Citation Generator for APA, MLA, Harvard and Chicago
Add books, journal articles, websites, reports, theses and more by hand or by DOI. Get a formatted bibliography and in-text citations, then copy it or export to Word, RIS or BibTeX.
APA 7th edition
Loading citation styles
Citation formatting by citeproc-js (CPAL 1.0). Styles and locales from the Citation Style Language project (CC BY-SA 3.0). The MLA 9 style is by Sebastian Karcher and Andrew Dunning.
Four styles, ten source types, three exports
One list of sources, formatted the way your course asks for it.
APA 7
Reference list with hanging indent and parenthetical in-text citations such as (LeCun et al., 2015).
MLA 9
Works Cited list in MLA 9 form, with in-text citations such as (Mantel). Add the page number yourself.
Harvard
Author-date reference list in the Cite Them Right form, with matching in-text citations.
Chicago
Notes and bibliography form. You get the bibliography entry and the full footnote for the first citation.
Ten source types
Books, journal articles, websites and chapters, plus reports, theses, videos, social media posts, datasets and software.
DOI lookup
Enter a DOI and the form is filled from Crossref. You review the details, then add the source.
Word, RIS and BibTeX
Download a Word file, or import your list into Zotero, Mendeley or EndNote. Copy keeps italics.
From source to bibliography in three steps
Add your sources
Type the details or fetch them by DOI, then add the source. Repeat for each one.
Pick a style
Switch between APA, MLA, Harvard and Chicago. The list and the in-text citations change at once.
Copy or export
Copy the list or one citation, or download a Word, RIS or BibTeX file for your paper.
What this tool does not do
It does not replace your style guide
The formatting follows the published style definitions, but institutions often add their own rules. Double-check the result against your institution's style guide before you submit.
It cannot fix wrong input
Output is only as good as the details you enter. DOI lookups can be incomplete or contain errors, so compare them with the original source. To check your own text for copied passages, use the plagiarism scan.
Not covered yet: newspaper articles, magazine articles, interviews, conference papers and styles other than APA 7, MLA 9, Harvard and Chicago. MLA entries have one container, so a database name such as JSTOR or a line such as "uploaded by" must be added by hand. Chicago lists social media posts in footnotes only. AI chats are not a source type either, but our guide on how to cite ChatGPT in APA, MLA and Chicago has templates you can add to your list by hand. Your sources are stored in this browser only, so export a copy before you clear site data.
Questions about the Citation Generator
Yes. You can add up to 200 sources, switch between all styles and export as often as you like. There is no account, no watermark and no paywall. Only the DOI lookup has a fair-use limit on how many lookups one connection can make in a few minutes.
APA 7th edition, MLA 9th edition, Harvard (the Cite Them Right 12th edition variant) and Chicago 18th edition in the notes and bibliography form. IEEE, Vancouver and the author-date form of Chicago are not included yet.
In your browser only, using local storage on this device. We do not receive your list and there is no account. The list stays after a reload, but it is gone if you clear site data or use another browser or device. Export to Word, RIS or BibTeX to keep a copy.
You enter a DOI and our server asks Crossref for the record, then returns the title, authors, date and publication details to fill the form. Nothing is stored on our side. The lookup works for journal articles, books and book chapters registered with Crossref. Check the filled form against the original source before you add it.
Yes. The Word export creates a .docx file with the formatted list, a hanging indent and italics. Copying the bibliography keeps italics when you paste into Word or Google Docs. RIS and BibTeX files import into Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote and similar reference managers.
Often, but not always. The formatting follows the published style definitions, yet many institutions add their own rules for things like capitalization, URLs or the order of entries. Double-check the result against your institution's style guide and your instructor's instructions before you submit.
The generator covers books, journal articles, chapters in edited books, websites, reports, theses, videos, social media posts, datasets and software. For other source types, such as newspaper articles, interviews and AI chats, choose the closest type and adjust the result by hand, or use your style guide directly. Chicago output in this tool gives you the footnote text for a first citation and the bibliography entry.
Citations done. Now check the text.
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