Best Citation Generator

Find the Best Citation Generator to Make Your Research Easier

Students have different interests and study various disciplines, but they have one thing in common: they need the best citation generator. You might hate working on college papers in general, which might push you to search for a writing service that could do it for you. Others enjoy researching and putting their thoughts on paper, but even these people can’t stand academic formatting.
Styles like MLA, Chicago, and APA come with endless guidelines and exceptions, and watching for every comma or capitalization is excruciating. Some students spend more time on formatting than on writing. But there’s no need for frustration. Accurate citation generator can take care of this problem, and we’ve found ten platforms that you’re going to love.

Ten Best Citation Tools in the World of Academic Writing

We decided to take a break from looking for the best research paper proofreading service or professional writers. This time, we focused on free and paid citation tools. The market is full of inadequate options, and our team spent a while selecting ten best representatives in this area.

1) EndNote

EndNote is the best citation tool that both students and professionals use for their research. It requires payment — you need to make a one-time purchase if you’d like to gain access to it. On the one hand, it’s a drawback, but on the other, you receive 30-day trial. If you don’t like this citation generator, you can return it and the company will give money back. We appreciated such a safe approach. The price is affordable, too: if you can prove you’re a student, you’ll pay $115.95 for infinite access. If you are a researcher or need generator for some other purpose, the price would be $249.95. 
This best citation machine supports more than 6K formatting styles. We admit that we know only of 50 or so — 6K is an impressive number. There is every guarantee that you’ll find the one you need, no matter how rare it is. Most importantly, quality is amazing. We tried it five times in different variations, and EndNote never disappointed us. It formats everything accurately, and it has other useful features. For instance, you can create your bibliography automatically as you’re adding in-text citations, doing two tasks at once. It also allows exporting text from PDF right into the tool. We recommend it as our first choice of generator.

Pros

  • More than 6K styles supported
  • One-time purchase for affordable price
  • Simultaneous creation of in-text references and bibliography
  • PDF exports supported

Cons

  • No free version except 30-day trial

2) Paperpile

As another best citation maker, Paperpile is multi-layered. You could type a title of an article or book you’re interested in and find all information on it in this tool’s large database. This way, you can make citations personally in several minutes. If you don’t want to do it yourself, there is an option of automatic references. Paperpile supports 30+ types as well as 86 subtypes. Customers should pay for using it, but before that, they can enjoy a free trial. The prices are laughably cheap. Verified students pay only $2.99 per month; businessmen should pay $9.99 monthly.

Paperpile doesn’t have as many styles as the first best works cited generator, but it offers other useful features. You could make summaries with its help, leave special notes, and organize your library, storing sources in one place. The tool can be integrated with Google Docs and Chrome. Its efficiency is high, and mistakes are non-existent. We loved its work and we definitely recommend it.

Pros

  • Cheap monthly prices
  • Quality references
  • Integration with Chrome and Google Apps
  • Large sources database

Cons

  • Only 30 academic styles supported

3) CiteThisForMe

What is the best citation generator in the minds of students? The one they don’t need to pay for. CiteThisForMe is from this category. There is no need to buy anything for its usage — just open the page and pick parameters for your paper. First, pick a style: APA, Harvard, MLA, Chicago, or any other option. There are 15 major ones. Then select what kind of source you’re using, such as a book, article, website, etc. Type its title or DOI and enjoy automatic references. There is Chrome add-on students could incorporate to make their citing process quicker.

Like all good citation websites, this one has a paid version. You could purchase Premium account for £6.99/month and access additional academic options. They include plag checker, ability to edit multiple bibliographies at once, and more accurate referencing. We liked the precision of formatting. Free version has some flaws, but overall, CiteThisForMe can help you efficiently.

Pros

  • Free citation generator
  • Affordable price for premium version
  • Chrome add-on
  • Satisfying referencing quality

Cons

  • Only 15 styles covered

4) Zotero or ZoteroBib

If you’re only interested in the best free citation generator, try ZoteroBib. If you want access to an all-encompassing academic tool, Zotero should be your option. Both are free and have power to bring lots of benefits to their users. To cite a reference, you need to share some info about it, like its URL, DOI, ISBN, or others. Pick a style below, but pay attention to discrepancy. While ZoteroBib claims that it supports 10K styles, we managed to access only 4. But since they are most common, the majority of students will find what they want. The tool will instantly generate a reference and you could copy it to put it in your essay.

Zotero as software can help students create their library. It adds relevant keywords to sources and allows synchronizing data across all your devices. Apart from issues with diversity of styles, quality is solid and references look professional. This is one of top generators out there for sure.

Pros

  • Two free tools
  • Diverse features
  • Big database with sources
  • Good citation quality

Cons

  • Difficult to get all styles to work

5) Cite Fast

Unlike most of best citing websites, this one comes entirely for free. There are no paid subscriptions or features, students can get everything they see without paying a cent. Only three styles are game, which is limiting, but they include common variants. Cite Fast covers APA, MLA, and Chicago, both older and newest versions. If you need more sufficient help, better get an expert from best assignment writing service. But here customers should pick one of these styles, select type of their content (webpage, book, journal, others), and generate their citation. They could copy them manually or insert them automatically into their document — the tool supports this option. Creating an account or using the site without registration is up to you, but if you choose the latter and then change your mind, citations you generated will travel to your account automatically. Great citation quality and quick speed are the biggest advantages of Cite Fast.

Pros

  • 100% free citation generator
  • Quick speed
  • Solid quality
  • Ability to move bibliography from/into essay

Cons

  • Only three styles available

6) CiteMaker

Website hosting this best APA citation generator can be overwhelming at first, but don’t let it stop you. Explore it a bit and you’ll see how helpful it could be. It is free, and students may select between 6 academic styles, such as MLA, APA (old and new versions), Harvard, Oxford, Chicago, and Turabian. The column with relevant options is on your left. Choose a style there, decide how you want to import citations. Pick a type, provide details and see results.

The drawback of this best citation website is that it has no database with titles. You need to add stuff like names of authors, publication date, pages, etc. manually. CiteMaker offers in-text citations and references, and you can quickly export the text into your paper. Quality is accurate and satisfying. If you prefer pure generators with no additional features, this could be your choice.

Pros

  • Everything is free
  • Speedy citation generations
  • Six best styles available
  • High quality of bibliography

Cons

  • Overwhelming website
  • No database with sources

7) EasyBib

A part of Chegg platform that hosts the best citation websites, EasyBib offers free and efficient help. Students should pick if they want to cite a source or scan their essay for plagiarism and grammar errors. If it’s the former, click “create citations” and start setting parameters. Once you pick whether you’re referencing a book, website, or something else, you’ll need to type the title. The system will offer you every option it finds in its database, and as soon as you select the right variant, click “continue.” Choose a style among numerous options and decide what you’d like to do with citation. Copying it is a piece of cake. Quality is high enough, too, but the process is lengthy and you might need to add extra details to your entry for getting complete results.

Pros

  • Free citation generator
  • Proper quality of citations
  • Plenty of  best academic styles supported

Cons

  • Long reference generation process
  • Some results are incomplete

8) Citation Machine

This best MLA citation generator is very similar to the one we’ve just recommended, and it’s not surprising since they both are a part of Chegg family. Students need to select “create citations” and determine what type of medium they are planning on citing. The database of the machine is huge, and there is every chance you’ll find the source you require. If not, type information manually and settle on your preferred academic style. You could copy or export the citation into your paper. Option for an in-text citation is present as well. The main difference is that based on our experience, Citation Machine makes more mistakes: out of 7 references, we had to tweak 3 personally because they were flawed. Still, in other aspects, it is a great tool.

Pros

  • Free best tool
  • Satisfying number of styles available
  • Impressive sources database

Cons

  • Generating a reference requires personal input
  • Citations might be imperfect

9) KnightCite

Design of this best online citation generator is garish — too much text in small font and different colors cause brief disorientation. But it is free, and the system of reference generations is efficient, though a user’s input is required. MLA, APA, and Chicago styles are present: you need to pick one of them on the left side of the page before you start inserting details about your source in the box. Results came quickly and we found their quality to be pleasing. Students could get speedy assistance here if the conditions satisfy them.

Pros

  • Free citation generator
  • Quality references
  • Rapid generating work

Cons

  • Users need to type details themselves
  • Only thee styles supported

10) Citavi

Citavi is the tenth best citation generator for APA and other styles. It has a big database with various academic sources and allows choosing from multiple formatting styles. Students could order free trial via the web or by downloading software. The site is confusing and has too many options, some unrelated to what you might need; it’s also expensive. Students should pay $89.00 every year. But efficiency, speed, and database make it one of top citation makers.

Pros

  • Free trial option
  • Excellent results
  • Inspiring database and available styles

Cons

  • Annual payment requested
  • Site has redundant information

Enjoy Your Best Bibliography Generator and Give Your Recommendations

As you see, there is a big number of accurate generators that could handle your formatting efficiently. Try any or all of them; settle on the one you like most. But remember that every tool has its flaws. We suggest learning APA or MLA rules at your pace and double-checking the results. If the task is important and you’re worried about not scoring enough points, read the best dissertation writing service review to find experts who will craft your project from scratch. Try other pages on our website and find reliable companies for any academic need you have. 

Posted by Diana B., May 30, 2022