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Generate citations in APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard

Enter a URL, DOI, title, author or source details and create a properly formatted citation for your reference list. Built for students who need fast, simple and reliable citations.

Cite any source

Create citations for webpages, books, journal articles, videos, reports, PDFs and online articles – the sources students use most often.

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APA citation generator

Format APA references for essays, psychology papers, education assignments, business reports, nursing research and social science projects.

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Build your bibliography

Copy each citation into your bibliography, references page or works cited list and keep your formatting consistent from start to finish.

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How to use the free citation generator

Citing sources should not slow down your paper. Add the source information you have, choose your style and generate a citation you can copy in seconds.

Choose a citation style

Select APA, MLA, Chicago or Harvard. If your instructor asks for APA, use the APA citation generator to create an author-date reference for your bibliography.

Search or enter your source

  • Add a URL, DOI, ISBN, title, author, publication year, journal name, publisher or website. You can cite webpages, books, journal articles, reports and videos.
  • If some information is missing, fill in what you know and review the citation before you submit your work.

Copy the citation

  • Generate a formatted citation and paste it into your references page, bibliography or works cited list.
  • Double-check capitalization, punctuation, italics, dates, DOI links and URLs against your assignment requirements.
  • Repeat the process for each source until your bibliography is complete.
  • When your paper is finished, you can also use Winston AI’s writing tools to check originality and polish the final draft.

Everything you need to cite sources

APA citation generator

Create APA citations for websites, books, journal articles, videos and reports. APA is one of the most common styles for academic writing.

Free citation generator

Generate citations for free without creating an account. No trial, no credit card and no extra steps just to format a reference.

APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard

Switch between popular citation styles so your references match your course, publication or school requirements.

Websites, books, articles and more

Cite the sources students actually use: webpages, books, ebooks, academic journals, PDFs, videos, news articles and reports.

In-text citations and reference lists

Use citations to support both in-text references and your final bibliography, so readers can trace every quote, paraphrase and idea.

Review before you submit

Citation generators save time, but you should always review the final result for missing authors, dates, page numbers, DOIs and formatting rules.

Create a clean bibliography faster

  • Start by saving the source details as soon as you find a useful webpage, article or book.
  • Generate each citation in the same style so your bibliography stays consistent.
  • Check author names, publication dates, titles, page ranges, DOI links and URLs before submitting.
  • Copy the final citations into your reference list, bibliography or works cited page.

Citation generator FAQs

Yes. Winston AI’s citation generator is free to use and does not require an account, credit card or trial. You can generate APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard citations directly on the page.

Yes. Choose APA and enter your source details to create an APA-style reference. APA is commonly used in education, psychology, business, nursing and the social sciences.

You can cite websites, books, ebooks, journal articles, videos, reports, PDFs, news articles and other common academic sources. Add the author, date, title, publisher, URL or DOI when available.

No. The citation generator is designed to be used without creating a Winston AI account. You can generate and copy citations without logging in.

No citation generator can replace your instructor’s exact requirements. Use it to format citations quickly, then double-check capitalization, punctuation, dates, DOI details and any school-specific rules.

Citations show where your ideas came from, help readers verify your claims and give credit to original authors. Proper citations also reduce the risk of accidental plagiarism.

Yes. AI writing tools can invent sources or create references that look real but do not exist. Always verify that each source is real and cite the original material you actually used.