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Difference Between APA, Vancouver and MLA Citation Styles

Every research field has its preferred citation style — and submitting with the wrong one is one of the easiest ways to signal to an editor that you did not read the author guidelines. Understanding the major styles helps you switch between them confidently and format references correctly on the first attempt.

Quick comparison

Style	Used in	In-text format	Reference order
APA 7th	Psychology, social sciences, education, pharmacy	(Author, Year)	Alphabetical
Vancouver	Medicine, biomedical, clinical research	Superscript number ¹	Order of appearance
MLA 9th	Humanities, literature, arts	(Author page)	Alphabetical
Chicago 17th	History, social sciences, some sciences	Footnote or Author-Date	Alphabetical or footnotes

APA 7th Edition

APA

Psychology · Social Sciences · Education · Pharmacy

Uses author-date in-text citations. Reference list ordered alphabetically. Author surnames listed with initials only. Journal titles in italics.

Smith, J. A., Jones, B. K., & Brown, C. (2023). Effects of temperature on enzyme activity. Journal of Biochemistry, 45(3), 112–128. https://doi.org/10.1234/jb.2023.001

Vancouver Style

Vancouver

Medicine · Biomedical · Clinical Research · Pharmacy

Uses numbered in-text citations (superscript or in brackets). References numbered in order of first appearance — not alphabetical. Journal titles abbreviated. Most widely used in medical and pharmaceutical journals.

Smith JA, Jones BK, Brown C. Effects of temperature on enzyme activity. J Biochem. 2023;45(3):112–28. doi:10.1234/jb.2023.001

MLA 9th Edition

MLA

Humanities · Literature · Arts · Cultural Studies

Uses author-page in-text citations. Works Cited list at end. Full first names of authors used. Container titles (journal names) in italics. Rarely used in scientific research.

Smith, John A., et al. "Effects of Temperature on Enzyme Activity." Journal of Biochemistry, vol. 45, no. 3, 2023, pp. 112–128.

Chicago 17th Edition

Chicago

History · Social Sciences · Some Natural Sciences

Two systems: Notes-Bibliography (footnotes, used in humanities) and Author-Date (used in sciences). Flexible and comprehensive. Less common in biomedical research.

Smith, John A., Brian K. Jones, and Carol Brown. "Effects of Temperature on Enzyme Activity." Journal of Biochemistry 45, no. 3 (2023): 112–128.

Which style should you use?

Always follow the specific journal's author guidelines — they will tell you exactly which style they require. If your journal uses a custom format, follow their sample references rather than any general style guide.

For pharmaceutical and biomedical journals, Vancouver is by far the most common. For psychology and social science journals, APA is standard. For humanities submissions, MLA or Chicago.

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