Citation Generator is a free online tool that turns a DOI, an ISBN, a web link, a BibTeX entry or a half-copied reference into a clean, properly formatted citation. It supports APA 7th, MLA 9th, Chicago 17th, IEEE and Harvard, and it can process a whole list of sources in a single go. No account is needed to try it.
Why We Built This Citation Generator
Writing references takes time. Each style has its own rules for authors, dates, titles and punctuation, and one small mistake can lose you marks. Many tools also ask you to sign up first or show too many pop-ups. We wanted something simpler.
You open the page, paste your sources and get your references. We kept the list of styles short on purpose. We chose five popular styles and tried to format each one carefully.
What You Can Do With Our Citation Generator
Paste your sources into the box, one per line. They do not need to match: a DOI, a book ISBN and a plain web address can sit together in the same batch. Choose a style, press Generate, and copy the finished references straight into your essay, thesis or article.
If you keep your library in a reference manager, export the list as BibTeX, RIS, CSV or CSL-JSON and open it in tools like Zotero, Mendeley or LaTeX. In a hurry? Download a PDF, or copy the result as rich text or plain text.
Supported Citation Styles
The citation generator currently formats references in these five styles. Where an official guide exists, the name links to it, and that guide should always be your final authority:
- APA 7th Edition
- MLA 9th Edition
- Chicago 17th Edition
- IEEE
- Harvard (many universities publish their own version, so check your institution’s guide)
Who This Citation Generator Is For
The tool is built for anyone who has to cite sources and would rather spend the time on the actual writing. That includes school and university students working through assignments, teachers preparing reference lists, and researchers tidying a bibliography before submission. Bloggers and writers who want to credit their sources properly will find it useful too. If you can copy a link or a DOI, you can use it.
How the Citation Generator Handles Your Sources
Most references are read and formatted directly inside the tool. When a source is too vague to parse, such as a loose line of text with no DOI or link, the site asks whether you would like AI-assisted help from AWS Bedrock. Nothing is sent until you click Proceed, and if you cancel, your text stays where it is.
If you do continue, the text is used only to build your citations. We do not store, log or keep it. Full details are on our Privacy Policy page.
Where Any Citation Generator Can Go Wrong
No automatic generator is perfect, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise. Reports from government websites, older books, social media posts and sources with missing authors or dates are the usual trouble spots. Before you submit your work, compare each reference with your style guide or your institution’s requirements.
Spotted a mistake? Use the feedback button on the homepage and tell us which source you pasted and what looked wrong. A real example helps us fix problems far faster than a general complaint.