BYTETOOLS

Citation Generator

Format references in APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, Harvard or IEEE for books, journal articles, websites and videos — manual entry, no lookups, fully private.

Authors (in source order)

What is the Citation Generator?

This Citation Generator formats a full reference from the details you type — authors, title, year, publisher, journal, volume, pages, URL or DOI — in any of five styles: APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago bibliography, Harvard and IEEE, across four source types: book, journal article, website and online video.

  • APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago bibliography, Harvard and IEEE
  • Books, journal articles, websites and online videos
  • Correct author inversion, initials, “&” vs “and”, and et al. rules
  • Live preview with italics and hanging indent
  • Pure templating — no lookups, no uploads, works offline

How to use the Citation Generator

  1. 1

    Pick a citation style and a source type (book, journal, website or video).

  2. 2

    Add each author's first and last name in source order.

  3. 3

    Fill in the title, year and the fields shown for your source type.

  4. 4

    Copy the formatted citation and re-apply the italics shown in the preview.

About the Citation Generator

This Citation Generator formats a full reference from the details you type — authors, title, year, publisher, journal, volume, pages, URL or DOI — in any of five styles: APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago bibliography, Harvard and IEEE, across four source types: book, journal article, website and online video. Author names are automatically inverted, initialled, joined and shortened to “et al.” exactly as each style requires.

It is a deliberately manual, deterministic formatter: there is no database lookup or DOI fetching, which means it works offline, never guesses wrong metadata, and nothing you enter is uploaded anywhere. The preview shows the italics each style expects, with a hanging indent, and the copy button gives you the plain text to paste into your document.

It is perfect for students and researchers who already have the source details in hand and just need them assembled into a correctly punctuated reference. Do cross-check unusual sources — corporate authors, translated works, reprints and edited collections — against your institution's own guide, since those edge cases sometimes need manual adjustment no formatter can fully automate.

Frequently asked questions

How do I cite a website in APA 7?

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of page in italics. Site Name. URL — pick “Website” and “APA 7” here, fill in the fields, and the tool assembles exactly that pattern, including the full date when you supply one.

How many authors before et al. is used?

In the reference list it varies by style: MLA shortens to the first author plus et al. at three or more, Harvard at four, IEEE at seven, while APA 7 lists up to 20 authors in full. The generator applies each rule automatically.

Does it look up books or DOIs automatically?

No — it is a manual-entry formatter by design. That keeps it 100% offline and private, and avoids the wrong-edition and wrong-author errors auto-lookup tools are prone to. You supply the details; it handles the formatting rules.

Why is the copied citation not italicized?

Clipboards strip formatting from plain text, so book and journal titles lose their italics on paste. The preview shows exactly which parts should be italic — re-apply that in Word or Google Docs after pasting.

Which style should I use?

Whichever your institution or publisher requires: APA dominates psychology and the sciences, MLA the humanities, Chicago history and publishing, Harvard is common in UK universities, and IEEE is standard in engineering and computing.

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