Citation Styles--MLA and APA Introduction

In this tutorial the two citation styles you will become familiar with are the Modern Language Association, or MLA style, and the American Psychological Association, or APA style. You will examine basic examples of both styles so that you can create citations for your essays, papers, and other writing assignments. Citing sources is important:

• We cite information sources to give credit to the author of the cited source. Citing sources properly avoids the charge of plagiarism, the presentation of another writer's work as one's own.
• Appropriate citation also allows the writer to conform to copyright guidelines for academic use of materials. We also cite sources so that the reader can examine that source to verify the information and to explore the topic further.