Citation Generator
AI-filled fields are highlighted below. Review them (and the source type) before copying — or skip the AI and type the details yourself.
Type titles with the capitalization your style requires (sentence case for APA, title case for MLA and Chicago). The generator keeps your casing as-is.
Citation preview
In-text citation:
Your citation list
No saved citations yet. Fill in the form and press "Add to list".
How it works
- Describe your source in plain text — paste a URL, a half-remembered reference, or a line from a syllabus — and press "Fill form with AI". You can also skip this and fill the form by hand.
- Review the highlighted fields the AI filled in and edit anything it got wrong or missed. "Undo AI fill" puts the form back the way it was; "Clear form" and "Clear all" start you over.
- Pick a citation style (APA 7, MLA 9, or Chicago author-date). The full citation and the matching in-text citation update live in the preview as you edit.
- Copy the citation directly, or add it to your list and copy the whole bibliography when you are done.
APA vs MLA vs Chicago: when each is used
APA 7: social sciences and STEM
APA (American Psychological Association) style dominates psychology, education, nursing, business, and much of the sciences. It emphasizes the publication date, so in-text citations are author-date, like (Smith, 2020). Authors are inverted with initials, and current APA 7 rules use a bare URL with no "Retrieved from" unless the page content changes over time.
MLA 9: humanities and literature
MLA (Modern Language Association) style is standard in English, literature, languages, and cultural studies. It uses full author names, puts article and page titles in quotation marks with the container (site or journal) in italics, and its in-text citations are author-page, like (Smith 45), with no date.
Chicago author-date: history and publishing
Chicago style has two systems: notes-bibliography (footnotes, common in history) and author-date (parenthetical, common in the sciences and social sciences). This tool generates the author-date form, where the year follows the author in the reference list and in-text citations look like (Smith 2020, 45).
Frequently asked questions
How accurate are the generated citations?
The formatting applies the core rules of each style: author inversion and et al. rules, date formats, italics, page ranges, and URL handling. The AI fill extracts only what your description actually says, but it can still misread messy input — that is why filled fields stay editable and highlighted for review. Always proofread the result against your style manual.
Is this citation generator free?
Yes, and no account is needed. The form, preview, and your saved citation list all live in your browser. The AI form fill sends only the source description you submit to our server to extract the fields, and free AI fills share a generous daily word allowance; the form itself works without limits.
Do I still need to check with my institution?
Yes. Universities, journals, and instructors often layer their own requirements on top of a base style: a specific edition, hanging indents, DOI formats, or local exceptions. Treat generated citations as a fast first draft and confirm the final formatting against your institution's guidelines.