APA, MLA, Chicago, or Harvard: Choosing a Citation Style

Four references for the same book can look completely different and all be correct. The difference is the style: a set of rules about what to include, where to put the date, how to capitalise a title and how the reader finds the source. Choosing one is less about preference than about the audience.

The Citation & Bibliography Generator formats a reference in APA, MLA, Chicago or Harvard and can export it as BibTeX. The tool needs to know which style you want, so it helps to understand what each one is for.

APA: author and date in the text

APA uses an author-date citation in the text, such as (Smith, 2020), and an alphabetical reference list. The date comes early in the entry because the reader is expected to care when the work was published. Book titles use sentence case under APA, while journal titles keep title case.

It is common in psychology, education, business and the social sciences. If your department mentions “APA 7th”, it means the seventh edition of the Publication Manual.

MLA: author and page

MLA uses the author’s name and a page number in the text, such as (Smith 42), and a Works Cited list at the end. It is built around the close reading of texts, so page numbers matter more than publication dates. The entry usually puts the author first, then the title, then publication details.

It is the usual choice in English literature, language and some other humanities subjects. Check whether your course wants MLA 8 or MLA 9; the differences are small but real.

Chicago and Harvard: two more families

Chicago has two forms. The notes and bibliography form uses footnotes or endnotes and is common in history, art history and some theology. The author-date form looks more like APA and is used in some sciences and social sciences.

Ask which form is required. “Chicago” alone is ambiguous, and a paper that mixes notes with an author-date reference list will look inconsistent.

Harvard, by contrast, is an author-date style used widely in UK universities, but there is no single official manual behind it. Institutions publish their own versions, and details such as brackets, punctuation and the order of elements vary. Use the version your department provides, not a generic example from the web.

How to choose without guessing

• Read the assignment brief or journal instructions first. They usually name the style and edition.
• Ask your department if the brief is silent; do not choose by subject alone.
• Use one style throughout, including in-text citations, reference list and headings.
• Check every entry against the same guide, especially dates, page ranges and access details.

Format the first few references with the Citation & Bibliography Generator, then compare them with your style guide before adding the rest. Once the list is complete, the Alphabetical Order Tool can put a reference list into order.

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