Citation Generator
Note: this generator supports a maximum of two authors. APA titles use sentence case — check capitalisation of proper nouns before submitting.
APA 7th
MLA 9th
Chicago 17th
How to use this citation generator
Using this free citation generator takes three short steps. First, choose the source type: Website, Book, or Journal Article. Only the fields for that type are shown, so you are never asked for a publisher when you are citing a website. Second, fill in the author, title, and year, plus the extra details for your source type. Third, read the three citations that appear live below the form, in APA, MLA, and Chicago styles, and copy the one you need with its own Copy button, or copy all three at once. There is no sign-up, and nothing is stored.
Always double-check citations against the official style guide before submitting academic work. This citation generator follows the formatting rules in its brief closely, but style guides have detailed rules for unusual cases, such as organisations as authors, missing dates, and capitalisation of proper nouns. A quick check against the official guide is the difference between a citation that looks right and one that is right.
Worked examples
For a book, enter author John Smith, title The Art of Programming, year 2020, and publisher Tech Press. The generator produces the APA citation Smith, J. (2020). The art of programming. Tech Press. It also produces the MLA citation Smith, John. The Art of Programming. Tech Press, 2020. And the Chicago citation Smith, John. The Art of Programming. Tech Press, 2020. Notice how APA uses sentence case for the title, while MLA and Chicago keep the title as you typed it.
For a website, enter author Jane Doe, title How to Learn Python, website name ExampleSite, year 2023, and URL https://example.com/python. The APA citation is Doe, J. (2023). How to learn Python. ExampleSite. https://example.com/python. The MLA citation is Doe, Jane. “How to Learn Python.” ExampleSite, 2023, example.com/python. The Chicago citation is Doe, Jane. “How to Learn Python.” ExampleSite, 2023. https://example.com/python. If there is no author, the citation starts with the title in all three styles, which is the correct treatment for an anonymous source.
Which style should you use?
APA, the style of the American Psychological Association, is most common in the social sciences, including psychology, education, business, and health. It emphasises the date, because in those fields how recent a study is matters a great deal. MLA, from the Modern Language Association, is the usual choice in the humanities, such as literature, languages, and cultural studies, where the author and the work itself take centre stage. Chicago style is widely used in history and publishing, and it is known for its flexibility, with both notes-and-bibliography and author-date options.
When in doubt, follow your teacher, lecturer, journal, or publisher. They will usually name a style in their instructions, and using the wrong style can cost marks even if every fact is correct. This generator gives you all three at once precisely so you can compare them and pick the one your assignment requires, without retyping your source details three times.
Frequently asked questions
Which citation style should I use?
Use the style your teacher, lecturer, journal, or publisher asks for. As a rough guide, APA is used in the social sciences, MLA in the humanities, and Chicago in history and publishing. If no style is specified, pick one and use it consistently throughout your work.
Is this generator free?
Yes. This citation generator is completely free, with no sign-up and no limit stated on the page. It runs in your browser, and your source details are not stored by this site.
Should I check the citation before submitting?
Yes, always check against the official style guide, especially proper nouns and capitalisation. APA titles use sentence case in this generator, so a proper noun in a title, such as Python, will be lowercased by the simple sentence-case rule and needs to be corrected by hand before you submit.
Can it cite journal articles?
Yes. Choose Journal Article as the source type, and extra fields appear for the journal name, volume, issue, and pages. The generator then formats the article in APA, MLA, and Chicago styles, with the volume, issue, and page details in the position each style requires.
What if there is no author?
If the author is blank, the citation starts with the title in all three styles. That is the standard treatment for a source with no named author, and it keeps your reference list in the correct alphabetical order by title.