Free Academic Reference Generator — Harvard, APA 7, MLA & Chicago Citations
Instantly generate perfectly formatted in-text citations and full bibliographies from URLs, DOIs, ISBNs and article titles — supporting Harvard, APA 7th, MLA 9th, Chicago, IEEE, OSCOLA and Vancouver styles.
This tool builds citation-accurate references and formatted bibliographies directly in your browser. Input any DOI, URL, ISBN or title, pick your referencing standard, and copy or download your bibliography in seconds.
Harvard (Cite Them Right) & APA 7th Edition
MLA 9th, Chicago 17th & OSCOLA Law
IEEE & Vancouver (ICMJE)
Runs 100% in your browser — zero tracking & total privacy
Add Source Details — Get Verified References Instantly
Select your input method below, enter your source identifier or details, and choose your referencing style. Everything generates locally in your browser with real-time discrepancy checking.
1Choose input
2Enter details
3Check metadata
4Copy & export
We fetch publicly available metadata from the page. You can review and edit all fields before saving.
DOIs are queried directly against official Crossref and OpenAlex scholarly repositories.
Book and monograph metadata is queried instantly via the Open Library catalog.
Searches Crossref and OpenAlex databases. You will be able to confirm matching candidate papers.
Smart Extraction: Extracts title, year and identifiers from raw text, then queries Crossref to verify completeness.
Mix URLs, DOIs and ISBNs freely. Each line generates its own formatted reference in your bibliography.
My Bibliography
0
Inside The Engine
How the Reference Generator Works
Three steps from source to properly formatted reference. Our engine queries scholarly databases in real time, extracts canonical metadata, and applies strict CSL rules.
1
Input your source identifier
Why it matters: Paste a DOI, ISBN, URL, search by title, or enter details manually. The engine reaches out to Crossref, OpenAlex and Open Library to fetch published bibliographic metadata.
2
Check and refine metadata
Why it matters: The tool displays retrieved fields (authors, title, year, journal, volume, pages, DOI) and highlights any missing items so you can complete them accurately.
3
Copy or export your bibliography
Why it matters: Copy individual in-text citations or complete references, or download your entire sorted bibliography as Word (.docx), TXT, RTF, BibTeX or RIS.
Always verify automatically generated citations against your university's module handbook. Different departments may have specific guidelines for capitalization, access dates, and secondary sources.
Need a specialist to audit your references and bibliography before submitting your dissertation or essay?
Seven official citation standards engineered to comply with university rubrics and international academic publishers.
APA 7th Edition
Author-Date system used across Psychology, Social Sciences, Business, Nursing and Education.
In-text: (Kucsko & Maurer, 2013)
Sentence-case titles, italicised journals and volume numbers
Full active DOI URLs (https://doi.org/...)
Kucsko, G., & Maurer, P. C. (2013). Nanometre-scale thermometry in a living cell. Nature, 500(7460), 54–58. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12373
Harvard (Cite Them Right)
Widely adopted across UK and Australian universities for academic assignments and dissertations.
In-text: (Kucsko and Maurer, 2013)
Article titles in single quotes, journal in italics
Available at: [URL] (Accessed: [Date]) for web sources
Kucsko, G. and Maurer, P.C. (2013) 'Nanometre-scale thermometry in a living cell', Nature, 500(7460), pp. 54–58.
MLA 9th Edition
Author-Page citation system standard in Literature, Cultural Studies, Languages and Humanities.
In-text: (Kucsko and Maurer 54)
Title case for articles in double quotation marks
Container-based referencing structure
Kucsko, G., and P. C. Maurer. "Nanometre-Scale Thermometry in a Living Cell." Nature, vol. 500, no. 7460, 2013, pp. 54–58.
Chicago 17th (Notes & Bibliography)
Footnote and endnote system standard in History, Art History, Philosophy and Religious Studies.
In-text: Superscript footnote number 1
Full author names, headline-style capitalization
Bibliography sorted alphabetically by author surname
Kucsko, G., and P. C. Maurer. "Nanometre-Scale Thermometry in a Living Cell." Nature 500, no. 7460 (2013): 54–58.
IEEE
Numbered bracketed standard for Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Information Technology.
In-text: [1] (numbered in order of appearance)
Author initials precede surname (e.g. G. Kucsko)
Standard IEEE journal title abbreviations
G. Kucsko and P. C. Maurer, "Nanometre-scale thermometry in a living cell," Nature, vol. 500, no. 7460, pp. 54–58, Aug. 2013.
OSCOLA
Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities, required in UK law degrees and legal writing.
In-text: Footnote citations with no full stops in author initials
Primary sources: cases, statutes and statutory instruments
Secondary sources: journal articles, books, and reports
Kucsko G and Maurer PC, 'Nanometre-scale thermometry in a living cell' (2013) 500 Nature 54.
Citation Style
System
In-Text Citation Format
Reference List Ordering
Primary Academic Disciplines
APA 7th
Author-Date
(Smith & Jones, 2024, p. 12)
Alphabetical (by author surname)
Psychology, Education, Social Sciences, Business
Harvard
Author-Date
(Smith and Jones, 2024, p. 12)
Alphabetical (by author surname)
UK/Commonwealth Universities (All disciplines)
MLA 9th
Author-Page
(Smith and Jones 12)
Alphabetical (Works Cited)
Literature, Languages, Humanities, Arts
Chicago 17th
Notes & Bib
Superscript number (Footnote)1
Alphabetical (Bibliography)
History, Philosophy, Fine Arts, Humanities
IEEE
Numeric
[1] or [1, pp. 12–14]
Sequential (Order of appearance)
Computer Science, IT, Engineering, Physics
OSCOLA
Footnote
Footnote number1
Tables of Cases & Statutes + Bibliography
Law, Legal Studies, Jurisprudence
Vancouver
Numeric
(1) or [1]
Sequential (Order of appearance)
Medicine, Nursing, Biomedical Sciences
Make It Count
How to Verify & Evaluate Generated References
Automated generators save hours of formatting time, but academic integrity and university grading rubrics require student verification. Once you have compiled your bibliography, cross-match all in-text citations against your reference list using the Academic Citation Checker to catch orphan citations. Run your bibliography through these six essential checks:
Author names & corporate entities — Verify that author surnames and initials are parsed correctly, and that institutional authors (e.g. World Health Organization) are not split into personal names.
Publication year & online-first dates — Confirm whether your source was published in a print volume or as an online-first / early-view article with a distinct publication year.
Journal volume, issue & pagination — Check that volume and issue numbers are intact. If citing an electronic open-access journal, ensure the article locator number is present.
Title capitalization rules — Check sentence case (APA style: only capitalize first word and proper nouns) versus title case (MLA and Chicago: capitalize all major words).
Active DOI & URL resolution — Verify that DOIs begin with https://doi.org/ and lead directly to the publisher's official record.
Institutional variations — Compare your bibliography against your specific university department's referencing guide before final submission.
Referencing errors routinely cost students between 5% and 15% of their total assignment grade. Always review flagged items and edit any missing fields using our built-in citation editor.
Unsure about secondary citations, translated works, or non-standard online sources? Speak to an academic specialist.
The generator automates routine formatting, but complex dissertations, multi-source literature reviews, and high-stakes assignments often benefit from professional academic review. Review the academic style, grammar, and scholarly tone of your drafted sections with the Academic Writing Checker.
Complete your coursework package with a submission-ready title page formatted using our Academic Cover Page Generator. Eight situations where professional proofreading helps:
Your course requires a specialized institutional variation of Harvard or Chicago.
You are citing rare archival documents, government reports, or foreign legal statutes.
You need to convert a 100+ source bibliography between APA and Harvard under a tight deadline.
In-text narrative citations feel repetitive and need stylistic variation.
You are combining primary survey data with published secondary literature.
You have secondary citations (sources cited in another source) requiring careful attribution.
Your dissertation literature review needs comprehensive structural proofreading.
You want complete peace of mind before submitting your final master's or PhD thesis.
AssignPro offers comprehensive academic writing guidance, dissertation proofreading, and referencing audits. Our PhD-qualified mentors can review your bibliography, verify in-text citations against your source list, and ensure strict compliance with your university's marking rubric. Visit our contact page or chat with us on WhatsApp for a free consultation.
Human Refinement
Need Complete Dissertation Proofreading & Referencing?
100% manual check of in-text citations against bibliography
Formatted to your university's exact style guide and font rubric
Free 15-minute consultation with a matched academic specialist
Common questions answered regarding citation accuracy, database lookup, and formatting compliance.
Yes. It is 100% free with no account registration, subscriptions, or daily limits. You can generate unlimited references, build full bibliographies, and export to Word (.docx), TXT, RTF, BibTeX and RIS.
Nowhere. The entire reference generator runs client-side in your browser. Lookups query public APIs (Crossref, OpenAlex, Open Library) directly, and your bibliography is saved exclusively in your browser's localStorage.
Yes. Paste any web page address into the URL tab. The tool parses page headers and OpenGraph metadata to extract the author, publication date, title, and website name. You can review and edit all fields before saving.
Paste the DOI (e.g. 10.1038/nature12373) or ISBN into the respective tab. The tool queries official scholarly databases (Crossref, OpenAlex, Open Library) to instantly retrieve peer-reviewed publication metadata.
Seven major academic styles: Harvard (Cite Them Right), APA 7th Edition, MLA 9th Edition, Chicago 17th (Notes-Bibliography), IEEE, OSCOLA (Oxford Legal), and Vancouver (ICMJE). You can switch styles at any time and reformat your entire bibliography instantly.
Yes. Switch to the Bulk tab, paste a list of URLs, DOIs, or ISBNs (one per line), and click Generate. The tool processes the batch sequentially, highlighting resolved entries and flagging any sources that need manual review.
In the bibliography panel, click the Export button and choose "Word Document (.docx)" or "Rich Text (.rtf)". The downloaded file includes correct hanging indents, alphabetical sorting, and italicized titles ready to paste into your assignment.
Yes. For every source generated, the tool provides both the full reference entry and the matching in-text citation (e.g. parenthetical or numeric format) with one-click copy buttons for each.
If an author is missing, use the organisation name or the title of the work. If no date is available, write "n.d." (no date) in APA and Harvard styles. Our manual entry form provides structured fields to handle these edge cases cleanly.
Yes. AssignPro provides professional academic proofreading, referencing audits, and proposal guidance. Our PhD-qualified tutors ensure your writing and bibliography strictly match your university's grading rubric. Contact us via WhatsApp for a free consultation.
Why You Can Rely On It
Entirely client-side — zero data stored
Real-time Crossref & OpenAlex queries
Compliant with 7 university standards
Export to Word, BibTeX, RTF & RIS
Connected Academic Ecosystem
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