Runs in your browser; auto-fill uses our server. Citations are formatted in your browser. Only if you use Auto-fill is the DOI, ISBN or web address you enter sent to our server, which looks it up with Crossref or Open Library, or reads that page's title, author and date. Nothing is stored.
Free Citation Generator for APA, MLA, Chicago and More
The Tools Kit’s free Citation Generator formats a reference for a website, book, or journal article in eleven styles: APA 7th edition, MLA 9th edition, Chicago, IEEE, Harvard, Vancouver, AMA, ASA, CSE, Turabian, and BibTeX. Enter the source details once, or auto-fill them from a DOI, ISBN, or web address, pick a style, and copy the finished entry with its italics. The matching in-text citation appears under it, and Add to list builds your reference list, works cited page, or bibliography.
Because the details stay in the form when you change styles, it also works as a quick way to convert a citation from one format to another, for example when a paper written in MLA has to be resubmitted in APA. The saved list switches style too. Citations you type are formatted in your browser, with no account and no limit.
How to Use the Citation Generator
- 1
Auto-fill or choose a source type
Paste a DOI, ISBN, or web address into the auto-fill box and click Fill in, or select Website / Web Page, Book, or Journal Article and fill in the fields yourself.
- 2
Pick a citation style
Choose APA 7th edition, MLA 9th edition, Chicago, IEEE, Harvard, Vancouver, AMA, ASA, CSE, Turabian, or BibTeX from the style menu.
- 3
Enter the source details
Type the author names in First Last order separated by commas, then the title and any other details you have. Only the title is required. After auto-fill, check every field, especially names and capitalization.
- 4
Copy the citation or add it to your list
The formatted reference appears as you type, with its italics. Click Copy Citation to paste it into Word or Google Docs, copy the in-text citation below it, or click Add to list to build your reference list.
Working from a PDF of the paper? Its DOI is usually printed on the first page; paste it into the auto-fill box. If there is none, pull the title, journal name, and page range out with the PDF to Text converter and paste them into the fields.
One Source, Eleven Citation Styles
Here is the same journal article, by Jane Smith and John Doe, published in 2024 in volume 12, issue 3 of the Journal of Sleep Research on pages 45-52, as the generator formats it in four of the most requested styles:
- APA 7: Smith, J., & Doe, J. (2024). Sleep and memory in adolescents. Journal of Sleep Research, 12(3), 45-52.
- MLA 9: Smith, Jane, and John Doe. “Sleep and memory in adolescents.” Journal of Sleep Research, vol. 12, no. 3, 2024, pp. 45-52.
- Chicago: Smith, Jane, and John Doe. “Sleep and memory in adolescents.” Journal of Sleep Research 12, no. 3 (2024): 45-52.
- IEEE: J. Smith and J. Doe, “Sleep and memory in adolescents,” Journal of Sleep Research, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 45-52, 2024.
The differences are mostly about where the date goes and how names are written. APA and Harvard put the year straight after the author and shorten first names to initials. MLA and Chicago spell out the first author’s full name, last name first. IEEE puts initials before the last name, and Vancouver, AMA, and CSE drop the periods from initials entirely (Smith J, Doe J). In the generator, the journal name and volume are italic in APA, and the journal name is italic in MLA, Chicago, and IEEE. The italics stay when you copy.
If you only ever need one style, the dedicated APA citation generator, MLA citation generator, Chicago citation generator, and IEEE citation generator use the same formatting engine with the style fixed in place.
How to Cite a Website, a Book, or a Journal Article
Each source type asks for a different set of details, matching what the styles need:
- Website / Web Page: author, page title, site or publication name, URL, year published, and the date you accessed it. MLA, Harvard, Vancouver, AMA, CSE, and ASA use the access date; APA 7 does not. In Harvard, a web page by Jane Smith comes out as Smith, J. 2025. How rivers shape cities. National Geographic. Available at: https://example.com/rivers (Accessed: 14 July 2026).
- Book: author, title, publisher, publisher city, and year. APA 7 and MLA 9 leave the city out; Chicago, IEEE, Harvard, Vancouver, and ASA include it. In Chicago, Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Knopf, 1987.
- Journal Article: author, article title, journal name, volume, issue, page range, and year. Vancouver compresses these into one string, as in Journal of Sleep Research. 2024;12(3):45-52.
Type author names as First Last, separated by commas, and the generator rearranges them for each style. Do not type them as “Smith, Jane”: the comma is read as the break between two authors. Long author lists are shortened to each style’s rule: MLA lists the first author plus “et al.” once there are three or more, Vancouver, AMA, and CSE list six before “et al.”, and APA 7 lists up to 20 names.
Auto-Fill, In-Text Citations, and Your Saved List
Paste a DOI, ISBN, or web address into the auto-fill box and click Fill in. A DOI is looked up with Crossref, an ISBN with Open Library, and a web address is fetched by our server, which reads the citation details the page publishes. The lookup is not stored. Auto-fill sets the source type, fills the fields, and sets Date Accessed to today for a web page. Sources do not always publish clean data, so check every field, especially author names and capitalization.
Under each citation is its in-text form, with a Page box and its own Copy button: (Smith, 2024, p. 24) in APA and Harvard, (Smith 24) in MLA, and (Smith 2024:24) in ASA. Chicago and Turabian get the short note used after the first full note, and IEEE shows [1] as a reminder to number sources in the order you cite them. Vancouver, AMA, and CSE are cited by number, so no in-text form is shown.
Add to list saves each source in this browser. The list re-formats in whichever style is selected, sorted alphabetically or numbered [1], [2] in the order added for IEEE, Vancouver, AMA, and CSE. Copy all pastes it with italics and hanging indents, and you can download it as a .txt or BibTeX (.bib) file.
What the Citation Generator Does Not Do
Titles are used exactly as you type them or as auto-fill finds them, so apply sentence case for APA or title case for MLA and Chicago yourself. It does not write full first footnotes for Chicago or Turabian. It covers websites, books, and journal articles only.
The output follows the common case for each style. AMA and CSE share the Vancouver layout, with AMA adding italics, Turabian matches the Chicago bibliography entry, and Chicago output is the notes-bibliography form rather than author-date. For a thesis, a journal submission, or any unusual source, check the finished entry against your style guide or your instructor’s requirements.
Common uses
- Building a reference list, works cited page, or bibliography for an essay or research paper
- Citing a website, book, or journal article in whichever style a class or journal requires
- Converting existing citations from MLA to APA, or APA to Harvard, without retyping each source
- Creating BibTeX entries for a LaTeX thesis or paper
- Formatting Vancouver or AMA-style references for medical and health science assignments
Before you submit, check the length of the finished paper with the Word Counter, and if you are rewording a quoted passage, the Paraphrasing Tool can help, though a paraphrase still needs a citation. More writing helpers are collected in the Writing & Citation Tools hub.
Citation terms explained
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Citation | A reference to a source you used, made up of an in-text citation in the body and a full entry in the reference list |
| Reference list | The APA, Harvard, Vancouver and IEEE name for the list of full source entries at the end of a paper |
| Works Cited | The MLA name for the same list, ordered alphabetically by author last name |
| Bibliography | The Chicago and Turabian name for the list of sources, used with footnotes in the notes-bibliography system |
| Container | The larger work a source sits inside, such as the website, journal, or magazine, entered here as Site / Publication Name |
| n.d. | Short for "no date"; used in place of a year when a source has no publication date |
| et al. | Latin for "and others"; used to shorten long author lists |
| BibTeX | A plain-text reference format read by LaTeX, where each entry has a type such as @article and a citation key |
Frequently Asked Questions
Choose the source type (website, book, or journal article), pick a citation style, and fill in the author, title, and other details, or auto-fill them from a DOI, ISBN, or web address. The citation appears as you type, and Copy Citation copies it with its italics. There is no signup and no limit.
Eleven: APA 7th edition, MLA 9th edition, Chicago, IEEE, Harvard, Vancouver, AMA, ASA, CSE, Turabian, and BibTeX. Chicago and Turabian output is a bibliography entry in the notes-bibliography form.
Websites and web pages, books, and journal articles. Each source type shows its own fields: a website asks for the URL and access date, a book for the publisher and city, and a journal article for the volume, issue, and page range.
An APA 7 website reference runs: Author, A. (Year). Title of page. Site Name. URL. For example: Smith, J. (2025). How rivers shape cities. National Geographic. https://example.com/rivers. Choose APA (7th edition) and paste the web address into the auto-fill box, or choose Website / Web Page and fill in the fields.
An MLA 9 journal entry runs: Last, First. "Title of Article." Journal Name, vol. 12, no. 3, Year, pp. 45-52. Choose Journal Article and MLA (9th edition), then fill in the volume, issue, pages, and year.
Type each name in First Last order, with an optional middle name, and separate authors with commas, "and", or an ampersand, for example Jane Smith, John Doe. Do not type "Smith, Jane": the comma is treated as a separator between two authors. The generator reorders and abbreviates the names for each style itself.
Leave those fields blank. With no author, the citation starts with the next element. With no year, most styles, including APA, Harvard, and Vancouver, show n.d. for "no date" in its place, while MLA and BibTeX simply leave the date out. In APA, the generator moves the title into the author position, and the in-text citation uses the title.
Yes. Each style's italic parts are shown in italics, such as the book title and journal name, and Copy Citation copies rich text so they stay italic in Word or Google Docs. Vancouver, CSE, and BibTeX use no italics.
It shows an in-text citation under the entry, with an optional page number: (Smith, 2024, p. 24) in APA, (Smith 24) in MLA, and (Smith 2024:24) in ASA. For Chicago and Turabian it gives the short note used after the first full note, such as Smith, Short Title, 24. It does not write full first footnotes, and Vancouver, AMA, and CSE are cited by number.
Yes. Paste it into the auto-fill box and click Fill in. A DOI is looked up with Crossref, an ISBN with Open Library, and a web address is read for the citation details the page publishes. Check every field afterward, especially author names and capitalization.
Yes. Click Add to list after each citation. The list is kept in this browser and re-formats when you change the style. It is sorted alphabetically, or numbered in the order added for IEEE, Vancouver, AMA, and CSE. You can copy it all, or download it as .txt or BibTeX.
Yes. Choose BibTeX to get an @misc entry for a website, @book for a book, or @article for a journal article, with a citation key built from the first author’s last name and the year, such as Smith2024. Paste it into your .bib file.
Yes. The details you enter stay in the form when you change the style menu, so you can see the same source in APA, MLA, Chicago, or any other supported style in turn. Your saved list switches style too.
Citations you type are formatted in your browser and are not sent to a server. If you use auto-fill, the DOI, ISBN, or web address goes to our server, which asks Crossref or Open Library or reads the page; nothing is stored. Your saved list stays in this browser.
Reviewed by Raja Jahangir · Last reviewed: October 7, 2026
How do you generate a citation in APA or MLA format?
To generate a citation, choose the source type (website, book, or journal article), pick a style, and fill in the author, title, publication, year, and URL or page details. Eleven styles are supported: APA 7th, MLA 9th, Chicago, IEEE, Harvard, Vancouver, AMA, ASA, CSE, Turabian, and BibTeX. The citation appears instantly and copies with one click.
What is the difference between APA and MLA citations?
APA puts the year right after the author, as in Smith, J. (2024), and is standard in psychology, education, and the sciences. MLA puts the date near the end and uses the author's full first name, as in Smith, Jane, and is standard in literature and the humanities. In-text, APA uses (Smith, 2024) while MLA uses (Smith 12).