always ask your instructor which format he/she wants you to use!
• If the working is all on its own than narrow down area of research and choose
relevant Formatting.
 Citation Locations

Sources used to write a paper are acknowledged in two different places within
the paper:
• IN-TEXT CITATION
• WORKS CITED PAGE
 In-Text Citations

In the text of your paper, you should credit any work done by another person.
You do this by using the basic format of (Author’s Last Name_Page Number).
These citations match up with the citations in your Works Cited page.
Example:
The writer should place the source information directly after the end of the paraphrase or
quote by the source (Ratcliff 25).
 Works Cited Page

• At the end of your

paper, list all of the
sources you used in a
Works Cited page. Your
sources are formatted in
a specific way and are
called “citations.”
 APA

• stands for American Psychological Association

• a style to aid in the formation of papers
• provide guidelines for the mechanics of writing, including aspects of
punctuation, quotation, and the documentation of sources.
 Language in an APA paper should be

• Clear: be specific in descriptions and explanations

• Concise: condense information when you can

• Plain: use simple, descriptive adjectives and minimize figurative language

 APA STYLE USES

• Term papers
• Research reports
• Literature reviews
• Theoretical articles
• Methodological articles
• Case studies
• Your essay should:
• be typed,
• double-spaced,
• have 1” margins,
• use 10-12pt. Standard font (ex. Times New Roman), and
• be printed on standard-sized paper (8.5”x 11”)
 In-Text Citation:
Quotations
When quoting:
• Introduce the quotation with a signal phrase

• Include the author’s name, year of publication, and page number

• Keep the citation brief do not repeat the information

 In-Text Citation:
Summary or Paraphrase

• Provide the author’s last name and the year of publication in parenthesis after a
summary or a paraphrase.
 In-Text Citation:
Two or More Works

• When the parenthetical citation includes two or more works, order them in the same
way they appear in the reference list, the author’s last name, the year of publication
separated by a semi-colon.
 In-Text Citation:
Works with Two Authors

• When citing a work with two authors, use

In the signal phrase, use “and” in
between the authors’ names
• In parenthesis, use “&” between names
 In-Text Citation:
Works with 3-5 Authors
• When citing a work with three to five authors, identify all authors in the
signal phrase or in parenthesis.

(Harklau, Siegal, & Losey, 1999)

• In subsequent citations, only use the first author's last name followed by "et
al." in the signal phrase or in parentheses.

(Harklau et al., 1993)

 Making the Reference List

APA is a complex system of citation. When compiling the reference list, the strategy below
might be useful:
• Identify the type of source:
Is it a book? A journal article? A webpage?

• Find a sample citation for this type of source

Check a textbook or the OWL APA Guide:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
• Make sure that the entries are listed in alphabetical order and that the subsequent lines are
indented.
 MLA

• stands for Modern Language Association

• a style to aid in the formation of papers
• provide guidelines for the mechanics of writing, including aspects of
punctuation, quotation, and the documentation of sources
 Book Citation

A book citation has six elements:

• Author
• Title
• Place of Publication
• Publisher
• Copyright Date
• Medium of Publication
 Book Citation-How to Write
These pieces are combined in a certain order with punctuation to create the
book’s citation.

Basic Book Format:

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Title. Place of Publication:

Publisher, Copyright Date. Medium of Publication.

 Book Citation-How It Looks

When the pieces for an example book are inserted into this format, the citation
looks like the following:

• Basic Book Format:

Naz, Asma. Use of Diphthongs in language learning: Branch of Phonetics.

Islamabad: Rosen, 2014. Print.

 Journal Article Citation
A journal article citation contains different elements than a book. In
general, a
journal citation includes the following:
• Author(s)
• Article Title
• Journal Name
• Volume Number
• Issue Number
• Publication Year
• Page Numbers
These pieces are combined in a certain order with punctuation to create a journal
citation.
If the article is retrieved from an article database, it also needs to include the
database information as shown below.
Basic Journal Format:

Author(s). " Article Title." Journal Name

Volume Number.Issue Number (Publication Year): Page Numbers. Database

Name. Medium of Publication. Date of Access. <URL>. (if required)

When the pieces for an example article are inserted into
this format, the citation looks like the following:

Journal Citation:

Atkinson, Michael. "Pretty in Ink: Conformity, Resistance, and Negotiation in

Women's Tattooing." Gender Roles 47 (2008): 219-35. Academic Search

Premier. Web. 8 Sept. 2008.

 Conclusion

• Formats depending on the type of paper being written.

• At the end after studying these two format it is concluded that type
of format totally depend upon the area of research.
THANK YOU