How does APA differ from MLA formatting style?

American Psychological Association and Modern Language Association are writing and
formatting styles used in papers, reports, and academic essays. APA is predominately used in the
social sciences while MLA is predominately used in the liberal arts and humanities. The
guidelines provide overall formatting for content, style and references. While they have many
similarities, there are also many differences.

Paper Formatting

Both MLA and APA adhere to double-spaced pages, a legible 12-point font, and 1-inch margins
on all sides. An APA-formatted paper consists of four parts: title page, abstract, main body and
references. The abstract is 150 to 250 words and gives a summary of key points in the paper,
including the research topic, research questions, methods, analysis and conclusion. The abstract
is a single, double-spaced paragraph. The MLA-formatted paper does not have a separate title
page or an abstract and has two major parts: the body of the paper and a works cited page.

Title Page

APA-formatted papers use page headers at the top of every page, including the title page. Page
numbers are flush right and the title of the paper is flush left. The title page includes the title,
author's name, and institutional affiliation. An MLA formatted paper includes the title on the first
page, separating the title from the essay only by a double space. MLA uses a header on the left
side of the first page that includes author name, instructor name, course and date. The remaining
pages have a right side header that includes the last name of the author and page number.

In-Text Citations

MLA and APA papers have slightly different methods for in-text citations as MLA follows the
author-page format and APA follows the author-date format. An APA-formatted paper includes
the author's last name and year of publication in parenthesis after the cited text. An MLA-
formatted paper includes the author's last name and page number in parenthesis after the text.

Reference Page

APA-formatted papers include a separate page at the end of the paper entitled "References," and
MLA-formatted papers include a page entitled "Works Cited." Both list the sources used in the
paper alphabetized by the last name of the author and are double spaced. In an APA-formatted
paper, if there are two works by the same author, the entries are listed in chronological order
from the earliest work. In an MLA-formatted paper, the entries are listed alphabetically by title,
and three hyphens are used in place of the author's name after the first entry. In an MLA-
formatted works cited page, the second line and subsequent lines for each source are indented
five spaces. An APA source is indented one-half inch from the margin after the first line.

What are the APA formatting requirements for all written assignments?
Your essay should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11") with 1" margins
on all sides. You should use a clear font that is highly readable. APA recommends using 12 pt.
Times New Roman font.

Include a page header (also known as the "running head") at the top of every page. To create a
page header/running head, insert page numbers flush right. Then type "TITLE OF YOUR
PAPER" in the header flush left using all capital letters. The running head is a shortened
version of your paper's title and cannot exceed 50 characters including spacing and punctuation.

Major Paper Sections

Your essay should include four major sections: the Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and
References.

Title Page

The title page should contain the title of the paper, the author's name, and the institutional
affiliation. Include the page header (described above) flush left with the page number flush right
at the top of the page.

Abstract

Begin a new page. Your abstract page should already include the page header (described
above). On the first line of the abstract page, center the word “Abstract” (no bold, formatting,
italics, underlining, or quotation marks).

Intext

An APA-formatted paper includes the author's last name and year of publication in parenthesis
after the cited text.

Reference Page

APA-formatted papers include a separate page at the end of the paper entitled "References," and
MLA-formatted papers include a page entitled "Works Cited." Both list the sources used in the
paper alphabetized by the last name of the author and are double spaced. In an APA-formatted
paper, if there are two works by the same author, the entries are listed in chronological order
from the earliest work.

Describe some of the Word features that contribute in creating a professional polished
document

Explanation:
1. A standard font which is recommended

2. Proper alignment of the document.

3. Correct grammatical presentation

3. Standard spacing

5. A clear flow of the document from the introduction to the body up to the conclusion

For a clean polished professional word document Mircrosoft office offers a variety of assisting features
including templates, the use of headers and footers, margin changes ability, font selection, and the use
of bullet styles along with conditional formatting. All of these are used to create a polished professional
looking document.

The applications in Microsoft 365 are the most widely used office applications in the work
environment. Understanding the similarities between the applications make them easier to
use. Per the reading, what components are consistent between the applications and how do
they assist in creating, organizing, and managing files?

Microsoft Office 365 presents users with a familiar desktop experience, merging the latest in
cloud-based computing with their next-generation communications and collaboration services.
Specifically, MS Office 365 is composed of

Microsoft Office 2016 Apps

Microsoft Office 2016 includes a wide variety of apps, such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, Outlook,
Publisher, and OneNote:

• Microsoft Word 2016, or Word, is a full-featured word processing app that allows you to create
professional-looking documents and revise them easily.

• Microsoft PowerPoint 2016, or PowerPoint, is a complete presentation app that enables you to
produce professional-looking presentations and then deliver them to an audience.

• Microsoft Excel 2016, or Excel, is a powerful spreadsheet app that allows you to organize data,
complete calculations, make decisions, graph data, develop professional-looking reports, publish
organized data to the web, and access real- time data from websites.

• Microsoft Access 2016, or Access, is a database management system that enables you to create a
database; add, change, and delete data in the database; ask questions concerning the data in the
database; and create forms and reports using the data in the database.
• Microsoft Outlook 2016, or Outlook, is a communications and scheduling app that allows you to
manage email accounts, calendars, contacts, and access to other Internet content.

• Microsoft Publisher 2016, or Publisher, is a desktop publishing app that helps you create professional-
quality publications and marketing materials that can be shared easily.

• Microsoft OneNote 2016, or OneNote, is a note taking app that allows you to store and share
information in notebooks with other people

Microsoft Office 2016 Suites

A suite is a collection of individual apps available together as a unit. Microsoft offers a variety of Office
suites, including a stand-alone desktop app, Microsoft Office 365, and Microsoft Office Online. Microsoft
Office 365, or Office 365, provides plans that allow organizations to use Office in a mobile setting while
also being able to communicate and share files, depending upon the type of plan selected by the
organization. Microsoft Office Online includes apps that allow you to edit and share files on the web
using the familiar Office interface.

During the Office 365 installation, you select a plan, and depending on your plan, you receive different
apps and services. Office Online apps do not require a local installation and can be accessed through
OneDrive and your browser. OneDrive is a cloud storage service that provides storage and other
services, such as Office Online, to computer users.

Apps in a suite, such as Microsoft Office, typically use a similar interface and share features. Once you
are comfortable working with the elements and the interface and performing tasks in one app, the
similarity can help you apply the knowledge and skills you have learned to another app(s) in the suite.
For example, the process for saving a file in Word is the same in PowerPoint, Excel, and some of the
other Office apps. While briefly showing how to use several Office apps, this module illustrates some of
the common functions across the apps and identifies the characteristics unique to these apps.

Running and Using an App

To use an app, you must instruct the operating system to run the app. Windows provides many different
ways to run an app. After an app is running, you can use it to perform a variety of tasks. The following
pages use Word to discuss some elements of the Office interface and to perform tasks that are common
to other Office apps.