The MLA calls its bibliographic list “Works Cited.” The order of entry is by author, then alphabetical by the author’s work. The author’s name is cited by last name, first name then middle initial. Second and third authors of the same work are cited first name, last name with commas after each name, followed by a period at the end of the citation. More than three authors use "et al" after the first name using a comma after the first author’s name followed by a period at the end. The name of the work follows the last author’s name. Titles should be capitalized and either underlined or in italics. Following that is the city and name of the publisher and the date published. If pages are cited, only the page numbers are shown, without “p” or “pp.”
The APA’s bibliographic list is the “References” page. All authors are cited with first and second initials, followed by the last name, in alphabetical order. A comma follows each author’s name, with an ampersand before the last author’s name. All authors’ names are listed. This is followed by the date of publication, in parentheses. The title of the book or article is next, underlined or in italics, with only the first word capitalized. Finally, the publisher and city of publication is cited. Page numbers are preceded with “p” or “pp.”
Here is how a specific book is cited under the two guidelines:
MLA
Schiller, Lawrence, and James Willwerth. American Tragedy: The Uncensored
Story of the Simpson Defense. New York: Random House, 1996
APA
Schiller, L., & Willwerth, J. (1996). American Tragedy: The Uncensored
Story of the Simpson Defense. New York: Random House.
Each of the references is double spaced with a ½-inch hanging indent. Titles should be underlined or in italics.
There are additional rules for periodicals, website citations, interviews and other sources, but they generally follow the examples shown. The details can be found in each organization’s style guide, which should be consulted once the appropriate style is chosen.