What's with all these citation styles?!

Check out the wonderful side-by-side comparison chart put together
by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) by clicking on The OWL Citation Chart.

Think of it like basketball.  The goal, in its simplest form no matter who is playing, is to get the ball down the court and through the basket. All players need to learn the basic skills: dribbling, passing, defense, offense, shooting... But, players in high school have slightly different rules than players in college and players in the NBA.  Those rules give basketball players and their fans some structure and consistency.  You can go to a high school game anywhere in the United States and expect the game to be played by the same rules.  Same for college or NBA games.

The basic goal of research, no matter what the subject, is the same: study available information or conduct original research and then share your insights with others in the same field. All researchers need to learn the same basic skills: structuring a search or experiment, evaluating a source or questions, constructing and supporting a thesis, analyzing and synthesizing information, writing clearly, and citing sources. The various citation styles are designed to consistently structure and organize your findings and your sources for others in the same field. The focus of research in literature, social sciences, physical and life sciences, and history, for example, is different for each field.  The fine details of citation also become more important as one moves from high school to college to grad school and beyond.

Nearly every university explains the different citation styles somewhere on their library website.  You can search for MLA vs APA vs Turabian.

While you're at the OWL, bookmark it in your favorites.  You'll be glad you did.