The major styles are APA, Footnotesytem, Vancouver, and Modern Language Association (MLA).
APA is used by most researchers to bring common format, that help us in easy sorting.
Muti, given its long standing links with journal publications since the 1920s and its widely common acceptance for citing sources in the behavioural and social science disciplines, the APA style, it has become the widely accepted and used form of writing in other disciplines as well. Its various iterations over the years have been widely publicised in respective manuals and gained recognition in how to write and cite. Important discussion point here...
In Mexico the APA has been established as a format that has been requested for many years by magazines and even in the publication of some books. However, other formats apply as well. Maybe it was a way to standardize the publications.
Alejandro,
I quite agree with you on the point you have raised on standardization.
All styles are the same in terms of their theme and objectives. Which style is used is not a matter of 'right or wrong' rather STYLE only. The only objective of using a particular style is to maintain CONSISTENCY and that's it. So an institution, a journal or community has to select one or another style, which obviously meets their publication requirements to the maximum. Further, anybody can identify a few weaknesses in every style in the background of a particular situation or setting. If I need a wood-chair, I shall get one but it is basically a chair like those made of plastic and iron and so on. Hope it helps!
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