Citation Generator

Enter the details of your source and get a correctly formatted reference in APA 7th edition, MLA 9th edition or Chicago style — with the authors in the right order, italics in the right places and a matching in-text citation. Works for websites, books and journal articles, and nothing you type is uploaded.

How to use the citation generator

1. Choose the citation style your teacher, journal or publisher requires.
2. Choose the source type: web page, book or journal article.
3. Enter the authors one per line, as “First Last” or “Last, First”. Leave blank if there is no author.
4. Fill in the title, the website, journal or publisher, and the year, plus volume, issue and pages for articles.
5. Add the DOI (preferred) or URL.
6. Copy the reference with formatting so italics are kept, and paste it into your reference list.

Always check the result against the source and your style guide — a generator can only format the information you give it.

APA, MLA and Chicago at a glance

Examples: journal article

These examples use a fictitious article to show the pattern. Note how APA uses initials and an ampersand, MLA reverses only the first author’s name, and Chicago puts the year in parentheses after the issue.

Where to find citation details

• Journal articles — the first page of the PDF or the article web page lists authors, journal, volume, issue, pages and DOI.
• Books — the title page and copyright page (the reverse of the title page) give the publisher, year and edition.
• Web pages — look for an author byline, a published or updated date near the top or bottom, and the organisation name.
• No author? Use the organisation as author if it wrote the page; otherwise start with the title.
• No date? Use “n.d.” in APA; omit it in MLA and add an access date instead.

DOIs and URLs

A DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is a permanent link for a journal article or book chapter, written as https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx. APA and Chicago include the full DOI link; MLA also recommends DOIs and drops the “https://” prefix. Use a URL only when there is no DOI. Avoid URLs from library databases or search results, which often expire.

Common citation mistakes

• Using the website’s home page URL instead of the specific page.
• Forgetting italics on book, journal or website titles.
• Mixing styles, such as APA initials with MLA punctuation.
• Writing “Retrieved from” before URLs in APA 7 (no longer needed).
• Citing a secondary source as if you read the original.
• Missing page numbers for direct quotations.

Formatting the reference list

Reference lists are alphabetical by first author’s surname, double-spaced for most student papers, with a hanging indent — the first line flush left and following lines indented half an inch. The preview above uses a hanging indent so you can see the shape. In Word or Google Docs, set it under paragraph indentation options.

Citing sources with no date, pages or author

When a source is missing basic details, consider whether it is reliable enough to cite. Official organisations, peer-reviewed journals and established publishers usually make their authorship and dates clear.

Citing sources inside your text

Every entry in the reference list should match at least one in-text citation, and every in-text citation should point to a reference-list entry. In APA, use the author and year, adding a page number for direct quotes: (Gonzalez & Okafor, 2024, p. 47). In MLA, use the author and page: (Gonzalez and Okafor 47). In Chicago notes-and-bibliography style, a superscript number in the text points to a footnote with the full or short citation. Keep the style consistent throughout a paper.

Academic integrity

Citing sources credits other people’s ideas and lets readers find them. Cite whenever you quote, paraphrase or use specific facts, data or ideas from a source. A citation generator saves formatting time, but understanding why and when to cite is part of good academic practice; ask your instructor or library if you are unsure.

Privacy

Citations are generated in your browser. What you type is not uploaded or stored.