The MLA and APA styles differ in several important ways, both for intext citations and for lists of sources. You’ve probably noticed a few: the APA lowercases most words in titles and lists the...

The MLA and APA styles differ in several important ways, both for intext citations and for lists of sources. You’ve probably noticed a few: the APA lowercases most words in titles and lists the publication date right after the author’s name, whereas the MLA capitalizes most words and puts the publication date at the end of the works cited entry. More interesting than the details, though, is the reasoning behind the differences. Placing the publication date near the front of a citation, for instance, reveals a special concern for that information in the APA style. Similarly, the MLA’s decision to capitalize titles isn’t arbitrary: that style is preferred in the humanities for a reason. Working in a group, find as many consistent differences between the MLA and APA styles as you can. Then, for each difference, speculate about the reasons these groups organize or present information in that way. The MLA and APA style manuals themselves may be of help. You might also begin by determining which academic disciplines subscribe to the APA style and which to the MLA.