ASSOCIATE PRESS STYLE (AP STYLE) is to journalism what Modern Language Association Style (MLA Style) is to general English writing, both a set of rules.
WRITING TITLES
AP STYLE
Titles of books, movies, television shows, and song titles in AP Style must be capitalized and in quotations.
Example: Billy and Sue watched "Divergent" before it came out in theaters.
MLA STYLE
In MLA format, titles must be capitalized. The titles and names of the following must be italicized when typed, but underlined when handwritten.
• books
• plays
• movies
• television shows
• magazines
• names of newspapers
• titles of paintings
• air/spacecrafts
• song albums
However, there are a few titles that belong in quotation marks rather than italics, including:
• short stories
• essays
• individual songs
• poems
Example: Many eighth grade students are required to read Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.
AP STYLE
Titles of books, movies, television shows, and song titles in AP Style must be capitalized and in quotations.
Example: Billy and Sue watched "Divergent" before it came out in theaters.
MLA STYLE
In MLA format, titles must be capitalized. The titles and names of the following must be italicized when typed, but underlined when handwritten.
• books
• plays
• movies
• television shows
• magazines
• names of newspapers
• titles of paintings
• air/spacecrafts
• song albums
However, there are a few titles that belong in quotation marks rather than italics, including:
• short stories
• essays
• individual songs
• poems
Example: Many eighth grade students are required to read Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.
SIMILARITIES
COMMAS
Except when used during a list, most uses of commas are the same in both styles. This includes using commas after introductory clauses and before and after an appositive. An appositive is also known as an interrupter because it "interrupts" a sentence.
Example: Before going back to work, employees must wash their hands.
In this sentence, before going back to work is the introductory clause. Because it has a comma after, it is correct in both styles.
Example: My teacher, Miss Terry, has a dog named Stew.
In this sentence, Miss Terry is the appositive. The sentence is acceptable in both styles because it has a comma before and after Miss Terry.
QUOTATIONS
In MLA Style and AP Style, quoting a person speaking is written the same way. Although it is not required, most of the time it is more acceptable to add a speaker tag or introduction. The proper guidelines dictate that after the tag, a comma is required, followed by an open quotation mark. If the quotation could be a complete sentence on its own, the first letter of the first word inside the quotation is still capitalized even though it is not the beginning of the complete sentence. This is followed by punctuation inside the ending quotation mark.
Example: Sixth-grader Jefferson Grant said, "No matter what the government says, I know that they are hiding aliens from us."
COMMAS
Except when used during a list, most uses of commas are the same in both styles. This includes using commas after introductory clauses and before and after an appositive. An appositive is also known as an interrupter because it "interrupts" a sentence.
Example: Before going back to work, employees must wash their hands.
In this sentence, before going back to work is the introductory clause. Because it has a comma after, it is correct in both styles.
Example: My teacher, Miss Terry, has a dog named Stew.
In this sentence, Miss Terry is the appositive. The sentence is acceptable in both styles because it has a comma before and after Miss Terry.
QUOTATIONS
In MLA Style and AP Style, quoting a person speaking is written the same way. Although it is not required, most of the time it is more acceptable to add a speaker tag or introduction. The proper guidelines dictate that after the tag, a comma is required, followed by an open quotation mark. If the quotation could be a complete sentence on its own, the first letter of the first word inside the quotation is still capitalized even though it is not the beginning of the complete sentence. This is followed by punctuation inside the ending quotation mark.
Example: Sixth-grader Jefferson Grant said, "No matter what the government says, I know that they are hiding aliens from us."
THE OXFORD COMMA
The Oxford comma, or serial comma, is an optional comma near the end of the list, used in order to prevent confusion or misinterpretation of the sentence meaning. It is placed after the item before the conjunction and.
MLA STYLE
MLA format leaves the choice of adding the Oxford comma up to the writer. With or without it, the sentence is acceptable.
Example: A rainbow is red, yellow, green, and blue.
Example: A rainbow is red, yellow, green and blue.
Both example sentences are correct.
AP STYLE
The Oxford comma is forbidden by AP Style, unless absolutely necessary to prevent confusion. For example, readers would understand my meaning if I said, "A rainbow is red, yellow, green and blue." However, if a journalist writes a sentence in which the list could be construed as a term followed by an appositive of further explanation about the term, the meaning may be messed up. If this is the case, AP format allows the serial comma.
The Oxford comma, or serial comma, is an optional comma near the end of the list, used in order to prevent confusion or misinterpretation of the sentence meaning. It is placed after the item before the conjunction and.
MLA STYLE
MLA format leaves the choice of adding the Oxford comma up to the writer. With or without it, the sentence is acceptable.
Example: A rainbow is red, yellow, green, and blue.
Example: A rainbow is red, yellow, green and blue.
Both example sentences are correct.
AP STYLE
The Oxford comma is forbidden by AP Style, unless absolutely necessary to prevent confusion. For example, readers would understand my meaning if I said, "A rainbow is red, yellow, green and blue." However, if a journalist writes a sentence in which the list could be construed as a term followed by an appositive of further explanation about the term, the meaning may be messed up. If this is the case, AP format allows the serial comma.
NUMBERS
AP STYLE
When using AP Style, writers must spell out all numbers under ten, but use numerals for any numbers over single digits. However, numerals should always be used, no matter what digit, for percents and ages. AP style has another exception to this rule when years are involved. When writing dates of a year, the digits must be in numerals.
Example: On June 7, 2014, Jillian felt anxious because she was doing her portfolio, which she was to busy to complete in class, instead of studying for her social studies final.
Side note: Another trick about dates is that when writing months, the following months are abbreviated as shown: Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec.
Side Side note: notice the absence of a comma between Nov. and and.
MLA STLYE
According to MLA Style, numbers written in one or two words such as "four" and "four thousand" must be spelled out. When beginning a sentence with a number, it is always spelled out, regardless of the length of the number. Combinations of words and numbers are allowed, so long as they do not appear at the very beginning of the sentence, so numbers like 4.2 billion are okay. However, when combinations of words sound awkward, yet the numbers are still large, the numbers should be put in numerals.
Example: Two thousand papers should arrive tomorrow, along with 452 staples.
AP STYLE
When using AP Style, writers must spell out all numbers under ten, but use numerals for any numbers over single digits. However, numerals should always be used, no matter what digit, for percents and ages. AP style has another exception to this rule when years are involved. When writing dates of a year, the digits must be in numerals.
Example: On June 7, 2014, Jillian felt anxious because she was doing her portfolio, which she was to busy to complete in class, instead of studying for her social studies final.
Side note: Another trick about dates is that when writing months, the following months are abbreviated as shown: Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec.
Side Side note: notice the absence of a comma between Nov. and and.
MLA STLYE
According to MLA Style, numbers written in one or two words such as "four" and "four thousand" must be spelled out. When beginning a sentence with a number, it is always spelled out, regardless of the length of the number. Combinations of words and numbers are allowed, so long as they do not appear at the very beginning of the sentence, so numbers like 4.2 billion are okay. However, when combinations of words sound awkward, yet the numbers are still large, the numbers should be put in numerals.
Example: Two thousand papers should arrive tomorrow, along with 452 staples.