Generate properly formatted citations for websites, books, journals, newspapers, and videos. Supports APA 7th, MLA 9th, Chicago 17th, Harvard, and IEEE. Build a full bibliography and export it as plain text -- all free, all in your browser.
Last updated: March 2026 | Free to use, no signup required
A citation generator is a tool that takes information about a source - like the author, title, publication date, and URL - and formats it into a standardized reference. Academic and professional writing requires citations in specific styles such as APA, MLA, or Chicago. Each style has its own rules for punctuation, italics, ordering, and capitalization.
Formatting citations by hand is tedious and error-prone. A single misplaced comma or a missing period can cost marks on a paper or undermine the credibility of a research document. Citation generators solve this by applying the rules automatically. You enter the details, pick a format, and get the correctly structured reference in seconds.
This tool supports five of the most widely used citation styles and covers the source types that students and researchers encounter most often: websites, books, journal articles, newspaper articles, and videos.
Using this tool takes just a few steps. Start by selecting the type of source you are citing from the dropdown menu. The form fields will update to match that source type - a book asks for a publisher and edition, while a journal article asks for volume and issue numbers.
Fill in as many fields as possible. The more information you provide, the more complete and accurate the citation will be. Then choose your citation format from the second dropdown and click "Generate Citation." The formatted reference appears below the form.
From there, you can copy the single citation to your clipboard or add it to your bibliography list. The bibliography builder lets you collect multiple citations, reorder them, and export everything as plain text when you are ready to paste it into your paper.
A few tips for getting the best results:
APA stands for the American Psychological Association. The 7th edition, released in 2019, is the current standard. It is the default style for psychology, education, nursing, and many social science disciplines.
The general pattern for APA is: Author last name, First initial. (Year). Title of work. Publisher or Source. URL or DOI
Titles of standalone works like books and reports are italicized. Titles of shorter works like articles and web pages are not italicized but maintain sentence-case capitalization, meaning only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized. The DOI or URL goes at the end with no period after it.
APA 7th edition made several changes from the 6th. References now include up to 20 authors before using an ellipsis. Publisher locations are no longer required. DOIs use the https://doi.org/ format. These updates simplified the format and made digital sources easier to cite.
MLA stands for the Modern Language Association. The 9th edition is the current standard and is primarily used in the humanities - literature, languages, philosophy, and cultural studies.
MLA uses a core elements system. Every source gets evaluated for these nine elements: author, title of source, title of container, contributors, version, number, publisher, publication date, and location. Not every source has all nine, so you include what applies.
The general pattern looks like: Author. "Title of Source." Title of Container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.
Titles of shorter works go in quotation marks. Titles of larger works - books, websites, journals - are italicized. MLA uses title-case capitalization, meaning most major words are capitalized. URLs are included but the https:// prefix is typically omitted in formal MLA style.
The Chicago Manual of Style is now in its 17th edition. It is used across history, arts, and some social sciences. Chicago offers two systems: notes-bibliography and author-date. This tool generates the notes-bibliography style, which is the more common variant in the humanities.
In the notes-bibliography system, sources are cited with footnotes or endnotes, and a full bibliography appears at the end. The bibliography entry format differs slightly from the note format - bibliography entries use a period-separated structure with the author's last name first.
The general pattern is: Author Last name, First name. "Title of Article." Title of Publication. Date. URL.
Chicago is known for being thorough. It has specific rules for nearly every type of source imaginable, from medieval manuscripts to social media posts. For most academic papers, the rules for books, articles, and websites cover what you need.
The citation style you use depends on your academic discipline and, often, the specific requirements of your instructor or publisher. Here is a straightforward breakdown:
When in doubt, ask your instructor or check the submission guidelines for the journal or publisher you are targeting. Using the wrong style is a common and easily avoidable mistake.
Citation generators are tools, not replacements for understanding the rules. Here are some things to keep in mind when generating and checking your references.
Always verify the output. Run your generated citation against the official style guide or a trusted example. Automated tools handle the formatting, but they depend on the data you enter. If you type an author name incorrectly, the citation will faithfully reproduce that error.
Get the author information right. Many citation mistakes come from incorrect author names. Check the actual byline on the source. Some articles list an organization as the author rather than an individual. If there is no author, most styles have a rule for how to handle that - usually starting the citation with the title.
Use DOIs when available. A DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is a permanent link to a published work. DOIs are more stable than URLs, which can break over time. For journal articles, the DOI is almost always the preferred identifier in APA, Chicago, and Harvard styles.
Record the access date for online sources. Web content changes. Noting when you accessed a page establishes what version of the content you referenced. MLA and Harvard styles require an access date for online sources.
Keep your bibliography consistent. Every entry in your reference list should use the same style. Mixing APA and MLA formats in one paper is a red flag for graders and editors. Use the format selector in this tool to make sure all your citations match.
Yes. This tool is completely free with no account required, no usage limits, and no ads. All citation formatting happens directly in your browser using JavaScript. Nothing is sent to a server, and no data is stored. You can use it as many times as you need for any project.
The tool follows the official rules for APA 7th, MLA 9th, Chicago 17th, Harvard, and IEEE formats. The accuracy of each citation depends on the information you provide. If you enter complete and correct source details, the output will match the style guide. It is always good practice to double-check a generated citation against an example from your institution or publisher, especially for unusual source types.
Yes. Enter multiple authors separated by commas in the author field, using "First Last" format for each. For example: "John Smith, Jane Doe, Robert Lee." The tool will format the names according to the rules of the selected citation style, including proper use of ampersands, "and," or "et al." where required.
A citation is a single formatted reference to one source. A bibliography (also called a reference list or works cited page) is a collection of all the citations used in a document, listed together at the end. This tool lets you generate individual citations and also build a bibliography by adding multiple citations to a list that you can export as a complete unit.
The style depends on your field and your instructor or publisher's requirements. APA is standard in psychology, education, and social sciences. MLA is used in literature and the humanities. Chicago is common in history. Harvard is popular in UK and Australian universities. IEEE is used in engineering and computer science. If your assignment does not specify a style, check your department's guidelines or ask your instructor.
Yes. The "Export as Text" button downloads your entire bibliography as a plain text file. You can open that file and paste the contents into Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or any other word processor. The "Copy All" button copies the full bibliography to your clipboard for quick pasting. Note that italic formatting is indicated in the text output but may need to be applied manually in your word processor.