Free APA Citation Generator
Create APA 7 reference entries for books, journal articles, and websites. Enter your source details, build your reference list, and copy or export it to Word without uploading your research.
APA 7 is selected when this page opens. Reference formatting happens in your browser.
Add Citation
Import BibTeX to build workspace quickly.
Bibliography Workspace
Initializing formatting engine...
Your bibliography is empty.
Add a source using the form, or open a .bib file.
Build an APA 7 reference list
This APA citation generator formats the source details you enter into reference-list entries. APA uses an author-date system: a brief citation in your writing points to a fuller entry in the References section at the end of the document.
For a basic book reference, APA places the author's surname and initials first, followed by the year in parentheses, the italicized book title, and the publisher. Use sentence case for book titles, keeping proper nouns capitalized. Check the source itself for the spelling of names and the publication year.
How to generate an APA citation
- Choose your source type. For a book, collect the title, author's first and last names, publication year, and publisher.
- Enter the details with the title in the required capitalization. APA 7 is already selected in the style menu.
- Click Add to Bibliography to create the reference. Repeat for each source or import a BibTeX file.
- Review the references, export them, and finish your APA References page in your document. Add the corresponding in-text citations separately.
APA citation example for a book
Fictional example: Maya Chen wrote Reading cities, published by Northbank Press in 2024. The reference entry identifies the whole book; the in-text example points to a specific page.
Chen, M. (2024). Reading cities. Northbank Press.
(Chen, 2024, p. 25)
What to check in an APA reference
Author names and dates
Keep the author's surname and given name in their separate fields. Use the source's publication year, rather than the year you found it.
Book and article titles
Enter book and article titles in sentence case. Journal names use title case. The generator does not verify capitalization against the original publication.
Journal and website details
Journal references may need a volume, issue, page range, and DOI; webpages may need a full publication date and site name. Add details that the basic form does not collect after exporting.
Frequently asked questions
Which APA edition does this generator use?
The APA option uses the APA 7th edition formatting template. Always compare your final reference list with the requirements of your course or publisher.
Can I generate APA website citations?
Yes. Select Web and enter the page title, author, publication year, and URL. This is manual entry, not automatic website lookup. Check whether the finished reference also needs a full date or website name.
Does the APA generator add in-text citations?
It generates reference-list entries. Add author-date citations in your document separately, including a page number or other locator when required. The example above shows how a citation can point to a page in a book.
How do I create an APA References page?
Copy or export your entries, place them under a References heading, and check alphabetical order, spacing, italics, and hanging indentation in your document. Word export provides editable text; review the final document formatting.
Do I need an account to use the APA citation generator?
No. Formatting and export are free and run in your browser. Copy or download your references before leaving the page because the workspace is not an automatically saved library.
Further guidance: APA Style reference examples.