Citation Generator

What the Citation Generator Does

The Citation Generator builds both sides of a scholarly reference from the same source details: a parenthetical in-text citation, a narrative in-text citation, and the matching reference list entry. Choose APA 7th edition, MLA 9th edition, or Chicago 17th edition (author-date in-text form), enter authors, year, title, and container information, and the outputs update instantly as you type.

Everything runs locally in your browser. Source details are never uploaded, which makes the tool suitable for drafts, unpublished readings, and confidential course materials.

How to Generate a Citation

1. Select the citation style your assignment or journal requires.
2. Pick the source type: book, website page, journal article, or online video.
3. Fill in authors, year, title, publisher or container, and any volume, issue, pages, edition, or URL fields that apply.
4. Add an optional page or paragraph locator for the in-text citation (for example 52 or para. 4).
5. Copy the parenthetical citation, narrative citation, or full reference list entry from the output panel.

In-Text vs. Reference List Citations

Academic writing uses two linked formats. An in-text citation points readers to the full source inside the sentence or in parentheses. A reference list entry (sometimes called a works cited or bibliography line) gives the complete publication details at the end of the paper. APA, MLA, and Chicago each specify different punctuation, author order, and capitalization rules for both formats.

• APA 7: parenthetical form looks like (Nguyen & Patel, 2023, p. 52); narrative form looks like Nguyen and Patel (2023, p. 52).
• MLA 9: parenthetical form uses the author surname and page number, such as (Nguyen and Patel 52).
• Chicago author-date: parenthetical form combines author, year, and locator, such as (Nguyen and Patel 2023, 52).

The reference list entry on this page follows the same rules as our Bibliography Formatter, so the in-text and end-of-paper formats stay consistent when you use both tools.

Author and Page Rules

Enter multiple authors separated by semicolons, for example Doe, Jane; Smith, Alex. Both Doe, Jane and Jane Doe formats are accepted. The tool applies each style's et al. threshold automatically when more than two or three authors are listed.

Page numbers are optional but recommended whenever you quote or paraphrase a specific passage. APA adds p. before a page number; MLA typically uses the number alone; Chicago author-date accepts a page or paragraph label you provide.

When to Use Each Style

• APA: psychology, education, nursing, and most social science courses.
• MLA: literature, languages, and many humanities essays.
• Chicago: history, art history, and publications that use author-date in-text citations with a bibliography.

Always follow your instructor's or publisher's guidelines when they differ from the standard manuals.

Related Tools

• Bibliography Formatter builds and alphabetically sorts an entire reference list when you have many sources.
• Character & Word Counter checks essay length against assignment limits.
• Grade Calculator estimates weighted assignment scores for the course that uses these citations.