Citation generator for APA, MLA & Chicago
Paste a link, DOI, ISBN or a messy reference. CiteForge works out what kind of source it is, fills in the details and sets a correct citation in the style you need. Free, no account, and built for your phone.
Cite a source
Reference list entry · APA 7th edition
Your citation appears here as you type, set exactly as it will look in your paper.
In-text citation
Fill in the author and date to see the in-text version.
One source, four styles: what actually changes
Every citation is built from the same six pieces: who, when, what, where it lives, where inside it, and how to find it. Styles don’t disagree about the pieces; they disagree about the order and the punctuation, and that order tells you what each discipline cares about most. Tap a style and watch the slugs rearrange, then tap any slug to see why it sits where it does.
Once you see citations this way, switching styles stops feeling like memorising and starts feeling like reading a pattern. That same pleasure in decoding a pattern runs through ahaboo, where you learn things like why the Moon changes shape by moving it yourself.
Date. When it was published. Author–date styles (APA, Harvard, Chicago author-date) put it second; MLA and Chicago notes put it near the end.
APA is author–date: the year sits right after the author because in psychology and the sciences, how recent the research is matters. Titles of articles go in sentence case.
How to cite…
Pick your style
Each style has its own page with a generator locked to that style, the formatting rules and worked examples.
Built to stay out of your way
- Private by default. Your sources are formatted on your device and saved only in this browser. Nothing to sign up for, nothing to delete later.
- Real metadata, not guesses. DOIs come from Crossref, ISBNs from Open Library, web pages from their own citation tags.
- Honest warnings. Missing date? No author? The generator tells you what the style does in that case instead of silently producing something wrong.
- A full bibliography. Add sources as you go, then copy a sorted reference list or Works Cited page, or export it as a Word-ready file.
Questions students ask
Is CiteForge really free, with no account?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no paywall and no ads. Citations are formatted in your browser, and your bibliography is saved in this browser’s local storage, not on a server.
How does the smart source-type detection work?
Paste anything into the top box. A DOI (10.xxxx/…) is looked up in Crossref and treated as a journal article or chapter; a valid ISBN is looked up in Open Library as a book; a link is read for its title, author and date, and YouTube, news and AI-chat links are recognised by their domain. Anything else is treated as a pasted reference, and an AI reader splits it into fields.
Which citation styles does it support?
APA 7th edition, MLA 9th edition, Chicago (notes-bibliography and author-date) and Harvard (Cite Them Right). Switch styles at any time and the same source is re-formatted instantly.
Are the citations accurate?
The formatting rules follow the official manuals, but a citation is only as good as its details. Autofilled metadata is often incomplete (missing authors, a site name in the title, the wrong date), so check each field against the source before you copy.
Will the italics survive when I paste into Word or Google Docs?
Yes. The Copy button puts formatted text on the clipboard, so italics paste into Word, Google Docs and Pages. Apply a hanging indent (0.5 inch) to your reference list in your document.
Which style should I use?
Use whatever your instructor or journal asks for. As a rule of thumb: APA for psychology, education, nursing and social sciences; MLA for English and the humanities; Chicago for history and the arts; Harvard at many UK and Australian universities. See the comparison.