According to the MLA Style website, individuals in the humanities, particularly English and literature, widely use the MLA format. Writers in the social and behavioral sciences tend to abide by APA Style. Both formats are employed throughout the world. Generally, scholarly and literary journals require submissions in APA or MLA Style; however, some refer to the Chicago Manual of Style or other citation formats.
MLA and APA Style differ slightly in how they direct you to cite sources in the text of your paper. MLA Style uses the author-page format, shown here (Jones 21). APA Style requires use of the author-date format, as follows (Jones, 1999). Both styles offer the option of including the author's name as part of your narrative, while enclosing only the page number or year, whichever is applicable, in the parenthetical citation.
Both MLA and APA Style mandate use of a bibliography at the end of your paper. MLA Style calls this the "Works Cited" page, while APA asks that you title this page "References." Both formats order these lists alphabetically by the author's last name. MLA Style uses the last-name, first-name format. Author's names after the first are listed in first-name, last-name order. For sources with more than three authors, MLA Style requires the use of "et al." after the first author's name. APA Style asks that you list each author's name in last-name, first-initial format, up to six authors. For works with more than six author's, use "et al." after the first author's name, as noted at Arizona State University's (ASU) website.
The claim that MLA Style is easier to use can be partially backed by the fact that the format does not require a title page. APA Style does. It must include the title of the your paper, your name and your institutional affiliation. Both styles mandate the use of headers throughout your paper, according to the ASU website. APA's header starts on the title page, where it reads "Running head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER." All subsequent pages simply contain your paper's title and the page number. An MLA header starts on the first page. It is comprised of the author's name and page number.
MLA Style also gives you a break on headings and subheadings, a recurring nightmare of many college students. APA Style is not so kind. When using the APA format, pay attention to the required formatting for the three levels of headings it makes mandatory (though, it officially has up to five). As ASU's website explains, a level one heading should be centered. You should flush left and italicize level two headings. Center and italicize level three headings in APA Style. APA considers main paper sections level one headings. Subheadings are considered at level two. Level three headings occur when the writer breaks down subheadings one step further, explains the Concordia University Writing Center website.