Guide to Citation Generators

Need help creating citations and bibliographies? There are many options to choose from, including Web sites, pc-based programs, and browser extensions. Listed below are several citation generators and some brief information about each one. Review your results carefully. You are ultimately responsible for the accuracy of the citations in your paper. If in doubt, refer to the appropriate style manual for definitive information.

Son of Citation Machine

• Automatically produces both MLA and APA style citations for 21 types of sources (but not bibliographies)
• Free
• Copy and paste citations into Word

DocsCite

• Automatically produces MLA or APA style citations for government documents
• Free

EndNote

• Locate, organize, and store bibliographic data
• Create bibliographies for curricula vitae, manuscripts, grant proposals, term papers and other publications
• PC-based software

EasyBib

• Formats and alphabetizes bibliographies for 37 types of sources in MLA or APA style
• $7.99/year for students
• Save bibliography online or import to Word
• Upload journal citations from databases
• Limited help
• Free one week trial available

KnightCite

• Automatically produce MLA, APA, or Chicago style citations for 25 types of sources
• Free

NoodleBib

• Formats and alphabetizes bibliographies in MLA or APA style for over 50 types of sources
• $8.00/year for students
• Save bibliography online or import to Word
• Great online help next to each input field of the template

RefWorks

• Import references automatically from online databases
• Organize and manage references
• Format bibliographies and manuscripts

Scholar's Aid

• Bibliographical data manager with import feature and notes manager
• Creates citations, footnotes, and parenthetical references
• Freeware version called Scholar's Aid 4 Lite available with fewer features
• PC-based

StyleWizard

• Automatically produces MLA or APA style citations for 6 basic types of sources
• Excellent help
• Free

Zotero     

• Collect, manage, and cite sources
• Works in the Firefox browser - requires Firefox 2.0
• Developed at George Mason University
• Free

Style Manuals

APA Style

American Psychological Association. (2001). (5th ed.). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Call number BF76.7 P83

MLA Style

For high school and undergradaute students:

Gibaldi, J. (2003). (6th ed.). MLA handbook for writers of research papers. New York: Modern Language Association of America. Call number LB2369 G53

For graduate students, scholars, and professional writers:

Gibaldi, J. (1998). (2nd ed.). MLA style manual and guide to scholarly publishing. New York: Modern Language Association of America. Call number PN 147 G444

Chicago Style

The Chicago manual of style. (2003). (15th ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Call number Z253 U69

Note: Above style manuals can be found in the Reference section of the University, Science and Dewey Libraries.

Last updated December 27, 2007

This page maintained by Jane Kessler