Comparison Charts for APA, MLA, and CMS References

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January 6, 2021

APA, MLA

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In-Text Citations

	APA 7^th Edition	MLA 8^th Edition	CMS 17^th Edition Author-Date (A-D)	CMS 17^th Edition Notes and Bibliography (NB)
Type of citation	Parenthetical	Parenthetical	Parenthetical	Shortened footnotes (see below for example of full notes)
Single author	(Smith, 2020, p. 2)	(Smith 2)	(Smith 2020, 2)	¹Smith, Magnetic Fields,2.
Two authors	(Belsky & Jones, 2020, p. 100)	(Belsky and Jones 100)	(Belsky and Jones 2020, 100)	²Belsky and Jones, “History of Refrigeration,”100.
Three authors	(Santori et al., 2020, p. 50–51)	(Santori et al. 50-51)	(Santori, Liefson, and Chang 2020, 50-51)	³Santori, Liefson, and Chang, “The Light,”50-51
Four+ authors	(Mohamed et al., 2020)	(Mohamed et al.)	(Mohamed et al. 2020)	⁴Mohamed et al., “Ice-Covered Trails”

Notes (referring to all styles unless specified):

Include page numbers (unless the original lacks them, as in web content) for direct quotes; they are optional for paraphrased material.
When there is no author, you can list the source by the organization that produced it or by a shortened version of the title of the source.
CMS NB generally recommends using shortened notes in your footnotes and the full reference listing in your bibliography. Here’s an example of a full CMS NB footnote in case your guidelines require them:

²Karen Belsky and Margaret Jones, “The History of Refrigeration,” Journal of Technology 123, no. 4 (June 2020): 100.

CMS NB recommends shortened notes instead of IBID for subsequent citation of the same source.

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End-of-Text References

	APA	MLA	CMS A-D	CMS NB
Title of reference listings page	References	Works Cited	References	Bibliography
Book	Smith, K. P. (2020). Magnetic Fields. Balbuk Press.	Smith, Kip. Magnetic Fields. Balbuk Press, 2020.	Smith, Kip. Magnetic Fields. 2020. New York:Balbuk Press.	Smith, Kip. Magnetic Fields. New York:Balbuk Press, 2020.
Chapter from edited volume	Santori, W., Liefson, P., & Chang, L. (2020). The light: Everyday thoughts. In J. M. Martens (Ed.), Wrongful actions (pp. 50–51). Kingston Publishing.	Santori, Weston, Pauline Liefson, and Lou Chang. “The Light: Everyday Thoughts.” Wrongful Actions, edited byJennie Martens, Kingston Publishing, 2020, pp. 50-51.	Santori, Weston, Pauline Liefson, and Lou Chang. 2020. “The Light: Everyday Thoughts.” In Wrongful Actions, edited byJennie Martens, 50-51. Chicago: Kingston Publishing.	Santori, Weston, Pauline Liefson, and Lou Chang. “The Light: Everyday Thoughts.” In Wrongful Actions, edited byJennie Martens, 50-51. Chicago: Kingston Publishing, 2020.
Journal article	Belsky K. & Jones, M. (2020). The history of refrigeration.Journal of Technology, 123(4), 98–112.	Belsky Karen and Margaret Jones. “The History of Refrigeration.”Journal of Technology, vol. 123, no. 4, 2020, pp. 98-112.	Belsky Karen and Margaret Jones. 2020. “The History of Refrigeration.”Journal of Technology 123, no. 4 (June): 98-112.	Karen Belsky and Margaret Jones. “The History of Refrigeration.” Journal of Technology 123, no. 4 (June 2020): 98-112.
Newspaper	Mohamed, F., Johnson, E. R., Rabbit, G., & Kong, D. C. (2020, December 4). The ice-covered trails of Wildwood Forest. Charleston Daily. 3B.	Mohamed, Faroud, Edward R. Johnson, George Rabbit, and Daniel C. Kong. “The Ice-Covered Trails of Wildwood Forest.” Charleston Daily. 4 Dec. 2020, p.3B	Mohamed, Faroud, Edward R. Johnson, George Rabbit, and Daniel C. Kong. 2020. “The Ice-Covered Trails of Wildwood Forest.” Charleston Daily, December 4, 2020.	Mohamed, Faroud, Edward R. Johnson, George Rabbit, and Daniel C. Kong. “The Ice-Covered Trails of Wildwood Forest.” Charleston Daily, December 4, 2020.
Online Newspaper	Mohamed, F., Johnson, E. R., Rabbit, G., & Kong, D. C. (2020, December 4). The ice-covered trails of Wildwood Forest. Charleston Daily. http://www.charlestondaily.com	Mohamed, Faroud, Edward R. Johnson, George Rabbit, and Daniel C. Kong. “The Ice-Covered Trails of Wildwood Forest.” Charleston Daily. 4 Dec. 2020. http://www.charlestondaily.com/science/the-ice-covered-trails . Accessed 10 Dec. 2020.	Mohamed, Faroud, Edward R. Johnson, George Rabbit, and Daniel C. Kong. 2020. “The Ice-Covered Trails of Wildwood Forest.” Charleston Daily, December 4, 2020. http://www.charlestondaily.com/science/the-ice-covered-trails .	Mohamed, Faroud, Edward R. Johnson, George Rabbit, and Daniel C. Kong. “The Ice-Covered Trails of Wildwood Forest.” Charleston Daily, December 4, 2020. http://www.charlestondaily.com/science/the-ice-covered-trails .
Webpage	Ohio Department of Education. (2020). COVID standardized testing update. http://education.ohio.gov/testing/COVID	COVID standardized testing update. Ohio Department of Education, 14 Dec. 2020, http://education.ohio.gov/testing/COVID. Accessed 20 Dec. 2020	Ohio Department of Education. 2020. “COVID standardized testing update.” Testing. Last modified April 1, 2020. http://education.ohio.gov/testing/COVID	Ohio Department of Education. “COVID standardized testing update.” Testing. Last modified April 1, 2020. http://education.ohio.gov/testing/COVID

Notes:

For books, the city of publication is only needed for CMS (all works) and MLA (for works published before 1900).
Use DOIs rather than URLs whenever possible. Include the DOI when available even if you accessed a print version of the source.
Use a hanging ½” indent on references lists; single space CMS and double space the others.
Alphabetize listings by the first author’s last name.