MLA Style is for humanities scholarship while AMA Style is for medical publishing. Both are title case styles, but they serve entirely different disciplines.
MLA Style capitalizes all principal words while lowercasing articles, prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions unless they open or close a title. It follows the Modern Language Association Handbook.
MLA Style is required for papers in English literature, film studies, and other humanities disciplines at most universities. It is the most common format for undergraduate academic writing.
Open MLA Style converterAMA Style capitalizes major words while lowercasing articles, coordinating conjunctions, and short prepositions. It governs journals published by the American Medical Association, including JAMA.
AMA Style is required for submissions to major medical journals and most clinical research publications. Medical writers and clinical researchers are expected to follow it.
Open AMA Style converterMLA Style is required for papers in English literature, film studies, and other humanities disciplines at most universities. It is the most common format for undergraduate academic writing.
Verbs are always capitalized, including short ones like is and are. The rules closely resemble Chicago Style for most practical purposes.
AMA Style is required for submissions to major medical journals and most clinical research publications. Medical writers and clinical researchers are expected to follow it.
Prepositions of three letters or fewer are lowercased. Proper nouns, brand names, and drug names follow their standard capitalization throughout.
Choose MLA Style for humanities courses, English departments, and journals that specify MLA format.
Choose AMA Style for medical journals, clinical research, and healthcare publications.
The two styles are unlikely to compete for the same writer in the same context. Academic discipline determines the choice.