Comp/Rhet citation style??

[bumbleblu]

Hi folks, 

I know it's decision season (congrats everyone!), but I have a quick and unrelated question. 

I'm just finishing up the first year of my PhD in comp/rhet, having switched over from a different field; I'm sitting here writing a paper and realized I don't actually know what the standard citation style is for this field? I've been using MLA as that's what I've always used, and though no one's ever said anything, I'm not sure if that's right. Looking over articles I've read this year, I can't recognize the difference between Chicago and APA. If it's Chicago, is it author/date for in-text citations, or notes? I know I could just ask someone in my program, but I feel a little goofy for not knowing this basic thing. 

Can any comp/rhet folks please enlighten me?

Edited March 13, 2019 by bumbleblu

[StamfordCat]

1 minute ago, bumbleblu said:

Hi folks, 

I know it's decision season (congrats everyone!), but I have a quick and unrelated question. 

I'm just finishing up the first year of my PhD in comp/rhet, having switched over from lit; I'm sitting here writing a paper and realized I don't actually know what the standard citation style is for this field? I've been using MLA as that's what I've always used, and though no one's ever said anything, I'm not sure if that's right. Looking over articles I've read this year, I can't recognize the difference between Chicago and APA. If it's Chicago, is it author/date for in-text citations, or notes? I know I could just ask someone in my program, but I feel a little goofy for not knowing this basic thing. 

Can any comp/rhet folks please enlighten me?

It's actually a bit muddled as far as what profs are looking for. But most rhet/comp journals publish research that's very data-heavy, and so they tend to use APA or an APA hybrid. 

[bumbleblu]

Thanks, @StamfordCat; this explains why no one's corrected me: seems to be an "as long as you're consistent" situation. I'm not doing data-heavy work yet, so I'll stick with what I know for now, and then ask my profs.