The inescapable headache of referencing plagues every academic paper. It will help if you put up with the arduous exercise of entering each source you utilized to complete the academic paper, even though you may not like doing so. The nightmare is made even worse because you almost do not know the differences between different Citation Styles, specifically the differences between Harvard and MLA citation styles. As a result, you tend to mix them up and make mistakes in the bibliography section. Although they appear to be alike at first glance, especially the Harvard and MLA style of references, you can’t be held responsible for making mistakes.

We’re here to help you understand the differences between Harvard and MLA citation styles so that you can properly cite sources. To ensure that you never mix them up again, we will clarify their differences in this blog and provide examples.

First, in the blog, let’s clear out their definitions of differences between Harvard and Mla Citation Styles.

Harvard referencing style

The Harvard citation style was developed and presented by the University of Harvard to aid its students in referencing academic papers, as is clear from the name. The parenthetical style was developed to assist students, scholars, and writers incorporate quotations, ideas, and research from other sources into their writing. A lot of people use the Harvard referencing system. The illustration of citations will be dealt with in this blog on differences between Harvard and MLA citation styles.

MLA referencing style

The Modern Languages Association created and developed the MLA citation style, which is extensively used in academic writing. Parenthetical formatting is also a feature of MLA style. However, you can also utilize the style to enter all the references as a list at the end of the paper, which will be illustrated in this blog on the differences between Harvard and MLA citation styles.

When to use MLA or Harvard citation style

Students enrolled in various courses employ MLA and Harvard referencing styles. For instance, if you are pursuing humanities, natural or social sciences or behavioral science, your lecturers will require that you reference all of your sources using the Harvard referencing style.

On the other hand, the MLA citing style is frequently employed in the humanities, although it emphasizes subjects related to liberal arts. If you belong to courses related to literature, culture, or language, each of your assignments will have references in the MLA style. The blog on the differences between Harvard and MLA citation styles will help in understanding how to apply both styles.

Format of citation styles in MLA and Harvard

It is vital to understand the differences between Harvard and MLA citation styles as the difficulty arises because each referencing style, as you are aware, adheres to a particular format. When you look at the example references, you will be able to recognize the similarities between both styles. But if you pay close attention, you’ll notice a few little adjustments that help to understand the differences between Harvard and MLA citation styles.

When using the Harvard citation style, you must add an abstract or concise explanation in the paper explaining the topic. Additionally, according to the Harvard referencing style, all the sources used to develop the paper need to be listed on the last page with a heading, References.

The format used by the MLA style is different. Unless your professor particularly requests it, papers referenced using this format do not need to have a separate title page. Additionally, when adopting this format, the bibliography section should not contain a complete list of the sources you consulted. Rather, you must place them on the “Works Cited” page. To understand the differences between Harvard and MLA citation styles, read the blog in detail.

To clearly illustrate the differences between Harvard and MLA citation styles, we will provide sample references in each of the two styles in the following section.

Guide to understanding the differences between Harvard and MLA citation styles

If it is assigned to use the Harvard referencing style, you must thank your luck because the Harvard format has clear rules for citing a figure, visual aids or diagrams. However, it is advantageous because you will know how to cite them. For instance, if you are reproducing data from outside, you must immediately cite the source. Additionally, do use the word “below” rather than the phrase “in figure 3” when your article includes tables and diagrams.

In this sense, the MLA style is opposite to the Harvard style. Regarding citing visual aids, Harvard has several requirements, whereas MLA has none, which is one of the significant differences between Harvard and MLA citation styles. Therefore, you can very much mention the resources as per your wish. However, speaking with your lecturer before citing any figure, visual aids or diagrams in MLA style would be a good idea.

The above rules were the primary differences between Harvard and MLA citation styles, and they effectively demonstrated that despite their apparent similarity, they are quite different. Moreover, they each have a unique set of rules that distinguish them from one another and other widely used citation formats like APA, Chicago, Vancouver, and others.

We’ll look at each of their examples to see how they differ from one another and establish clear differences between Harvard and MLA citation styles.

Examples of referencing in the MLA and Harvard styles

Examples of citing various sources in both styles are provided in this part so that you may learn about all the differences between Harvard and MLA citation styles and get a sense of how to use each one correctly. Let’s go to the examples without further ado.

Harvard referencing examples

Book by a single author: The author’s name is entered first, then the remaining information.
Simony, K. (2008). Minimum rage. Queensland: Big, Yellow.
Books by two (or more) authors: Both authors’ names must be listed alphabetically, with last names first.
Ramesh, G. and Desikan, S. (2010). Testing of Software testing. Mumbai, India: Knightley Books, p.150.
Chapters of edited books: The structure you use here is the last name first, the first initial, the title of the chapter, the name of the editor, and the remaining information.
Brown, K. (2015). Kylie, my daughter. In: C. Sampson, ed., The Pets That We Adore, 3rd ed. San Francisco: Penguin Ltd., pp. 60–78.
Print journal articles: To cite such sources, you must first list the author’s name, then the article’s title, and then the journal’s name.
Ross, N. (2016). Looking for true content and real awareness. Philosophy of Today, 50(5), pp. 300-350.
Website journal articles: Referencing website journals follow a similar format to citing print journals, except that you must include the term “online” in parentheses and the URL.
Ross, N. (2016 Looking for true content and real awareness. Philosophy of Today, [online] 50(5), pp. 300-350. Available at: https://www.search.com/goods-and-services/Search-Library.org [Accessed 22 Apr. 1998].
Websites: These need to be mentioned distinctively because not all online articles have the author’s name. In such an instance, all you’ll need to say is the website’s name, the page’s title, and the URL.
Star Wars.com, (1999). Star Wars Official Homepage. [online] Available at: www.starwars.com [Accessed 13 Aug. 2000].
Ebooks and PDFs: Begin with the author’s name in the customary format, followed by the URL and the access date.
Sakka, K. (2018). The Real Villain. 1st ed. [eBook] San Francisco: Penguin. Available at: https://ebooks.mdfp.com/ [Accessed 6 Feb. 2019].
Archived Sources: A university’s name must be mentioned in place of the publishing house when using archived resources, which have the same format as books.
Sakka, K. (2001). Letter to Vicar Jain. [letter] Historical Community of Jain, Community Rights Management. Jain.
Movies and videos: State the title, its original country, and the filmmaker.
Code of Ethics. (2000). [film] Sydney: Master Reid.

MLA referencing examples

Books by a single author: The author’s name will appear first. The whole name, not only the initial, must be mentioned in this instance.
Jean-Philippe, Mather. French Resistance: The Cultural Wars between France and America. Minneapolis: Minnesota Press, 1998. Print. Books featuring two (or more) authors: As long as the author’s names appear in the same order as on the book’s cover, they are not required to be listed in alphabetical order.
Colomb, Gregory, C., Joseph M. Williams, and Wayne C. Booth. Performing research craft. 2nd ed. Chicago Press, 1998. Print.
Chapters in edited books: In addition to mentioning the author’s name, you must also mention the editors’ names.
Yellow, Sam K. “The Function of Regional Education in Hydrology.” Water Quality and Sedimentation. Ed. Bell Jean, Frank Ross and Knight Grey. Westminster: Penguin Books, 2000. 30-40. Print.
Print journal articles: Citing print journal articles are similar to citing books, and the article’s name appears just after the author’s name.
Yellow, Sam. “Thinking About the Online Material: The Article with Everything.” YCMA 200.3 (1998): 305-316. Print.
Online journal articles: Unlike Harvard, the date of access for website journals and articles will appear before the URL rather than after it.
Roth, M. Sam and K.C. Mine. “Control of Infections in Homes.” Journal of Infection Control 75.6 (1998): 305-316. DirectScience. Web. 8 Aug. 1999. .
Websites: You must include the article’s title and the website’s name when citing web pages lacking an author.
Literature Resources and Languages. n.d. Chicago University. Web. 20 Aug. 1999. .
PDFs and eBooks: In this case, the date you accessed the PDF must precede the URL. Do include the book’s edition as well.
Billings, Sam. Project Control: a Systematic Control to Scheduling and Planning. 9th ed. New Jersey: Penguin Books, 1999. EBook Library. Web. 19 Apr 1999.
Archived Sources: If you want to reference an archived source in the MLA style, you must provide a thorough description of the source, including a description of the folder to which it belongs.
Spring, Clara. To Steven Summers in a letter. 30 July 1944. Box 5, Folder 1. MSP 97 Papers from Steven and Clara Summers. California Shelly Mill Achieves and Research Centre with Special Collections, California University Library, West US, US. 23 April 1999.
Videos and movies: Lastly, to reference a video or movie using the MLA style, you must list the title of the work, the names of the directors, and the names of the actors who play the key roles.
From the Past. Dir. Amin Allan. Perf. Sukesh M. Rear, Michael Mills, Rica Stead, and Famella G. Ray. 2000. Republic, 2010. DVD.

We believe you can now clearly see the differences between Harvard and MLA citation styles. However, if you run into trouble, keep in mind that, with a few notable exceptions like those mentioned above in this blog on differences between Harvard and MLA citation styles, the title of the source in question is typically not italicized in MLA. Still, it is done in the Harvard format.

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