Guide to Citation Generators

Need help creating citations and bibliographies? Citation generators can help you. There are many options to choose from, including Web sites, pc-based programs, and browser extensions. Click on the tabs to read about, and link to, several citation generators.

If you use one of the citation generators, be sure to 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. Style manuals are listed in the last tab.

Many databases now offer the ability to format citations, usually as part of the print/save/email function, or in a "cite this article" link. Again, you should check these before listing in a bibliography, as some are not very accurate.

Check the Interactive Media Center class schedule for classes on NoodleBib, Zotero and EndNote.

Confused about when and why to cite sources? See our guide, When and Why to Cite Sources and our online tutorial, Plagiarism 101.

BibMe

BibMe is a free citation generator developed at Carnegie Mellon University that produces citations and bibliographies in APA, MLA, Chicago and Turabian styles. It has some features not found in other free citation generators, such as autofill and the ability to switch between citation styles.

Citation Machine

Citation Machine is a free site that automatically produces MLA, APA, Turabian or Chicago style citations for a variety of sources (but not bibliographies). Users can copy and paste citations into Word. It was developed by David Warlick, an educator. David also maintains a blog about Citation Machine.

DocsCite

Docscite is a free site that automatically produces MLA or APA style citations for government documents. DocsCite was developed at, and is provided by, Arizona State University Libraries.

EasyBib

This site formats and alphabetizes bibliographies for 37 types of sources in MLA, APA, or Chicago/Turabian style. The cost is $8.99/year for students. Users can save a bibliography online or import to Word. It includes a feature to upload journal article citations from databases. There is limited help. A free one week trial is available.

EndNote

EndNote helps users locate, organize and store bibliographic data. Users can create bibliographies for curricula vitae, manuscripts, grant proposals, term papers and other publications.

EndNote is available on computers in the Information Commons, User Rooms and Technology Classrooms. Save your EndNote library to your S drive.

KnightCite

Knightcite is a free site that automatically produce MLA, APA, or Chicago style citations for 25 types of sources.

NoodleBib

NoodleBib is an award winning site developed by librarian Debbie Abilock that formats and alphabetizes bibliographies in MLA, APA and Chicago/Turabian styles for over 50 types of sources. The cost is $8.00/year for students. Users can save bibliographies online or import to Word. NoodleBib includes fully integrated note-taking feature, which is very useful when writing papers. There is excellent online help next to each input field of the template. Read a review of NoodleBib here. Highly recommended.

Scholar's Aid

This is a bibliographical data manager with import feature and notes manager. It creates citations, footnotes, and parenthetical references. There is a freeware version called Scholar's Aid 4 Lite available with fewer features.

SytleWizard

This free site automatically produces MLA or APA style citations for 6 basic types of sources. There is excellent help on each screen to walk users through the processing of citing a source.

Zotero

Zotero is a free, open source utility that works in the Firefox browser to help users collect, manage and cite sources. It was developed at George Mason University. You can read a review of Zotero here. Highly recommended.

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

American Psychological Association. (2007). APA Style Guide to Electronic References. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

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.