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Citation generator

Make APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard citations from a DOI or the details you type, then copy one citation, BibTeX or your whole bibliography. For coursework, the EPQ and university essays.

What is a citation?

A citation tells your reader exactly where a fact or idea came from, so they can find it themselves. You add one every time you use someone else's work in your own.

Step 1: What are you citing?

Step 2: Details

* needed for this source type. Auto-generated citations should be checked against the original source before you submit.

Step 3: Your citation

Fill in a title to build a citation.
Bibliography
Export
Use in Essay Planner

Citations you add will collect here. Copy them all at once when done.

BibTeX
A BibTeX entry for Zotero, Mendeley or LaTeX.

How it works

Citation Generator builds references in APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard style for websites, books, journal articles, online videos and newspaper articles. It is for students who need a tidy bibliography without memorising every rule, and it also gives you a BibTeX entry for Zotero, Mendeley or LaTeX.

  1. Pick what you are citing: website, book, journal article, online video or newspaper article. The form shows the fields that source needs, and the required ones are marked with a star.
  2. Got a DOI or a doi.org link? Paste it into the fetch box and press Fetch, and the details are filled in for you.
  3. Otherwise, type the details yourself. Write authors as Last, First and separate several authors with a semicolon.
  4. Switch between the APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard tabs to see the same source in each style, then press Copy, or Copy HTML to keep the italics.
  5. Press Add to bibliography for each source. Sort the list A to Z or newest first, then open Export to copy it all or download it as a .txt or .bib file.

Tips

  • Ask your teacher which style they want before you start, and stick to it all the way through. Mixing styles in one essay loses easy marks.
  • Fill in the accessed date for websites and videos. Web pages change, and MLA and Harvard both show when you read the page.
  • Press Use in Essay Planner, then attach your saved sources to the body paragraphs of your essay plan, so you know which evidence came from where.

FAQ

Which citation styles can I use?
APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard. The Chicago option is a simplified format, so if you are marked closely on Chicago, compare the result with your school's style guide. Always check any generated citation against the original source before you hand in.
Does the DOI lookup work for every source?
It works for most journal articles and other works registered with a DOI. If a lookup fails, you will see a message and can fill in the fields by hand.
Is my bibliography saved?
Yes. Your form and bibliography are saved in this browser's local storage on this device. A DOI lookup sends only the DOI to CrossRef. Nothing else is uploaded unless you sign in to an optional free Brainlag account, which syncs your data across devices. Clearing your browser data deletes what is saved locally.

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