The two style manuals most commonly used in writing research papers and bibliographies are Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA Style) and  MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (MLA Style).  Both manuals were originally developed for a particular segment of the publishing market.   APA Style was developed for use in psychology and behavioral sciences journals. MLA Style was developed for use by writers in the humanities. Today, however, both styles are used by researchers in all disciplines.

In addition to formats for print sources, the two style manuals today provide formats for citing Internet and other electronic resources used in preparing research papers.  While formats for print sources have evolved over several decades and are now relatively static, formats for electronic resources are relatively new and continue to evolve.  While formats for print sources are relatively prescriptive, formats for electronic resources more often provide a general framework within which writers have flexibility with respect to elements, punctuation, and typeface variations.  Regardless of the degree of flexibility allowed by a particular style, consistency in its application is emphasized above all else.

Print versions of APA Style and MLA Style are available in Milner Library.  Although neither manual is available online in its entirety, both publications have a compansion web site with information about citing electronic resources.  In some instances the web version is incomplete, in others the web version updates information in the print version.  Consequently, use of both the print and web versions of a style manual is necessary to obtain a complete discussion of how a particular style is applied to internet and electronic resources.

Sample formats for citing Internet and electronic resources using each style are provided on two separate pages linked to this site.  Examples on the two pages illustrate commonly encountered sources.  For complete documentation refer to the style manual and/or the style manual web site.