Bibliography Generator for APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard
List your sources however you have them, with titles, authors and links, and get a formatted list in the citation style you need. No more hand-placing every period, comma and parenthesis.
How it works
The bibliography generator works line by line. Each line is broken into its parts: author, title, publisher, year, and journal details or a link. Nothing missing gets invented: if there is no year in your line, none will appear. The parts are then arranged in the order your citation style requires, with the right punctuation between them. One important limit: it does not check whether a source exists. It formats what you give it.
APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard
Each style answers the same questions differently. APA puts the year right after the author and is common in psychology, education and the social sciences. MLA leads with the author and title and is used in literature and the humanities. Chicago is popular in history and publishing. Harvard is an author-date style with several local versions, so your university's guide has the final say. Punctuation is where most points get lost, which is why it is worth having it done consistently.
Books, articles and websites
Each kind of source has its own format. A book needs the author, title, publisher and year. A journal article needs the journal name, year, volume or issue number and pages. A web page needs a title and a URL, and some styles and instructors also expect the date you accessed it. If yours do, add the date to that source's line, because a missing detail is left out rather than guessed.
For term papers and theses
How many sources you need varies widely: a term paper may list a dozen or so, while a thesis often has far more. Most styles want the list in alphabetical order, but numbered systems go by first mention, and some instructors want sources grouped by type. Pick the one you need in the Order field. Many departments also expect recent sources. A classic work of theory can stay relevant for decades, but statistics, laws and market reviews go out of date fast, and your advisor will notice that sooner than a misplaced comma.
Common formatting mistakes
One: title capitalization. APA uses sentence case for book and article titles, while MLA and Chicago use title case, and mixing them is easy to do. Two: missing or wrongly used "et al.", since each style sets its own rule for how many authors to list. Three: a journal article without its DOI or issue number when the style calls for it. Four: a web source with no date, which leaves readers unsure which version you saw. The list comes back numbered, so remove the numbers if your style does not use them, and set italics and hanging indents in your document. Review the list before you submit, because these are the first places a reader looks.
Bibliography, references or works cited
The names differ by style: APA calls the list References, MLA uses Works Cited, Chicago usually has a Bibliography, and Harvard a Reference List. The distinction that matters is scope. A reference list contains only what you cite in the text, while a bibliography may also include works you read but did not cite. Most papers call for the first. Do not add a book you never cited to pad out the list, because someone may ask where you used it.
Frequently asked questions
Which citation styles are supported?
APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard. Pick one in the Citation style field. If your university has its own version of a style, compare the result with its guide.
What if I don't have all the details for a source?
Enter what you have. Missing details are not made up: an incomplete entry is better than an invented publication year someone catches later. Do try to find the missing information before you submit.
Do websites need an access date?
It depends on the style and your instructor. If you need one, include it in that source's line, because the tool does not add a date you did not provide.
Can I mix books, articles and websites?
Yes. The type of source is worked out line by line, and each is formatted by its own rules even if they are all mixed together.
Does it work for a journal submission?
It can, but many journals have a house style of their own. Check the author guidelines before you submit, and make sure the format you need is one of the four offered here.