Which style manual should I use?

There are many different style manuals available. Some have been developed to suit the needs of researchers in a particular field. Others are more general and may be more useful to students than to working professionals. Check with your instructor to see if he or she wants you to use a specific manual for your paper. Some styles that are commonly used include:

APA (The manual's exact title is The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association). This style is often required for classes in Counseling, Education, Gerontology, Human Resource Development and Management, Legal Studies, and Psychology.

MLA (Modern Language Association; the manual's exact title is the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers). As you might imagine, this style is preferred in literature classes, as well as other humanities courses.

Chicago (The manual's exact title is The Chicago Manual of Style : for Authors, Editors, and Copywriters) or Turabian (named for the author, Kate Turabian. Her manual is called A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations). Chicago is popular for classes in Business, Computer Science, Health Administration, Marketing, Management, and Media Studies.