Citation Generator
Generate accurate APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 17, and Harvard citations for books, journal articles, websites, newspapers, and videos. Build a full bibliography in seconds — free, instant, and runs entirely in your browser.
Citation style
Author(s)
APA 7 citation
7 charactersHow It Works
Pick your style
APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 17, or Harvard. Each template is bundled as static JSON in the page — no server lookup, no CSL processor, no external API call.
Pick the source type
Book, journal article, website, newspaper, or video. The form switches to show only the fields your chosen style requires for that source type.
Fill in the details
Add authors, year, title, and type-specific fields. JavaScript re-runs the formatter on every keystroke so you see the citation grow as you type.
Copy or stack
Copy the citation to your clipboard or click Add to bibliography to keep stacking references. The full bibliography is alphabetised on copy.
How to Use the Citation Generator
- Choose a citation style — APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 17, or Harvard. You can switch styles at any time without re-entering data.
- Choose a source type — Book, Journal article, Website, Newspaper, or Video. The form re-renders to show only the fields your style needs.
- Fill in the author(s). First and last name go into separate fields so the formatter can apply the correct surname-first ordering. Add or remove authors with the buttons under the list.
- Add the title and the type-specific fields: publisher and city for a book, volume/issue/pages for a journal, site name and URL for a website, etc. The citation regenerates live.
- Click Copy citation for a single reference, or Add to bibliography to keep building a list. When you are finished, click Copy all (alphabetised) to copy the full bibliography sorted by surname.
Why Accurate Citations Matter
A correct citation does three things at once: it gives credit to the original author, lets your reader find the source for themselves, and signals that you have read and understood the work you are referencing. Markers and academic editors take citation accuracy seriously — a paper full of malformed references reads as careless, regardless of the quality of the argument. The most common errors are easy to avoid: forgetting the DOI, citing a magazine article using the journal article template, using APA 6 syntax in a course that requires APA 7, and putting the access date on a static website that does not need one. This generator bakes the current published rules from APA, MLA, Chicago, and Harvard directly into the formatter, so the output matches what your marker expects.
Citation Style Comparison
| Style | Discipline | In-text | Author cut-off | Edition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| APA 7 | Psychology, education, social sciences | (Smith, 2024) | 20+ authors → ellipsis + last | 7th (2020) |
| MLA 9 | Humanities, literature, languages | (Smith 12) | 3+ → et al. | 9th (2021) |
| Chicago 17 | History, fine arts, journalism | Footnote / endnote | 4+ → et al. | 17th (2017) |
| Harvard | UK / AU / EU social sciences and STEM | (Smith, 2024) | 4+ → et al. | Cite Them Right 12th |
Source-Type Examples — Same Source, Four Styles
Here is the same journal article — Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky's 1979 paper “Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk” in Econometrica — rendered in each style the tool supports:
| Style | Rendered citation |
|---|---|
| APA 7 | Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk. Econometrica, 47(2), 263-291. https://doi.org/10.2307/1914185 |
| MLA 9 | Kahneman, Daniel, and Amos Tversky. “Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk.” Econometrica, vol. 47, no. 2, 1979, pp. 263-291. https://doi.org/10.2307/1914185. |
| Chicago 17 | Kahneman, Daniel, and Amos Tversky. “Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk.” Econometrica 47, no. 2 (1979): 263-291. https://doi.org/10.2307/1914185. |
| Harvard | Kahneman, D. and Tversky, A. (1979) ‘Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk’, Econometrica, 47(2), pp. 263-291. doi: 10.2307/1914185. |
Choosing the Right Source Type
- Book — A standalone published volume with one or more authors and a publisher. Use this for monographs, textbooks, and edited collections. If you are citing a single chapter inside an edited book, most style guides treat that as a separate “book chapter” entry — this generator's book template covers the standalone-book case.
- Journal article — A peer-reviewed paper inside a scholarly journal with a volume and (usually) an issue number. Always cite the DOI when available; it is the permanent identifier that survives publisher URL changes.
- Website — A general web page or blog post, with or without a named author. If the page has no author, use the site name in place of the author field in your style guide's recommendation.
- Newspaper — A news article published in a newspaper, whether print or online. Cite the URL for online articles; for print-only sources, omit the URL.
- Video — YouTube, Vimeo, TED, or any streaming video. Use the Uploader field for the channel name when the speaker is different from the uploader (e.g. a TED talk uploaded by TED).
Common Citation Mistakes to Avoid
- Citing the URL bar instead of the publisher. A Guardian article URL contains
theguardian.com— the publication name to cite is “The Guardian,” not the domain. - Forgetting the DOI for journal articles. Always paste the DOI if one exists; it is required by APA 7 and MLA 9 and strongly recommended by Chicago and Harvard.
- Using APA 6 in 2026. APA 6 was retired in October 2020. Differences include “DOI:” vs “https://doi.org/”, two authors joined by “&” instead of “and” in references, and 20-author rule instead of 7. This tool emits APA 7 only.
- Treating Chicago Author-Date as Notes-Bibliography. Chicago has two systems. This generator uses Notes & Bibliography (the dominant variant in history and fine arts). If your course requires Author-Date, swap to APA or Harvard, which both produce nearly identical output.
- Listing access date for a stable PDF. APA 7 only includes the access date when the page is likely to change. A frozen government PDF or peer-reviewed article does not need one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which citation styles does this tool support?
APA 7th edition, MLA 9th edition, Chicago 17th edition (Notes & Bibliography), and Cite Them Right Harvard. All four templates are bundled directly in the page — no external CSL processor or server lookup is needed.
Which source types can I cite?
Books, journal articles, websites, newspaper articles, and videos (including YouTube and TED talks). For each source type, the form only shows the fields your chosen style requires.
How does the tool handle multiple authors?
Each style has its own multi-author rules and the tool follows them exactly: APA spells out up to 20 authors with an ampersand before the last and uses an ellipsis + final author for 21+; MLA uses Last, First for the first author and switches to "et al." at three or more; Chicago lists up to three and switches to "et al." at four; Harvard does the same.
Do I need to format the DOI manually?
No. Paste either a bare DOI like "10.2307/1914185" or the full "https://doi.org/..." URL and the formatter normalises both to the style-correct form for each style.
Can I build a full bibliography across multiple sources?
Yes. Generate each citation, click Add to bibliography, repeat for every source, then click Copy all (alphabetised) to copy the full list sorted by first-author surname (falling back to title). Switching the citation style instantly re-renders every entry.
Is my data uploaded anywhere?
No. The four style templates are static JSON bundled inside the page, and every citation is assembled by JavaScript running on your device. Your bibliography is never written to any server, database, or analytics endpoint, and the tool works fully offline once the page has loaded.
Why does my citation look different from another generator?
Many free citation generators take shortcuts — defaulting to APA 6 (retired in 2020), confusing Chicago Notes-Bibliography with Author-Date, or ignoring the et al. thresholds. This tool follows the current published guides exactly: APA 7th (2020), MLA 9th (2021), Chicago Manual of Style 17th (2017), and Cite Them Right Harvard 12th.
Should I cite a website with the publication date or the access date?
Both when known. APA 7 only includes the access date for pages likely to change; MLA 9 recommends including it whenever no publication date is available; Chicago 17 includes both when known; Harvard always requires the "(Accessed: …)" suffix. The tool exposes both fields so the right one renders into each style automatically.
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