Which editions does the tool follow?

APA 7th edition (2020), MLA 9th edition (2021), Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition (author-date variant), and Cite Them Right 11th edition for UK Harvard. The selected edition is shown above the result.

How do I enter multiple authors?

Separate authors with semicolons. Each author can be written as "First Last" or "Last, First" — the tool parses both. Up to 20 authors are listed in APA; beyond that the style uses an ellipsis before the final author.

Does the tool check that my fields are correct?

It formats what you enter — it does not validate that a DOI exists or that an ISBN is real. Double-check field values against the source itself.

Can I cite a source type that is not in the dropdown?

The tool covers the four most common types: book, journal article, website, newspaper article. For chapter-in-book, conference paper, or thesis, pick the closest match (usually book) and tweak the output manually.

Is my data sent anywhere?

No. Citations are formatted entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or logged.

Citation Generator

Format a single source in APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 17, or Harvard from one structured form.

Written by Golam Rabbani, Founder & Lead Engineer

This interactive tool requires JavaScript. Read the formula and worked example below; you can compute the result by hand.

How to use this citation generator

Pick a citation style: APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 17, or Harvard (Cite Them Right 11).
Choose the source type: Book, Journal article, Website, or Newspaper article.
Fill in the fields shown for that source — author(s), year, title, plus the style-specific fields (publisher, journal, URL, etc.).
Press Generate citation to see the formatted reference.
Use Copy to paste the citation straight into your bibliography.

About this citation generator

The citation generator formats a single source into the official rules of four academic styles: APA 7th edition (2020), MLA 9th edition (2021), Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition (author-date), and UK Harvard following Cite Them Right 11th edition. The form adapts to the source type you choose, exposing only the fields each style actually needs — so a book asks for publisher and city, a journal asks for volume, issue, pages, and DOI, a website asks for site name and access date.

Author handling follows each style's rules: APA uses surname plus initials and an ampersand before the last author; MLA uses "Last, First" for the first author and "First Last" for the rest; Chicago author-date puts the year right after the author block; Harvard uses surname plus initials with commas. Editions, DOIs (normalised from URL to bare identifier), and access dates are added or omitted based on style.

For example, with style APA, source type Journal, author "Jane Q. Smith", year 2024, title "Reading habits in early childhood", journal "Journal of Child Development", volume 12, issue 3, pages 120-145, DOI 10.1000/xyz123, the tool produces: Smith, J. Q. (2024). Reading habits in early childhood. Journal of Child Development, 12(3), 120-145. https://doi.org/10.1000/xyz123.

FAQ

Which editions does the tool follow?: APA 7th edition (2020), MLA 9th edition (2021), Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition (author-date variant), and Cite Them Right 11th edition for UK Harvard. The selected edition is shown above the result.
How do I enter multiple authors?: Separate authors with semicolons. Each author can be written as "First Last" or "Last, First" — the tool parses both. Up to 20 authors are listed in APA; beyond that the style uses an ellipsis before the final author.
Does the tool check that my fields are correct?: It formats what you enter — it does not validate that a DOI exists or that an ISBN is real. Double-check field values against the source itself.
Can I cite a source type that is not in the dropdown?: The tool covers the four most common types: book, journal article, website, newspaper article. For chapter-in-book, conference paper, or thesis, pick the closest match (usually book) and tweak the output manually.
Is my data sent anywhere?: No. Citations are formatted entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or logged.