About the Citation Generator (APA, MLA, Chicago)
This citation generator turns the details of a source into correctly punctuated reference entries in the three styles students and researchers use most: APA 7th edition, MLA 9th edition and Chicago 18th edition (notes-and-bibliography). Choose a book, a journal article or a web page, type the authors, title, date and publication details, and all three versions appear side by side with an in-text citation for the style you picked.
It handles the fiddly rules automatically: APA initials and the ampersand before the last author, “et al.” for three or more authors in MLA, inverted first names in Chicago, ordinal editions, DOI links, abbreviated MLA months, shortened page ranges, and placing the period inside quotation marks. Optional auto-casing converts a title to sentence case for APA and title case for MLA and Chicago.
Everything runs in your browser and nothing is stored. Because generators cannot know which words are proper nouns, always glance over an APA title after sentence-casing, and remember to italicize the book, journal or website name when you paste the entry into your paper — plain text cannot carry italics.
How to use the citation generator (apa, mla, chicago)
- 1Pick the citation style your teacher or journal requires, and the source type.
- 2Type each author on its own line as “Last, First Middle” (or an organization name).
- 3Copy the title exactly, including any subtitle after the colon.
- 4Add the year, publisher or journal details, and the DOI or URL if the source has one.
- 5Copy your citation, paste it into your reference list, and italicize the title or journal name.
- 6Use the in-text citation in your sentence, adding the page number when you quote.
Formula and method
Each style is a fixed template filled with your fields. APA 7 lists every author (up to 20) as surname plus initials with an ampersand before the last, puts the date in parentheses after the authors, uses sentence case for article and book titles, and ends with the DOI as an https://doi.org link. MLA 9 inverts only the first author, uses “et al.” for three or more, puts article titles in quotation marks, and ends with the publication date and page range (with the second number shortened, e.g. 354-80).
Chicago 18 bibliography entries invert the first author, list up to six authors in full (more than six becomes the first three plus “et al.”), give the publisher and year for books (a place of publication is no longer required), and use the “volume, no. issue (year): pages” pattern for journal articles with Chicago’s shortened page ranges (354–80). When there is no author, every style moves the title to the front. The generator does not change author spellings and cannot detect proper nouns, so review the title capitalization.
- Author
- Person or organization responsible for the work
- Container
- The larger work that holds the source: a journal, website or anthology
- DOI
- Digital Object Identifier, a permanent link for scholarly articles and books
Worked examples
Book in APA 7: Atomic Habits
A single-author book: APA shortens the first name to an initial, puts the year in parentheses and sentence-cases the title, so only “Atomic” and the first word after the colon keep capitals. MLA and Chicago keep the full first name and title case; Chicago 18 no longer asks for the place of publication, so both end with publisher and year.
Journal article with five authors and a DOI
APA lists all five authors with an ampersand before the last and cites them in text as “Cepeda et al., 2006”. MLA collapses three or more authors to the first plus “et al.” and shortens the page range to 354-80, while Chicago 18 names all five (it lists up to six) and uses the volume, no. issue (year): pages pattern with the range shortened to 354–80.
Web page in MLA 9 with a publication date
MLA writes dates day-month-year with abbreviated months (Mar., Sept.), drops “https://” from the URL and adds an access date. APA puts the full date after the author and keeps the full URL with no final period; Chicago spells out the date month-first.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between APA, MLA and Chicago?+
APA (American Psychological Association) is used in psychology, education and the social sciences and puts the year right after the author. MLA (Modern Language Association) is common in literature and the humanities and uses author-page in-text citations. Chicago is used in history and publishing, usually with footnotes plus a bibliography.
How do I cite a source with no author?+
Start the entry with the title instead. In APA the date follows the title, and the in-text citation uses a short form of the title, such as (“Short Title,” 2024). In MLA and Chicago the title simply takes the author’s place. Leave the authors box empty and this generator does it for you.
When do I use “et al.”?+
In APA 7 in-text citations, use “et al.” after the first author for three or more authors, but list up to 20 authors in the reference list. MLA 9 uses “et al.” for three or more authors in both places. Chicago 18 lists up to six authors in the bibliography; with seven or more it gives the first three followed by “et al.”, and notes use the first author plus “et al.” for three or more.
Should titles be italicized?+
Yes. Italicize standalone works (books, journal names, website names in MLA and Chicago, and the page title in APA) and put shorter works such as articles and web pages in quotation marks for MLA and Chicago. Plain text cannot carry italics, so apply them after pasting.
Do I need an access date for websites?+
MLA 9 recommends an access date when a page has no publication date or may change, and Chicago uses one when there is no date. APA 7 only asks for a retrieval date for pages designed to change over time, so this tool omits it from APA.
What is a DOI and where do I find it?+
A DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is a permanent ID for an article or book, starting with “10.”. It is usually printed on the first page of a journal article or on its database page. All three styles prefer the DOI written as an https://doi.org/ link.