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Citation Management Tools: Citation Generators

This LibGuide contains information on various citation tools available to Butler students, staff, and faculty.

Citation Generators

How to select a citation generator tool: Does it offer the citation management style that you need? Make sure it's working with the proper edition. What kind of help do you need? Each tool offers slightly different features, and some features have additional costs. Look into the features of the tool to make sure it meets your needs: Looks up source based off title or web address Generates a bibliography entry (copy and paste into a Word doc) Assists with creating an in-text entry Saves citation entries for later Common Errors with citation generators: Capitalization Punctuation Spacing Formatting Incorrect information or information placement Can happen with manual entry or the look-up feature ALWAYS double-check citations generated by these tools!

Popular Citation Generators

A citation generator is a tool that exists to assist you with the creation of a bibliographic citation. Most tools focus on creating the citation for your bibliography (works cited or reference page); fewer tools include help with formatting parenthetical or in-text citations. 

Many credible websites and library databases include citation generators for each source. Examples include:

If the source doesn't include a citation generator, there are many other tools online that you can use for citation assistance. Click on the tabs above to learn more about a few of these tools. 

BibMe logo

FREE?

  • Citation creation can be done for free in the major styles.
  • A BibMe Pro plan is available with additional features such as plagiarism checking

CITATION STYLES

  • MLA, APA, Chicago

TYPES OF SOURCES

  • Book, magazine, newspaper, website, journal, film, other

OTHER FEATURES

  • Will look up and generate citation based upon website, book title, etc. using WorldCat
  • Includes a parenthetical citation feature

EasyBib by imagine easy

FREE?

  • You can create MLA citations without paying. For other citation styles, you'll need a membership. 

CITATION STYLES

  • MLA is available for free
  • APA, Harvard, Chicago, and more require a premium membership

TYPES OF SOURCES

  • Website, book, newspaper, journal, database, and more

OTHER FEATURES

  • Will look up and generate citation based upon website url, book title, etc. 

KnightCite logo

FREE?

  • You can create citations for free without creating an account
  • You can create a free account to get additional features like saving and organizing citations

CITATION STYLES

  • MLA, APA, Chicago

TYPES OF SOURCES

  • Book, anthology, periodical, multimedia, communication, online only, etc

OTHER FEATURES

  • Requires you to fill in all information for your source

There are a LOT of options for citation generators:

We'd love to hear which tools you find useful! Email us at infocommons@butler.edu to let us know your preference.

CONTACT

Email Butler University Libraries
Irwin Library: 317-940-9227
Science Library: 317-940-9937

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