Citation generator for APA 7 and MLA 9
Create a reference list entry for a book, website or journal article in APA 7th edition or MLA 9th edition style.
Citation details
Write each author as Last name, First name, for example: Khan, Ayesha. For an organisation, use braces: {World Health Organization}. Leave empty if there is no author.
Type the title as you want it to appear. APA uses sentence case (only the first word and names capitalised); MLA uses title case.
For example: 3
For example: 45-67
For example: 10.1000/xyz123. Used instead of the URL when given.
Your citation
Always check the result.The generator follows the main APA 7 and MLA 9 patterns for these three source types, but it cannot see the source. Check names, capitalisation and dates, and follow your teacher's or journal's instructions where they differ.
How to use the citation generator
- Choose APA or MLA, and the type of source.
- Fill in the details you have. Fields that do not apply to that source type are hidden.
- Check the citation as it updates, then press Copy citation. Italics are kept when you paste into a word processor that supports formatted text.
The patterns used
APA 7 book: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the book (2nd ed.). Publisher.
APA 7 journal article: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Name, volume(issue), pages. https://doi.org/…
MLA 9 book: Last, First. Title of the Book. 2nd ed., Publisher, Year.
MLA 9 web page: Last, First. “Title of the Page.” Website Name, Day Month Year, URL.
In MLA, three or more authors become “First author, et al.” In APA, up to 20 authors are listed.
Questions and answers
- Does the generator look up books or DOIs?
- No. It works entirely in your browser and does not connect to any database, so you type in the details yourself. Nothing you type is uploaded.
- What does n.d. mean?
- APA uses “n.d.” (no date) when a source has no publication date. Leave the year empty to get it.
- Why is the title not capitalised for me?
- Automatic capitalisation often gets names, acronyms and other languages wrong. Type the title in the case your style needs. The case converter can help.