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Citation Generator (MLA / APA / Chicago)

Fill author/title/year/source details and instantly generate properly formatted MLA 9, APA 7, and Chicago 17 citations.

About Citation Generator (MLA / APA / Chicago)

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 Citation Generator (MLA / APA / Chicago)

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 Citation Generator (MLA / APA / Chicago)

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

When to use Citation Generator (MLA / APA / Chicago)

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.
Always include the access date for websites in MLA — it's required.
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.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this replace a full reference manager like Zotero?▾

No — for big projects with 50+ sources, use Zotero or Mendeley. This tool is for one-off citations, quick checks, or learning the format. It supports four source types and three styles, not the dozens that Zotero handles.

How do I cite multiple authors?▾

Type each author in 'Last, First' format and separate them with a semicolon. The tool applies each style's multi-author rule: MLA uses 'X, et al.' for 3+ authors; APA uses ampersand and lists up to 20; Chicago lists every name with the first reversed.

Which Chicago style does it use — notes-bibliography or author-date?▾

Notes-bibliography (the humanities variant). The output is the bibliography-entry form, suitable for the works-cited list, not the in-text footnote shorthand.

Are MLA 9 and APA 7 the latest editions?▾

Yes. MLA 9 was released in 2021, APA 7 in 2019, and Chicago 17 in 2017. We use the current edition's rules for capitalization, italicization, and punctuation.

Why does MLA capitalize differently from APA?▾

MLA uses title case (every major word capitalized) for titles. APA uses sentence case (only the first word and proper nouns) for article and book titles, but title case for journal names. The tool preserves what you type — make sure you enter the correct case for your style.

Can I cite a YouTube video, podcast, or social media post?▾

This basic version covers four source types: book, journal article, website, and newspaper/magazine. For multimedia and social posts, treat them as 'website' and fill in the URL and access date — it's not a perfect MLA fit but is acceptable for casual citations.

Does it generate in-text citations?▾

No — only full bibliography/works-cited entries. In-text citations follow simple style-specific rules (e.g. APA '(Smith, 2024)') that you can write by hand.