As the number of psychology students grows, the number of research and writing jobs in psychology also grows. The format of writing a research paper in psychology can be tricky as there are two popular styles: APA and Chicago. One style is not better than the other. Both styles have their own strengths and weaknesses. How many people get confused by these two and wonder what the differences are. This blog will discuss the difference between APA vs Chicago and how to determine which style you should use.
What is APA?
APA stands for American Psychological Association. It is a standard style of writing for academic papers. However, when writing in APA format, you should use the most recent edition of the style guide. The current one is the 6th edition. You must know that APA is not a law.
In other words, it has a set of standards meant to help make research and writing more precise. Despite being a common writing style, its acceptance is not universal. It is extremely important that you are aware of the standards set by the institution you are writing for. Make sure you’re using APA if you’re writing a psychology paper or a paper that needs to follow a certain writing style.
Importance of APA style
Here is some importance of the APA style.
- A style of writing that is specific and thorough, the APA style is becoming a more popular style of writing.
- Students use it in college and even high school as a guide to writing papers.
- While every field has specific writing standards, using the APA style makes it easier to translate information.
- Psychologists and professionals use the APA style when writing papers or other content.
- They use the APA style to make it easier for others to understand the content.
However, this blog is about the difference between APA vs Chicago styles.
What is Chicago?
Chicago style is a citation style. It is meant to give a standard format to source references in the text of documents, usually a research paper in an academic journal. But it is also used in some books and other formal publications. Indeed, the Chicago style is also the standard style of the University of Chicago Press and the University of Chicago Library.
Moreover, it considers the most specific style guide in the business. In addition, it can be a little intimidating for the layman. One thing the Chicago style is famous for is the use of footnotes. This allows writers to put citations in an article without taking away from the overall flow of the piece. The Chicago Manual of Style has been around since 1906, so it’s a tried and true method of writing.
if you want to know more about Chicago Style Citation then you can read our blog.
Importance of Chicago
Below is some importance of the Chicago style.
- Chicago style has become the accepted style for scholarly and scientific publications.
- Most social sciences, humanities, and business styles are based on the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS)
- The Chicago style is the accepted style for mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology in the scientific community.
Differences between APA vs Chicago
There are many similarities between APA and Chicago styles, but in many aspects, they differ. Here are some differences between both styles.
Definition
American Psychological Association or APA is a scientific and professional organization. It represents psychology in the United States. However, a style refers to the category of writing, such as MLA, APA, Chicago style and more.
Chicago style is a style of academic writing and research presentation. It is also a desk reference and style manual published by the University of Chicago Press.
Use
The use is another significant factor in the difference between APA vs Chicago.
The American Psychological Association formed the APA style, which is commonly used when writing papers in the social sciences.
Whereas, the Chicago style is used in humanities and for most writing outside of the sciences.
Recent vs older style
APA is a more recent style. In addition, the social sciences and the health professions accept the APA. Moreover, the general public and most publishing companies accept this style.
On the other hand, Chicago is an older style. But the use of this style is wide. Chicago accepts by many humanities departments but is only a secondary choice for most scientific fields.
Focuses
You need to know the focus factor in the difference between APA vs Chicago.
APA (American Psychological Association) style and Chicago style are two different writing styles commonly used for academic papers. While the APA style focuses on creating clarity by avoiding ambiguous terminology.
On the other hand, the Chicago style emphasizes clarity and visual impact by emphasizing the structural hierarchy of content.
Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed our article about APA vs Chicago styles. With this knowledge, we know that you can make the most of your business meetings and easily collaborate on projects.
The APA style is a common reference style used when writing papers. Besides, the use of this in the social sciences and sometimes in the humanities. The Chicago style is a common reference style used when writing papers. The use of Chicago style in the humanities and sometimes in the social sciences.”
