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Formatly formats your document — margins, spacing, fonts, headings, page layout, and structure — all matched to your chosen style (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.). We don't edit your writing, check grammar, or validate citations. You write it; we make it look right.

Which citation styles are supported?

Formatly supports APA 7th edition, MLA 9th edition, Chicago Manual of Style, Harvard, and Turabian. We continuously evaluate new styles based on user requests.

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Most documents are formatted in about 30 seconds. The time depends on document size and length, but our engine is optimised for speed without sacrificing accuracy.

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How to Convert a Citation from MLA to APA (Without Starting Over)

You’ve Got an MLA Citation, But Your Professor Wants APA—Now What?

You’ve spent hours gathering sources, carefully formatting each one in MLA style. Then the email comes: “Please submit in APA 7th edition.” Your stomach drops. Rewriting every citation from scratch feels like punishment for a crime you didn’t commit.

Here’s the truth: you don’t need to start over. Converting an MLA citation to APA is a systematic process—once you know what changes, it takes seconds. And with the right tools, it can be nearly automatic.

In this tutorial, I’ll walk you through the exact steps to convert MLA to APA citations, highlight the key differences you can’t ignore, and show you how to automate the entire process so you never waste time retyping citations again.

Why MLA and APA Citations Look So Different

Before we dive into the conversion steps, you need to understand the core differences. Both styles aim to give credit, but they organize information differently.

Element	MLA (9th Edition)	APA (7th Edition)
Author name	Full first name, last name	Last name, first initial
Date placement	Near the end	Right after author
Title case	Title case (capitalize major words)	Sentence case (only first word and proper nouns)
Container vs. source	“Title of Source. Container,”	No container concept; italicize book title
Publisher location	Often omitted	Required for books
Access date	Optional	Not required for published sources
URL format	Plain URL with period	“Retrieved from” or DOI

These differences aren’t arbitrary—they reflect each style’s philosophy. MLA prioritizes authorship and page numbers; APA emphasizes timeliness and retrievability. Understanding this makes conversion intuitive, not mechanical.

How to Convert an MLA Citation to APA: Step-by-Step

Let’s walk through converting a real MLA citation into APA format. We’ll use this MLA example:

MLA (9th Edition) Example:
Smith, John. The Art of Academic Writing. Penguin, 2020, pp. 45-67.

Step 1: Reorder the Author Name

In MLA, you write the full first name after the last name. In APA, you shorten the first name to an initial only. Move the last name to the front, then add the first initial and middle initial (if applicable).

Before (MLA): Smith, John.
After (APA): Smith, J.

If there are multiple authors, reverse each name the same way. Separate with commas and use an ampersand (&) before the last author—never “and.”

Step 2: Move the Publication Date

This is the biggest structural change. In MLA, the date appears near the end. In APA, it goes immediately after the author’s name, in parentheses, followed by a period.

Before (MLA): Smith, John. The Art of Academic Writing. Penguin, 2020.
After (APA): Smith, J. (2020).

If you have a more specific date (e.g., month, season), include it in APA only if the source is a magazine, newsletter, or blog post. For books and journal articles, just the year.

Step 3: Change Title Capitalization

MLA uses title case: every major word is capitalized. APA uses sentence case: only the first word of the title and subtitle are capitalized, plus proper nouns.

Before (MLA): The Art of Academic Writing
After (APA): The art of academic writing

Don’t forget: in APA, book titles are italicized, just like in MLA. But for journal articles, the article title is in plain text (sentence case) and the journal title is italicized (title case).

Step 4: Adjust the Publisher and Location

MLA typically omits the publisher’s location (city) unless it’s an older work. APA requires the publisher name but not the location. Remove any city or state information.

Before (MLA): Penguin, 2020.
After (APA): Penguin.

If the original MLA citation included a page range (e.g., pp. 45-67), APA does not include page ranges for books—only for book chapters or journal articles. In this case, drop the page range entirely.

Step 5: Handle URLs and DOIs

MLA often includes a plain URL with a period at the end. APA requires the word “Retrieved from” before the URL (unless it’s a DOI, which uses “https://doi.org/...” format). Remove any trailing period from the URL.

Before (MLA): www.example.com.
After (APA): Retrieved from https://www.example.com

If the source has a DOI, use it instead of the URL. APA prefers DOIs over URLs because they’re permanent.

Step 6: Remove Optional Elements

MLA sometimes includes access dates for web sources. APA does not require access dates for published, peer-reviewed sources—only for sources that may change over time (like wikis). If you have an access date, delete it unless the source is dynamic.

Complete Conversion Example

Here’s the full before-and-after for our example:

Style	Citation
MLA (9th)	Smith, John. The Art of Academic Writing. Penguin, 2020, pp. 45-67.
APA (7th)	Smith, J. (2020). The art of academic writing. Penguin.

Notice how much cleaner the APA version is—no page range, no city, no full first name. The key elements remain: author, year, title, and publisher.

Common Pitfalls When Converting MLA to APA

Even experienced writers make these mistakes. Watch out for them:

Forgetting to change the date position—the year must come right after the author, not at the end.
Keeping title case—APA requires sentence case for book and article titles.
Including the publisher’s city—APA omits location information.
Using “and” instead of “&”—APA uses an ampersand before the last author.
Leaving page ranges for books—page ranges only apply to book chapters or journal articles in APA.
Forgetting to italicize the book title—both styles italicize book titles, but APA also italicizes journal titles.

If you’re working with journal articles, the conversion gets trickier because MLA and APA handle journal titles differently. In MLA, the journal title is in title case and italicized; in APA, it’s also italicized but in title case. The article title, however, goes from title case (MLA) to sentence case (APA).

Why Manual Conversion Is a Trap (And What to Do Instead)

You can follow these steps for every citation—and it works. But if you’re converting 20, 30, or 50 citations, manual conversion becomes a time sink. One typo, one missed capitalization change, and your entire reference list is wrong.

This is where automation saves you. Instead of retyping each citation, you can use a tool that understands both MLA and APA rules. For example, Effortless Academic Paper Formatting tools can handle the heavy lifting, applying the correct formatting rules instantly.

The key is to choose a solution that doesn’t just convert text—it applies the underlying rules. That’s the difference between a simple find-and-replace and true rule-based automation.

Pro Tips for a Smooth MLA-to-APA Conversion

These tips will save you time and prevent errors:

Always check the source type first. A book citation converts differently than a journal article, website, or chapter. Don’t apply a one-size-fits-all approach.
Use the hanging indent correctly. Both MLA and APA require hanging indents (0.5 inches) for reference list entries. Don’t lose this during conversion.
Double-check the author format for 2-20 authors. APA lists up to 20 authors with an ampersand before the last. MLA uses “and” for multiple authors and omits the ampersand.
Watch for missing periods. MLA ends citations with a period; APA also ends with a period, but the placement changes after the title and publisher.
Verify DOI formatting. APA requires “https://doi.org/” before the DOI number. MLA may just list the DOI as “doi:xxxx.”
Don’t forget the in-text citation. Converting the reference list is only half the battle. MLA uses (Author Page) while APA uses (Author, Year). Update all in-text citations too.

Automate the Conversion and Never Start Over Again

You now know exactly how to convert an MLA citation to APA. The steps are clear, the differences are manageable, and with practice, you can do it in seconds. But why do it manually at all?

The Ultimate APA 7th Edition Formatting Guide shows you how to build perfect APA citations from scratch. But if you’re converting from MLA, you need a tool that understands both styles—not just one.

Formatly does exactly that. It applies the correct rules for MLA, APA, and Chicago automatically. No more memorizing whether the date goes before or after the title. No more wondering if you capitalized the right words. Just paste your MLA citation, select APA, and get a perfectly formatted result.

Stop retyping. Start writing. Try Formatly today and convert your entire reference list in under a minute.