Free Citation Generator

Create accurate bibliography and in-text style references for essays and research—APA, MLA, Chicago, and Harvard from a few lines of source details.

Fast formatting
Four major styles
Copy-ready output

AI-assisted formatting—always double-check against your course style guide before you submit.

Source details
Paste everything you know—title, author, year, URL…
Max 10MB. Paste source info manually for best citation quality.
More detail usually means a safer citation draft.
Automatic formatting

Turn messy notes into a clean reference line

Instead of juggling comma placement and italics by hand, you describe the source once and get a citation you can paste into Word, Google Docs, or LaTeX. It works for books, articles, chapters, reports, and many web sources when you provide the right fields.

Open citation tool
Review before you cite

Use the output as a draft. Scan author order, capitalization, punctuation, and “retrieved from” rules for web pages. Fixing those details takes seconds and protects you from careless mistakes.

Pairs with Fact Checker

Formatting is only half of rigor—your statements should reflect what authoritative sources actually say. Run important claims through the Retwinkle AI Fact Checker so your argument and citations stay aligned.

Try Fact Checker

Citation workflow, simplified

Time-saving

Generate formatted references quickly so you can stay in drafting mode.

Consistent style

Keep APA, MLA, Chicago, or Harvard consistent across every entry.

Convenience

One textarea, four styles—no separate apps for each format.

Tips for using a citation generator

  1. Compare the generated citation to official examples from your handbook or library citation guide.
  2. Choose one style per assignment—do not mix APA headings with MLA Works Cited entries.
  3. Gather stable identifiers early: DOI, ISBN, or permanent URL beats a truncated search link.
  4. For web sources, note access date only when your discipline or style asks for it.
  5. Combine with the Grammar Checker and Plagiarism Checker for stronger final drafts.
FAQ

Citation Generator

Retwinkle AI builds a formatted reference from the source details you paste (author, title, year, publisher, URL, etc.). Choose APA, MLA, Chicago, or Harvard and copy the result into your bibliography or references page.

Automated citations can miss edge cases. Always compare the result to your style manual and your instructor's rules. When in doubt, verify against your library or official style guides.

APA, MLA, Chicago, and Harvard are available from the selector. Use consistent style throughout one paper.

Yes. Include as much detail as you have: author, page title, site name, publication date, and URL for web sources; volume, issue, and DOI for journals when applicable.

The Retwinkle AI fact checker helps you sanity-check claims in your draft. Citations and factual accuracy work together: cite real sources, then make sure the claims you attribute match what those sources say.

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