APA is not the same as Associated Press (AP) style, nor is it the same as Modern Language Association (MLA) style. APA is the publication and documentation standard for social sciences. For example, if you plan to attend business school, you'll likely write case studies in APA style, or if you're a research scientist in the field of psychology and plan to publish, you will have to adhere to APA publishing criteria. However, AP style is primarily used by journalists and other media writers around the world. It is the official style for global news writing organizations and includes all "media platforms and formats," according to the AP website. MLA is primarily used for documentation in the humanities, especially in language and literature writing, according to MLA. Various publication styles are applied to writing within other types of academic and publishing fields, such as IEEE for documentation in some science fields.
Just when you've gotten used to following MLA documentation standards for undergraduate English papers, it's very likely you'll have to quickly learn and adhere to APA guidelines for another course paper, especially if you take upper-division or graduate courses, such as business, economics, psychology, sociology, criminology or nursing. You may also be expected to adhere to APA standards when writing papers for other types of courses, depending on the college or university you're attending. For example, many graduate schools expect all students to write papers in APA style, including graduate-level education programs.
If you're a social science researcher or part of a research team at a university who wants to publish material, such as study results, you're expected to adhere to APA publication standards. Most journals or magazines related to the social sciences won't accept manuscripts that don't follow proper APA standards for publication. Graduate thesis or dissertations are written in APA style in the social sciences.
Although it might be possible, not too many people are interested in trying to memorize the entire APA manual, including college professors. However, the best way to tackle APA, whether you're a student trying to get your research paper done or a researcher interested in publishing groundbreaking research results, is to first get the most recent edition of the APA manual. Then, as you skim through it, use sticky tabs to mark certain sections you know you'll use often. Become familiar with how the manual is put together so you'll always have a good idea of where to find information when needed. You can get the online version of the APA manual, and many APA resources are available for free online, such as those found on university online writing center websites. Find sample APA papers online too. APA pocket guides are available in bookstores as well, which are designed to cut down on the volume of information you have to search through in the larger APA manual when you're in a hurry to find basic APA formatting rules.