Citation Generator (MLA / APA / Chicago)

About this tool

Citation Generator takes the structured details of a source — author(s), title, year, publisher, container/journal, volume, URL, accessed date — and produces correctly formatted citations in three common academic styles: MLA 9th edition, APA 7th edition, and Chicago 17th (notes-bibliography). Source types include books, journal articles, websites, and newspaper/magazine articles. The form adapts to the source you choose, showing only the fields that style guides require. Multiple authors are handled per style: MLA flips the second name, APA initials first names with an ampersand for the final author, Chicago lists every name with the first reversed. Output is rendered with correct italics and quotation marks and includes a one-click copy button. Reference-grade for student bibliographies, blog post citations, and quick lookups — not a substitute for a full reference manager.

Why use it

• All Three Common Styles: MLA 9, APA 7, and Chicago 17 from a single set of inputs — no need to learn each style by heart.

• Adaptive Form: Fields change based on whether you're citing a book, journal, website, or news article — only the relevant ones appear.

• Correct Author Handling: Multiple-author rules (MLA's flip, APA's initials and ampersand, Chicago's first-name reversal) are applied automatically.

• Italics & Punctuation Preserved: The output is rendered with proper book-title italics and quotation marks for article titles.

• Copy as Plain Text: One click copies the citation without HTML so it pastes cleanly into Word, Google Docs, or a Markdown file.

• 100% Browser-Side: No data is sent anywhere — your citations are generated locally.

How to use

1. Choose the source type (book, journal article, website, or newspaper article).
2. Pick a style preset: show all 3 (MLA + APA + Chicago) or just one.
3. Fill in the author(s) — use 'Last, First' format and separate multiple authors with semicolons.
4. Add the title, year, and any source-specific fields the form shows (publisher, journal name, volume, URL, etc).
5. Click Generate Citation. Each formatted result has a Copy button to grab the citation as plain text.

When it helps

• Adding a quick citation to a blog post or essay without setting up a reference manager.
• Double-checking the format of a citation you wrote by hand.
• Teaching a student the differences between MLA, APA, and Chicago styles by comparing all three side-by-side.
• Citing a website or journal article when you only need one or two references and don't want Zotero overhead.
• Quickly converting a citation between styles by swapping the preset.

Tips

• MLA wants 'Last, First' for the first author only — for additional authors, type 'Last, First' and the tool flips the second one.
• For websites with no author, leave the field blank and start with the title — that matches the official MLA/APA fallback.
• MLA 9 treats the access date as optional; the tool adds it as ', accessed Month Day, Year', so edit it to 'Accessed 12 Mar. 2024.' if your instructor wants the MLA form.
• For journal articles, the volume/issue/pages field accepts free-form text (e.g. 'vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 45-58') so you can match your style's exact phrasing.
• For newspaper articles, put page details in Volume / Issue / Pages; the Section / Page field is not used in the output.

Frequently Asked Questions