APA Citation Generator
Your bibliography
0 sourcesAn APA citation generator is a free tool that formats your sources into correct APA 7th edition references and in-text citations in seconds. Paste a URL, DOI, or ISBN — or enter the details by hand — and copy a perfectly formatted citation with the right punctuation, italics, and hanging indent.
How to use this APA citation generator
Generating an APA citation takes three steps: choose your source type, add the source, and copy the result. The tool formats both the reference-list entry and the matching in-text citation at once, so you never build either by hand.
- Pick your source type — website, book, journal article, video, and more — with the style set to APA.
- Add the source. Paste a URL, DOI, or ISBN to auto-fill the details, search by title to pick from real results, or click “Enter manually” to type them.
- Generate and copy. Review the reference, copy it into your list, and use the in-text version in your sentences. Add several sources to build an alphabetised bibliography you can export to Word, BibTeX, or RIS.
What is APA citation style?
APA style is the citation format created by the American Psychological Association, now in its 7th edition (2020), used mainly in psychology, education, nursing, business, and the social sciences. It uses an author–date system: a short in-text citation points readers to a full reference in an alphabetised list at the end of the paper.
Every APA reference answers four questions in a fixed order — Who? When? What? Where? — written as Author. (Date). Title. Source. Getting that order and its punctuation right is what separates a correct reference from one that loses marks.
APA in-text citations
An APA in-text citation gives the author’s surname and the year of publication so readers can find the full reference. Add a page number for any direct quotation. The two valid forms are parenthetical — (Doe, 2024) — and narrative, where the author’s name is part of your sentence.
Parenthetical vs. narrative citations
In a parenthetical citation the author and year sit together in brackets at the end of the sentence: Reference accuracy improves with structured data (Doe, 2024). In a narrative citation the author’s name appears in the running text and only the year is bracketed: Doe (2024) found that reference accuracy improves.
Direct quotes and block quotes
For a direct quotation, add the page number after the year: (Doe, 2024, p. 15), or pp. 15–16 for a range. A quotation of 40 words or more becomes a block quote: start it on a new line, indent the whole block half an inch, drop the quotation marks, and place the citation in parentheses after the final full stop.
Citing multiple works at once
To cite several sources in one parenthesis, list them alphabetically and separate them with semicolons: (Doe, 2024; Lee, 2019; Smith, 2021). Two works by the same author are ordered by year: (Doe, 2019, 2024), and same-author, same-year works take letter suffixes: (Doe, 2024a, 2024b).
Secondary (indirect) sources
When you cite a source you only read about in another work, name the original and add “as cited in” the source you actually read: (Smith, 1998, as cited in Doe, 2024). Only the source you read — Doe (2024) — goes in your reference list.
Personal communications
Emails, interviews, letters, and private messages are cited in text only and never appear in the reference list, because readers cannot retrieve them: (J. Doe, personal communication, March 1, 2024).
APA author rules
APA inverts every author to surname followed by initials — Doe, J. A. — and the number of authors changes how you join them. These rules apply in the reference list; the in-text citation uses only surnames.
One, two, or three-plus authors
List up to 20 authors in a reference, separated by commas, with an ampersand before the last. In text, one author is (Doe, 2024); two authors are always joined by an ampersand, (Doe & Smith, 2024); and three or more authors shorten to the first author plus “et al.” from the very first citation: (Doe et al., 2024).
| Authors | Parenthetical | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| One author | (Doe, 2024) |
Doe (2024) |
| Two authors | (Doe & Smith, 2024) |
Doe and Smith (2024) |
| Three or more | (Doe et al., 2024) |
Doe et al. (2024) |
| Group, first cite | (World Health Organization [WHO], 2023) |
World Health Organization (2023) |
| Group, later cites | (WHO, 2023) |
WHO (2023) |
Groups and organizations as authors
When the author is an organization, spell the name out and add its abbreviation in the first in-text citation, then use the abbreviation afterwards: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2023) first, then (WHO, 2023). The full name goes in the reference list.
No author, no date, or no page number
When a source has no author, move the title into the author position and cite a shortened version of it. When there is no date, use n.d. (“no date”) in place of the year. For a quotation from a source without page numbers, cite a paragraph number or a section heading instead: (Doe, 2024, para. 3).
APA reference list entries
A reference-list entry contains four core elements — author, date, title, and source — each separated by a full stop. The author is inverted to surname then initials; the date goes in brackets; the title of a standalone work is italicised, while an article or chapter title stays in plain text with its container italicised.
Anatomy of an APA reference
Every APA reference is built from the same colour-coded parts, always in the same order. This journal article shows where each piece goes:
- Author(s) — surname then initials, ampersand before the last
- Date — year of publication, in parentheses
- Title — of the article, in sentence case
- Source — journal (italic), volume, issue, and pages
- DOI / URL — a clickable link to the source
Sentence case vs. title case
APA uses sentence case for the titles of articles, chapters, and books — capitalise only the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns. It uses title case for journal names, where all major words are capitalised. Mixing these up is the single most common APA error.
Formatting the reference page
The reference page starts on a new page with the word References in bold, centred, at the top. Entries are listed in alphabetical order by the first author’s surname, double-spaced, with a hanging indent of half an inch on every line after the first. Use a legible font such as Times New Roman 12 or Calibri 11.
The APA References page
The APA References page — often called the APA citation page — is the alphabetised list of every source cited in your paper, beginning on its own page at the end. In APA it is titled References, not Bibliography: a bibliography lists background reading you consulted, whereas a References list contains only works you actually cited. Unless your instructor asks for a bibliography, every entry on the page must appear in your text, and every in-text citation must have an entry here.
Ordering the entries
| Situation | Rule |
|---|---|
| Standard order | Alphabetical by the first author’s surname |
| No author | Move the title into the author position and alphabetise by its first significant word |
| Same author, different years | Earliest year first — Doe (2019) before Doe (2024) |
| Same author, same year | Order alphabetically by title and add letter suffixes: 2024a, 2024b |
| Same first author, different second | Alphabetise by the second author’s surname |
| Organisation as author | Alphabetise by the full organisation name, not an abbreviation |
Page numbers and other locators
Page numbers belong in the in-text citation, never in the reference entry itself. Use p. for a single page and pp. for a range, after the year: (Sapolsky, 2017, p. 15). They are required for direct quotations and useful when pointing to a specific passage you paraphrased.
Many sources have no page numbers at all — web pages, e-books, streaming media. APA expects a different locator rather than nothing, so the reader can still find the passage:
- Paragraph number — (Fagan, 2019, para. 3)
- Section heading — (World Health Organization, 2023, Prevention section)
- Heading plus paragraph for long sections — (Lee, 2021, Methods section, para. 2)
- Timestamp for audio or video — (Vsauce, 2020, 4:12)
The generator above formats the reference entries; the locator goes in the sentence where you cite them.
APA reference examples by source type
These are complete, correctly formatted APA 7 reference-list entries. Match your source to the closest example, then use the generator above to fill in your own details.
WebsiteDoe, J. (2024, March 14). The future of citation. Nature. https://example.com/article
Whole bookDoe, J. (2023). Citing with confidence (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Chapter in an edited bookDoe, J. (2022). Citing chapters. In A. Editor (Ed.), Handbook of citation (pp. 55–70). Routledge.
Journal article with DOIDoe, J., & Smith, J. (2022). Reference accuracy at scale. Journal of Information Science, 48(3), 221–238. https://doi.org/10.1000/xyz123
Magazine articleDoe, J. (2023, June). The quiet rise of citation tools. The Atlantic, 331(5), 44–49.
Newspaper articleDoe, J. (2024, May 3). Citation reform arrives on campus. The Guardian. https://theguardian.com/example
YouTube videoVsauce. (2021, June 2). How citations work [Video]. YouTube. https://youtube.com/watch?v=example
Podcast episodeDoe, J. (Host). (2023, October 9). Citing the internet (No. 42) [Audio podcast episode]. In The Reference Desk. Acme Media. https://example.com/ep42
Social media postDoe, J. [@janedoe]. (2024, April 1). Every claim deserves a source [Post]. X. https://x.com/janedoe/status/000
Dictionary entryMerriam-Webster. (n.d.). Citation. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved July 5, 2026, from https://merriam-webster.com/dictionary/citation
Government / organization report (PDF)World Health Organization. (2023). Global standards for referencing (Report No. 12). https://who.int/report.pdf
Dissertation or thesisDoe, J. (2021). Referencing at scale [Doctoral dissertation, University of Oxford]. Oxford Research Archive. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/example
ChatGPT / generative AIOpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat
What is APA citation format?
APA citation format is the documentation standard set by the American Psychological Association, currently in its 7th edition (2020). It is used across psychology, education, nursing, business, and most social sciences. The format has two halves that always work together: a brief in-text citation in the body of your paper, and a matching full entry in the reference list at the end. Every in-text citation must have a reference-list entry, and every entry must be cited at least once in the text.
These are the APA 7 citation format rules at a glance. Each links to the section that explains it in full.
| Element | APA 7 format | Example |
|---|---|---|
| In-text, parenthetical | (Author, Year) | (Doe, 2022) |
| In-text, narrative | Author (Year) | Doe (2022) argued… |
| Direct quote | (Author, Year, p. #) | (Doe, 2022, p. 14) |
| Three or more authors | First author + et al. | (Doe et al., 2022) |
| Reference order | Author. (Date). Title. Source. | Doe, J. (2022). Citing well. Routledge. |
| Article titles | Sentence case, plain type | Reference accuracy at scale |
| Journal names | Title case, italic | Journal of Information Science |
| Reference page | References, bold and centred | Alphabetical, hanging indent |
Journal article format. The journal article is the most-cited source type in APA and the one students most often get wrong. The format is author, date, article title in sentence case, journal name in title case and italics, volume in italics, issue in parentheses, page range, then the DOI as a full link:
Doe, J., & Smith, J. (2022). Reference accuracy at scale. Journal of Information Science, 48(3), 221–238. https://doi.org/10.1000/xyz123
Note that the volume number is italicised but the issue number in parentheses is not, and there is no pp. before the page range in a journal reference. Both are frequent errors. The generator above applies these rules automatically.
Which edition applies. APA 7 is current and is what almost every course now requires. If your course sheet still specifies APA 6, see APA 6 vs 7 for the differences that matter, chiefly the removal of publisher location, the shift to including up to twenty authors in a reference, and the use of DOIs as full links.
APA paper formatting basics
Beyond citations, APA sets rules for the whole paper: one-inch margins on all sides, a legible font (Times New Roman 12, Calibri 11, Arial 11, or Georgia 11), and double spacing throughout, including the reference list.
Title page and page numbers
A student title page centres the bold title in the upper half of the page, followed by your name, affiliation, course, instructor, and due date on separate lines. The page number appears in the top-right corner of every page. A running head (a shortened title in capitals) is required only for professional papers, not student papers.
Headings (five levels)
APA has five heading levels. Level 1 is centred and bold; Level 2 is flush left and bold; Level 3 is flush left, bold, and italic; Level 4 is indented, bold, and ends with a full stop; Level 5 is indented, bold, italic, and ends with a full stop. Use them in order and never skip a level.
APA 6th vs 7th edition: what changed
APA 7 (2020) simplified several rules that APA 6 required. The most important changes for students are that the publisher location is no longer needed for books, “et al.” is used from the first citation of a three-author source, and the running head is optional for student papers.
| Element | APA 6 | APA 7 |
|---|---|---|
| Publisher location | Included (e.g., New York, NY) | Omitted — publisher name only |
| Authors before ellipsis | Up to 7 | Up to 20 |
| “et al.” for 3+ authors | From the 2nd citation | From the 1st citation |
| DOI format | doi:10.xxxx | https://doi.org/10.xxxx |
| Running head (student paper) | Required | Optional |
Common APA mistakes to avoid
A handful of errors appear in almost every first draft. Fixing these four catches most lost marks:
- Capitalisation. Article, chapter, and book titles use sentence case; journal names use title case.
- Hanging indent. Every reference indents its second and later lines by half an inch.
- Missing date. Use
n.d.rather than guessing or leaving it blank. - Ampersand vs. “and.” Use
&inside parentheses and in the reference list, but “and” in narrative sentences.
How accurate is an APA citation generator?
An APA citation generator is highly accurate for well-structured sources, but no tool replaces a final human check. Automatic look-ups depend on the metadata a website provides, which can be incomplete or wrong — so always confirm a few details before you submit.
Check that author names are complete and correctly ordered, that the title uses sentence case, that the date matches the version you used, and that a journal article includes its volume, issue, and DOI. These are the fields most often missing from a source’s metadata, and the ones markers notice first. Our generator formats exactly what you give it, so accurate input means an accurate citation.
APA citation generator — frequently asked questions
Is this APA citation generator free?
Yes. Every citation style and every source type is completely free, with no sign-up and no paywall on copying or downloading. You can build an entire reference list and export it in seconds.
What are the two types of APA in-text citation?
APA has two in-text forms: parenthetical and narrative. A parenthetical citation places the author and year in brackets at the end of a sentence, while a narrative citation names the author in the sentence itself and puts only the year in brackets.
How do I cite a source with no author in APA?
When a source has no author, move the title into the author position and begin the reference and in-text citation with a shortened title. For example, an untitled webpage would be cited by its page title rather than an author surname.
When do I use “et al.” in APA 7?
Use “et al.” for any source with three or more authors, from the very first in-text citation. Write the first author’s surname followed by “et al.” and the year, such as (Doe et al., 2024).
Does APA use a hanging indent?
Yes. Every entry in an APA reference list uses a hanging indent of half an inch, meaning the first line sits flush left and every following line of that entry is indented. The list is also double-spaced and alphabetised by author surname.
How do I cite a direct quote in APA?
For a direct quote, add the page number after the year: (Doe, 2024, p. 15). Quotations of 40 words or more become block quotes — indented half an inch, without quotation marks, with the citation after the final full stop.
What is the difference between APA 6 and APA 7?
APA 7 (2020) drops the publisher location for books, allows up to 20 authors in a reference before an ellipsis, applies “et al.” from the first citation of a three-author source, and makes the running head optional for student papers.
How do I cite ChatGPT in APA?
Cite ChatGPT with OpenAI as the author, the year, the italicised model name and version, a “Large language model” description in square brackets, and the URL — for example: OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat
What edition of APA is current?
The 7th edition, released in October 2020, is the current standard. It replaced the 6th edition and simplified several rules, including dropping the publisher location and allowing up to 20 named authors before an ellipsis.
Do I italicise the title of an article in APA?
No. Article and chapter titles are not italicised and use sentence case. Italics apply to the journal name, book title, and volume number instead.
When do I add a page number in an APA in-text citation?
Add a page number for direct quotations, formatted as p. 42 or pp. 42–43. For sources without pages, use a paragraph number, section heading, or para. label.
Does APA require a DOI?
Include a DOI whenever one exists, formatted as a full https://doi.org/ link. If no DOI is available, use the article’s stable URL; for print works with neither, end after the source element.
What is the difference between References and a Bibliography?
An APA reference list includes only sources cited in the text. A bibliography can list background reading you did not cite. APA uses “References”, not “Bibliography”.
More APA tools & guides
Keep building with the rest of the toolkit: switch styles with the MLA citation generator, learn the mechanics in the guide to in-text citations, understand the basics in what is a citation?, or format a full annotated bibliography.