Free Citation Generator
Once you select a citation style, your results will show up here.
- Free to try
- No complicated setup
- No formatting guesswork
- Your input remains private
- Verified Citations
No complicated setup. No formatting guesswork. Add your source details and create a citation you can copy, save, or export. Compare free and premium features below.
Free Citation Generator: APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard & BibTeX References
Need to cite a website, book, journal article, video, report, or research paper? Our free citation generator helps you create properly formatted citations in seconds, without making citation rules feel harder than the assignment itself.
Choose your style, enter your source details, and generate citations for APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, or BibTeX. You can create full references, in-text citations, bibliography entries, and BibTeX records from one simple workspace.
What Is a Citation Generator?
How It Works
Instead of arranging every detail by hand, you enter the source details and the tool formats them according to the citation style you choose.
Why It Helps
A good citation generator does not just save time. It helps you stay organized, reduce formatting mistakes, and give proper credit to the sources you use.
Which Citation Styles Can You Generate?
Different schools, universities, journals, and instructors ask for different citation styles.
APA Citation Generator
Use the APA citation generator when your paper follows APA style, especially for education, psychology, business, health sciences, and social sciences.
Harvard Citation Generator
Use the Harvard citation generator when your university or department asks for Harvard referencing, common in UK and international academic writing.
MLA Citation Generator
Use the MLA citation generator when your assignment needs MLA format, often used in English, literature, arts, and humanities.
Chicago Citation Generator
Use the Chicago citation generator when your paper follows The Chicago Manual of Style, common in history, literature, and arts.
BibTeX Citation Generator
Use the BibTeX citation generator when you are writing in LaTeX or working with tools such as Overleaf.
Metadata Lookup
Use the metadata view to see the structured details behind a source — type, title, year, authors, and identifiers — before you format it.
How to Use Our Free Citation Generator
- 1
Choose Your Citation Style
Select APA, Harvard, MLA, Chicago, BibTeX, or Metadata.
- 2
Select the Identifier Type
Choose URL, DOI, ArXiv ID, PubMed ID, or Title.
- 3
Paste the Source Details
Enter the link, identifier, or title you want to cite.
- 4
Review the Citation
Check that the author, title, date, and URL look correct.
- 5
Copy It
Copy the full citation — and the in-text citation, when available — into your reference list.
Generate Citations by Source Type
Website Citation Generator
Cite webpages, blogs, online articles, and digital resources.
Book Citation Generator
Create citations for print books, ebooks, and textbook chapters.
Journal Article Citation Generator
Generate citations for scholarly journal articles and DOI-based sources.
YouTube and Video Citation Generator
Cite YouTube videos, lectures, webinars, and interviews.
Newspaper Citation Generator
Create citations for online and print newspaper articles.
Report Citation Generator
Cite research reports, white papers, and government reports.
Example Citations
Smith, J., & Lee, M. (2022). Understanding AI research. Journal of Technology, 15(3), 100–115. https://doi.org/xx.xxxx
In-text citation: (Smith & Lee, 2022)
ResearchPal. "How AI Tools Help Students Write Better." ResearchPal Blog, 2025, researchpal.co.
In-text citation: (ResearchPal)
Why Use Our Free Citation Generator?
Style-Based Formatting
For APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and BibTeX.
Source-Type Fields
For websites, books, journals, videos, reports, and more.
Manual Editing
For incomplete or messy source data.
In-Text & Full Reference
Generated together, every time.
BibTeX Output
Built for LaTeX users and Overleaf projects.
Bibliography Support
For longer, multi-source projects.
Free and Premium Features
| Feature | Free Version | Premium Version |
|---|---|---|
| Generate APA citations | ||
| Generate MLA citations | ||
| Generate Chicago citations | ||
| Copy citations | ||
| Save bibliography lists | Limited | Unlimited |
| Export to Word or Google Docs | Limited | |
| Bulk citation import |
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Free Citation Generators
APA Citation Generator
Format references in APA style instantly.
Harvard Citation Generator
Create author-date Harvard references.
MLA Citation Generator
Generate MLA in-text and Works Cited entries.
Chicago Citation Generator
Build Notes-Bibliography or Author-Date citations.
BibTeX Generator
Get ready-to-use BibTeX entries for LaTeX.
Metadata Lookup
View a source's structured details before citing it.
Ready to Generate Your Citation?
Paste a link, DOI, ArXiv ID, PubMed ID, or title and get a formatted citation in seconds — free, with no sign-up required to try.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. You can paste a URL, DOI, ArXiv ID, PubMed ID, or title and generate a citation without paying.
APA, MLA, Chicago, and Harvard references, plus BibTeX entries and a metadata view — switch between them using the style buttons above the input.
A website URL, a DOI, an ArXiv ID, a PubMed ID, or a title — choose the matching type from the dropdown before you paste it in.
Yes. When an in-text citation is available for your source, it appears below the full citation with its own copy button.
Yes — always compare the generated citation against your instructor's or journal's style guide, especially for page numbers, access dates, and edge cases the generator may not catch.