Citation Generator

About this tool

Enter the details of a website, book, or journal article and get a formatted reference-list entry in APA 7th edition or MLA 9th edition — with the punctuation, italics, capitalisation, and element order each style requires. It covers the everyday source types used in most school and undergraduate papers.

What the two styles look like.

• APA (used in psychology, education, sciences, business): Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work. Source. URL — author-date, sentence-case titles, "&" between authors.
• MLA (used in humanities, literature, languages): Author. "Title." Container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Date, Location. — author-page in text, title-case titles, "and" between authors.

Reference-list entry vs. in-text citation. This tool produces the full entry for your Works Cited (MLA) or References (APA) list at the end of the paper. The matching in-text citation is short: APA is (Smith, 2024); MLA is (Smith 45). Every in-text citation must have a matching list entry and vice versa.

What it doesn't handle. The awkward cases: two or more authors (each style has its own joining and "et al." rules), an organisation as author, no author, no date, an edited book, a chapter in an edited book, a DOI, a translated work, secondary sources ("as cited in"). For any of these, generate the closest match here and adjust it against the rule.

Get the source details right. Use the publication date, not the date you accessed it (APA 7 usually omits an access date for stable content). "Author" is the person or body responsible for the content — for a news article that's the journalist, not the outlet. Copy the title exactly, including subtitle.

Always check it. A generator gets the format right for the common case; it can't know your instructor's house style or catch a detail you entered wrong. Cross-check the output against the Purdue OWL, your style manual, or your assignment brief before submitting.

For a bibliography of many sources, generate each one here and paste them into a document, alphabetised by the first element. For grade tracking, see the GPA calculator and grade calculator.

Frequently asked questions

What if a source has more than one author?

This generator is built for a single primary author. APA and MLA each have specific rules for two, three, or more authors (joining words, order, "et al."). Apply those to the generated entry by hand.

What if there's no author or no date?

Start the entry with the title instead of the author; use "n.d." (APA) for no date. Leave the fields blank and adjust the output.

Do I need an access date or DOI?

APA 7 generally omits access dates for stable web pages. DOIs are included for journal articles that have one. Leave those out if you don't have them.

What's the difference between this entry and the in-text citation?

This is the full reference-list entry. The in-text version is brief — (Author, Year) in APA, (Author Page) in MLA — and points the reader to this entry.

Which style should I use?

Whichever your assignment or field specifies — APA for sciences and social sciences, MLA for humanities. If it's not stated, ask.

Can I trust it for a graded paper?

As a starting point, yes. Always verify the output against your style manual and any instructor-specific requirements before submitting.