Essay Formats

If students could simply write what they think about a particular topic, they wouldn’t have such a problem with academic writing. However, this lengthy process requires an extensive research, attention to details, and a great deal of time to be completed. On top of everything, professors also require specific citation styles to be used for different types of papers.

Since you are expected to implement the rules of different formats, you need to pay close attention to their guidelines and waste a lot of time on details. The following comparison between MLA, APA, and Chicago citation styles will make the work easier for you.

1. APA Style

This format is used for referencing sources when writing on topics from the area of social sciences. The guidelines are not basic at all, but you’ll find them easier if you remember the author-date referencing method. This means that the reference provided in the text should include the author’s name accompanied by the year of publication. In addition to these in-text citations, you will also provide a reference list that offers more information about the sources you used to support the discussion.

2. MLA Style

If you are working on a project for a course that belongs to the niches of humanities and liberal arts, you will probably need to implement the rules of the Modern Language Association citation style. The easiest way to remember the formatting rules is to pay attention to the “author-page” in-text citations. The quotes and paraphrased sentences in your content should be accompanied with an in-text citation that includes the author’s last name and the page number where the information is located in the source. Then, you will provide more specifications in the Works Cited page.

3. Chicago Manual of Style

This is the citation style you’ll mostly use when writing content from the areas of art, literature, and history. Instead of in-text citation, the Chicago Manual of Style instructs the usage of endnotes or footnotes, where you will include the author’s name, the title of the source, and details about the publication. At the end of the document, you will provide a detailed bibliography page.

This information will help you distinguish the three most commonly used referencing styles, so you can finally tackle that part of the academic writing project with fewer difficulties. Remember: you must reference all sources you used in your paper; otherwise you will be guilty of plagiarism.