[familyop]

Merriam-Webster (a subsidiary of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.), is not a useful reference for grammar. Writers for the Associated Press need English classes without standard university indoctrinations in social pathologies. If they have difficulty understanding the MLA and APA, they should at least try using Rules for Writers (Diana Hacker). Speaking of social pathologies, animals are not people.

[9YearLurker]

I can’t imagine looking to the APA beyond what’s required for college papers and loopy social science journals. The MLA is something of a Johnny-come-lately, perhaps therefore hewing to dated standards for presumed credibility.

The Chicago Manual of Style is good enough for me—http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Usage/faq0166.html—though I suspect for you nothing that veers from what you were taught in grammar school will suffice.