How to Cite Sources in APA & MLA Format (Free Generator)

You have found the perfect source for your paper. Now comes the part that trips up even experienced researchers: getting the citation exactly right. Is it the author's last name first? Does the date go before or after the title? Do you need the URL if there is a DOI? Should the journal name be italicized or in quotes?

Citation formats have specific rules for good reason — they allow readers to find your sources quickly and verify your claims. This guide covers the two most common formats (APA and MLA), gives you ready-to-use examples for the source types you encounter most often, and introduces a free Chrome extension that generates citations automatically so you never have to remember the formatting rules again.

Why Citations Matter (Beyond Avoiding Plagiarism)

The obvious reason to cite sources is to avoid plagiarism. But proper citations serve several additional purposes that are genuinely useful to you as a writer:

• They give your argument credibility. A claim backed by a peer-reviewed journal article carries far more weight than the same claim presented without any source. Citations show readers that your conclusions rest on solid evidence.
• They let readers go deeper. Anyone reading your paper can follow your citations to the original sources, check your interpretation, and explore the topic further. This is how academic knowledge builds on itself.
• They protect you from accusations of plagiarism. Proper attribution makes it clear which ideas are borrowed and which are your own original analysis.
• They help you remember where you found things. If you track citations as you research instead of at the end, you avoid the panic of trying to trace a quote back to its source at 2am before a deadline.

The two dominant formats — APA and MLA — serve different academic disciplines and prioritize different information. APA, developed by the American Psychological Association, is used in social sciences, psychology, nursing, and education. MLA, developed by the Modern Language Association, is used in humanities, literature, film, and cultural studies. Harvard format (common in UK universities and business schools) closely resembles APA with some differences in punctuation and capitalization.

APA 7th Edition: Format Guide

The 7th edition of APA style was published in 2019 and is the current standard. It simplified many rules from APA 6th edition, most notably removing the location of the publisher for books and adding DOIs as mandatory links for journal articles.

APA In-Text Citations

APA uses an author-date system. Every time you quote or paraphrase a source in the text, you add a brief parenthetical reference. The reference list at the end of the paper gives the full details.

Basic format: (Author Last Name, Year)

With a direct quote: (Author Last Name, Year, p. XX)

APA Reference List Structure

The reference list appears on a new page at the end of the paper, titled References (centered, bold). Entries are listed alphabetically by author last name. Each entry uses a hanging indent — the first line is flush left, and subsequent lines are indented 0.5 inches.

The general structure for any APA reference entry follows this pattern:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of work: Capital letter after colon. Publisher/Source. DOI or URL

Key APA formatting rules to remember:

• Author names: Last name, then initials only (not full first names)
• Only the first word of a title and proper nouns are capitalized (sentence case)
• Journal names and volume numbers are italicized; issue numbers are not
• Include DOI as a hyperlink whenever available: https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx
• No "Retrieved from" needed before DOIs or stable URLs (except for content that may change)

MLA 9th Edition: Format Guide

MLA 9th edition was published in 2021 and is the current standard for humanities disciplines. Unlike APA, MLA uses an author-page system for in-text citations rather than author-date. The reference list is called a Works Cited page.

MLA In-Text Citations

Basic format: (Author Last Name Page Number)

Note: no comma between name and page number, and no "p." before the page number.

MLA Works Cited Structure

MLA 9th edition uses a universal system of nine core elements that apply to every source type. You include whichever elements apply to the specific source, in this order:

1. Author
2. Title of source
3. Title of container (e.g., journal name, website name, anthology title)
4. Other contributors (translators, editors)
5. Version (edition)
6. Number (volume and issue for journals)
7. Publisher
8. Publication date
9. Location (page numbers, URL, or DOI)

Key MLA formatting rules:

• Author: Last name, First name (full name, not initials)
• Titles of longer works (books, journals, websites) are italicized
• Titles of shorter works (articles, poems, short stories) are in "quotation marks"
• Titles use title case (capitalize most words)
• MLA does not require DOIs but does require URLs for online sources, with "Accessed" date

Harvard Format: Quick Overview

Harvard referencing is not maintained by a single organization (unlike APA or MLA), which means slight variations exist between institutions. However, the core structure is consistent and closely resembles APA:

• In-text: (Author Last Name Year) — no comma, no page number required for paraphrases
• Reference list is called "References" or "Bibliography"
• Author last name + initials (like APA), but year in brackets: Author, A. (Year)
• Title of book in italics, sentence case (like APA)
• For journals: volume number in italics, then (issue number) in regular text

If your institution uses Harvard style, check their specific style guide — many universities publish their own variant with small differences in punctuation and ordering.

How to Cite Websites

Websites are the most commonly cited online source and also the most error-prone. The key challenge is that websites often lack clear author names, publication dates, or organizational accountability. Here are the exact formats:

APA 7 — Website Citation

MLA 9 — Website Citation

How to Cite Books

Books are the most straightforward source type to cite. The main things you need are: author name(s), publication year, title, edition (if not the first), and publisher.

APA 7 — Book Citation

MLA 9 — Book Citation

How to Cite Journal Articles

Academic journal articles are the gold standard source in most disciplines. They always have volume and issue numbers, page numbers, and — for modern articles — a DOI. If your source has a DOI, always use it instead of a URL; DOIs never expire.

APA 7 — Journal Article

MLA 9 — Journal Article

Using a Citation Generator Chrome Extension

Manually formatting citations is error-prone and time-consuming. A dedicated Chrome extension eliminates the manual work by reading the web page metadata for you and outputting a properly formatted citation that you can copy directly into your document.

Citation Generator APA MLA works on news sites, academic databases, Wikipedia, and most standard web pages. Here is how to use it:

Step 1: Install the Extension

Visit the Chrome Web Store page and click Add to Chrome. Installation takes about 15 seconds and requires no account or sign-in.

Step 2: Navigate to the Source Page

Open the web page you want to cite in Chrome. This could be a news article, a journal abstract page, a government website, or any other online source. The extension works best on pages that have properly structured HTML metadata (most major publishers do).

Step 3: Generate the Citation

Click the Citation Generator icon in your Chrome toolbar. A popup appears showing the detected page title, author, publication name, and date. The extension automatically extracts this information from the page's HTML metadata so you do not have to type anything.

Step 4: Select Your Format and Copy

Choose APA, MLA, or Harvard from the format selector. The citation updates instantly. Click Copy to place the formatted citation on your clipboard, then paste it directly into your reference list or bibliography.

When to Review Auto-Generated Citations

Citation generators are highly accurate for well-structured web pages, but you should always review the output before submitting academic work. Common things to check:

• Author name: Confirm the detected name is the actual author of the article, not the website owner or site administrator.
• Date: Verify the date shown matches the publication date visible on the page, not a "last updated" date.
• Title: Ensure the title matches the article heading, not the site's homepage title or a generic category page title.
• URL: Check that the URL is the canonical article URL, not a redirect or search result page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between APA and MLA citation formats?

APA places the publication year immediately after the author in in-text citations and reference entries, reflecting its use in scientific fields where recency of research matters. MLA uses author and page number in in-text citations, reflecting its use in humanities where the specific passage location in a text is more important than when it was written. APA uses a References page; MLA uses a Works Cited page. The two formats also differ in capitalization rules: APA titles use sentence case, MLA titles use title case.

How do I cite a website with no author in APA format?

Move the article title to the author position. In-text: (Title of Web Page, Year) — italicize the title. Reference entry: Title of the web page. (Year, Month Day). Website Name. URL. If there is also no date, use (n.d.) in place of the year. For long titles, you can shorten to the first few significant words in the in-text citation.

Do I need to include the URL access date in APA 7?

APA 7th edition only requires a retrieval date for sources that are likely to change over time without retaining a version history — for example, Wikipedia articles or social media profiles. For most newspaper articles, journal articles, government pages, and organizational websites, you do not need a retrieval date. Just include the URL or DOI.

What is a DOI and do I always need one in APA citations?

A DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is a permanent, stable link assigned to academic content. It looks like: https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001234. In APA 7, include the DOI whenever one exists — it is always preferred over a URL because it never expires. If there is no DOI, include the URL of the database page where you accessed the article. For open-access articles without a paywall, include the direct URL.

Can a Chrome extension automatically generate citations?

Yes. The Citation Generator APA MLA extension reads the page metadata and generates APA, MLA, and Harvard citations for the current web page in one click. It handles the formatting rules automatically. You should still review the output to confirm the author name, date, and title are accurate before submitting academic work.

Is MLA 9th edition different from MLA 8th edition?

MLA 9th edition (published in 2021) builds on MLA 8th edition with clearer guidance on digital sources, inclusive language, and accessibility features. The core nine-element framework for building citations is unchanged. Most differences are clarifications rather than rule changes. If your instructor specifies MLA 8, follow their guidance — in most practical cases the citation output will be identical.