📚 MLA to APA Citation Converter
Convert MLA citations to APA 7th edition format instantly. Enter source details below.
| Citation Element | MLA 9th Format | APA 7th Format | Key Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author Name | Last, First Middle | Last, F. M. | APA uses initials only |
| Year of Publication | Placed at end of entry | In parentheses after author | APA year is 2nd element |
| Book Title | Title Case Italics | Sentence case italics | APA uses sentence case |
| Article Title | "Title Case in Quotes" | Sentence case, no quotes | APA no quotes for articles |
| Journal Name | Italics, Title Case | Italics, Title Case | Both use italics here |
| Volume/Issue | vol. X, no. Y | X(Y) | APA italicizes volume only |
| Pages | pp. 10–20 | pp. 10–20 | Same abbreviation |
| Publisher Location | Not required (MLA 9) | Not required (APA 7) | Both dropped in latest eds. |
| DOI / URL | URL as "Web" source | https://doi.org/xxxxx | APA requires full DOI link |
| In-text Citation | (Author page#) | (Author, Year, p. #) | APA includes year in-text |
| Reference List Title | Works Cited | References | Different heading names |
| Multiple Authors | Last, First, and First Last | Last, F., & Last, F. | APA uses & before last author |
| Source Type | APA 7th Template |
|---|---|
| Book (1 author) | Last, F. (Year). Title in sentence case. Publisher. |
| Book (2 authors) | Last, F., & Last, F. (Year). Title. Publisher. |
| Journal Article | Last, F. (Year). Title of article. Journal Name, Vol(Issue), pages. DOI |
| Website | Last, F. (Year, Month Day). Title. Site Name. URL |
| Book Chapter | Last, F. (Year). Chapter title. In F. Editor (Ed.), Book title (pp. X–Y). Publisher. |
| Magazine | Last, F. (Year, Month). Title. Magazine Name, Vol(Issue), pages. |
| Newspaper | Last, F. (Year, Month Day). Title. Newspaper Name, page(s). |
| Thesis | Last, F. (Year). Title [Doctoral dissertation, University]. Repository. |
| Report | Author. (Year). Report title. Publisher/Agency. |
| Conference Paper | Last, F. (Year). Title. Conference Name, Volume, pages. |
| Situation | MLA In-Text | APA In-Text |
|---|---|---|
| 1 author, page ref | (Smith 45) | (Smith, 2020, p. 45) |
| 2 authors | (Smith and Brown 45) | (Smith & Brown, 2020, p. 45) |
| 3+ authors | (Smith et al. 45) | (Smith et al., 2020) |
| No page (website) | (Smith) | (Smith, 2020) |
| Author in sentence | Smith argues (45) | Smith (2020) argues |
| No author | ("Title" 45) | ("Short Title," 2020) |
| Direct quote | (Smith 45) | (Smith, 2020, p. 45) |
| Paraphrase | (Smith 45) | (Smith, 2020) |
Citation converter is a program that alters references from one style to another. For instance, Paperpile has special converters that allow you to copy texts and add bibliographies from one format to another, between styles of APA to MLA, from PMID to Excel and even more. This really helps when your writing must follow a different style rule than that, that was used at first.
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The most many citation programs now do much more than simply convert. They also make quotes from nothing. Mybib makes precise quotes automatically for books, newspapers, web pages and videos, quite a lot by means of search of title or code like URL or ISBN.
Free Tools to Make and Convert Citations
No ads, no downloads and no account is needed. Citation Machine works the same way and helps to properly point details in styles like APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian and Harvard, all for free. It fits to create quotes for thousands of styles and right away export bibliographies.
Some of those programs work as extensions for browsers. They grab the title, authors, date of publication and all other needed data to form the perfect quote by means of one single tap. That saves a lot of tiem instead of typing every detail yourself.
A few of them work with only the title of a book or article to get a full quote.
Here are some good choices. Citefast is a free tool for APA, MLA and Chicago quotes, that students and experts use. Wordvice makes references for APA 6 and 7, MLA 7 and 8, Chicago 17th and Vancouver styles.
Grammarly has also an ad-free citation tool, that forms well formatted quotes according too the latest books of APA, MLA and the Chicago Manual of Style. In more scientific areas, there is a free tool for IEEE style, that follows the rules of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers without effort.
Zotero ranks among the most popular programs. It acts as a whole manager for references, even though ZoteroBib is a more basic single citation tool for fast tasks. Google Docs quietly improved its built-in citation tool also.
One must recall, that citation tools sometimes make errors. Without knowledge about manual format of quotes, it is hard to note mistakes in the results. Some programs always need you to enter every tiny detail, including author starting letters and the whole title, which can seem a bit slow.
Some programs also support quotes inside the text. One of them can point to several sources at once and add in-text quotes directly in the writing. Scribbr uses artificial intelligence or human experts to check in-text quotes and references against mistakes and errors.
Guides about quotes with clear samples and directions for setting of papers, final lists, cited pages and in-text quotes areavailable at many services.
