Citation Generator: Free APA, MLA & Chicago
Create accurate APA, MLA, and Chicago citations for free. Enter the author, title, year, and source type to get copy-ready references — no signup.
Citation Generator
Fill in the inputs below, hit Generate, and your results appear instantly — copy any item in one click.
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What is Citation generator?
Citation Generator — Create accurate APA, MLA, and Chicago citations for free. Enter the author, title, year, and source type to get copy-ready references — no signup.
Your input is converted to CSL-JSON (author, title, year, source type, URL) and rendered by citation-js, an open-source CSL 1.0 citation engine, using the official Citation Style Language styles for APA, MLA, and Chicago. Everything runs locally in your browser — nothing is uploaded. Limitations: authors are parsed structurally ("Last, First"; ";" separates co-authors), only a publication year is collected (no month/day), and CSL rendering can differ in edge cases from the official manuals — always double-check a finished bibliography against the APA, MLA, or Chicago manual before submitting.
Why use this citation generator?
Built for citation generator
Create accurate APA, MLA, and Chicago citations for free. Enter the author, title, year, and source type to get copy-ready references — no signup.
Transparent & honest
Author parsing is structural: "Last, First", with ";" separating co-authors. A name without a comma is treated as a family or organization name.
Private by design
Everything runs in your browser. Your inputs never leave your device.
Works everywhere
Fully responsive — perfect on desktop, tablet, and mobile. No app needed.
Regularly updated
Regularly maintained and reviewed to ensure accuracy.
Free forever
No accounts, no limits, no watermarks. Use Citation Generator as much as you need.
How to use Citation Generator
- 1Type the author in the "Author" field as Last, First (e.g. Smith, John). Separate co-authors with a semicolon.
- 2Enter the work's title in the "Title" field exactly as published.
- 3Enter the publication year in the "Year" field (between 1000 and 2100).
- 4Pick the matching "Source type": Book, Website, or Journal article. For websites, paste the page address into "URL (for websites)".
- 5Run the tool and copy the APA 7th, MLA 9th, and Chicago references it generates.
What can you do with Citation Generator?
- Best free apa citation generator — Create accurate APA, MLA, and Chicago citations for free.
- Make mla citation for book — Create accurate APA, MLA, and Chicago citations for free.
- Free citation maker no signup — Create accurate APA, MLA, and Chicago citations for free.
- Generate bibliography from sources — Create accurate APA, MLA, and Chicago citations for free.
- Cite sources online research paper — Create accurate APA, MLA, and Chicago citations for free.
Good to know
- Author parsing is structural: "Last, First", with ";" separating co-authors. A name without a comma is treated as a family or organization name.
- Only a publication year (1000–2100) is collected — months, days, and "no date" handling use the engine's CSL defaults.
- CSL rendering can differ from the official manuals in edge cases (corporate authors, missing data, non-English names). Always double-check a finished bibliography against the APA, MLA, or Chicago manual before submitting.
How it works
Your input is converted to CSL-JSON (author, title, year, source type, URL) and rendered by citation-js, an open-source CSL 1.0 citation engine, using the official Citation Style Language styles for APA, MLA, and Chicago. Everything runs locally in your browser — nothing is uploaded. Limitations: authors are parsed structurally ("Last, First"; ";" separates co-authors), only a publication year is collected (no month/day), and CSL rendering can differ in edge cases from the official manuals — always double-check a finished bibliography against the APA, MLA, or Chicago manual before submitting.
Examples
Status: ok — APA: Smith, J. (2023). How the Web Works. MLA and Chicago variants included.
Status: ok — the URL is attached to the citation, e.g. MLA: Doe, Jane. Web Article. 2024, https://example.com/a.
Status: ok — both authors parsed and ordered correctly in all three styles.
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