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Citation Reference Formatter

Generate correctly formatted references and in-text citations for Harvard, APA, MLA, Chicago, and Vancouver.

Common mistake: Don't italicise the article title — only the journal name is italicised in Harvard.

Generated reference

'', .

In-text citation

(Author, n.d.)

Learn the referencing systems in depth:

Harvard Referencing Guide →APA 7th Edition Guide →Academic Integrity →

Pick the style your department specifies, not the one you like

Referencing style is not a matter of preference. Your department, module handbook or journal specifies one, and marks are routinely deducted for using another — or, more often, for mixing two. Where guidance conflicts, the module handbook beats the university-wide style guide.

Broad conventions: Harvard and APA dominate the social sciences and sciences, MLA the humanities and literature, Chicago history and some humanities, Vancouver medicine and the biosciences. But “Harvard” in particular is not one standard — it varies between institutions, so check your own guide against the output here before you commit to a whole reference list.

The parts that actually cost marks

Consistency beats correctness. A reference list that applies one convention imperfectly reads better than one that applies three conventions perfectly in rotation. If you have inherited references from a group project or an old draft, reformat all of them.

In-text citations are half the job. Every reference in the list needs a corresponding in-text citation and vice versa. Orphaned entries — sources you read but never cited — do not belong in a reference list, though they may belong in a bibliography if your style uses one.

Missing details are a research problem. No author, no date, no publisher: each has a convention, but the better move is usually to ask whether a source you cannot fully identify is one you should be citing at all.

Check the output before you trust it

This formatter arranges the details you enter according to the style you choose. It cannot verify that the details are right, and it does not know your institution’s local variant. Two things to check every time: capitalisation of titles, which differs sharply between styles, and author name order for works with several authors.

The referencing course covers the underlying logic of each system, which is what lets you handle the source types no formatter has a field for.

Common questions

Which referencing style should I use?
The style depends on your institution and subject. Harvard (author-date) is widely used across UK universities in humanities and social sciences. APA 7th edition is standard in psychology, education, and many US institutions. MLA 9th edition is used in English literature and humanities in North American institutions. Chicago Author-Date is common in history and some social sciences. Vancouver is the standard for medicine and health sciences. Always check your module handbook or ask your tutor if unsure.
Is this citation formatter completely free?
Yes, completely free. No account is required. All formatting is done in your browser — nothing is sent to any server and no data is stored. Your reference list builds up in the current session and you can copy everything with one click.
What is the difference between a reference list and a bibliography?
A reference list contains only the sources you have cited in the text of your essay or dissertation. A bibliography contains all sources you consulted during research, whether or not you cited them. Most UK universities using Harvard or APA style ask for a reference list (not a bibliography), meaning you should only include sources that appear as in-text citations. Chicago and MLA style essays often use bibliography rather than reference list — check your style guide.
How do I cite a source with no author?
If there is no named author, use the organisation name (for websites or reports) or the title (in italics, for books or documents) in place of the author. In Harvard and APA in-text citations, this means: (Organisation Name, 2023) or (Title of Work, 2023). In MLA, use a shortened version of the title in quotation marks: ("Title of Article" 45). The reference list entry follows the same principle — start with the organisation or title rather than a personal name.
Can I use this tool to build a full reference list?
Yes. Use "Add another source" to build up multiple references in the same session. When you have finished, click "Copy all references" to copy the full alphabetically sorted reference list to your clipboard, ready to paste into your document. Your current session is saved automatically so you can return to it, but it's good practice to copy your list to a document regularly as browser storage can be cleared.

Keep going

Referencing & Citation courseWhy each system is shaped the way it is.Research Skills courseFinding and evaluating sources worth citing.Academic Writing courseIntegrating sources into an argument.Dissertation Writing courseManaging a reference list at scale.