Citation Formatter

Citation Formatter

Citation styles are the disciplinary "branding" of scholarly communication — they encode a field's epistemological values and allow readers to trace intellectual lineage, verify facts, and assess the recency of evidence.

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Style Selection Guide

| Style | Primary Disciplines | In-Text Format | End List | |---|---|---|---| | APA 7th | Social Sciences, Psychology, Nursing, Education | (Author, Year, p. #) | References (alphabetical) | | MLA 9th | Humanities, Literature, Languages | (Author Page #) | Works Cited (alphabetical) | | Chicago NB | History, Fine Arts, Literature | Superscript numeral¹ | Bibliography (alphabetical) | | Chicago AD | Physical, natural, social sciences | (Author Year, p.) | Reference List (alphabetical) | | IEEE | Engineering, Computer Science, Electronics | [1] numbered | References (sequential) | | Vancouver | Medicine, Biomedicine, Nursing | ¹ or (1) numbered | Reference List (sequential) | | Harvard | UK/Australian universities (various disciplines) | (Author Year) | Reference List (alphabetical) | | ACS | Chemistry | Numbered or author-date | References | | CSE | Biology, Life Sciences | Citation-name or -sequence | References |

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APA 7th Edition — Full Rules

In-Text Citations

• 1–2 authors: (Smith, 2021) / (Smith & Jones, 2021)
• 3+ authors: From the FIRST citation → (Taylor et al., 2018)
• No author: Use shortened title in quotes: ("Title," 2020)
• Corporate author: Spell out first time, abbreviate after: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2019), then (WHO, 2019)
• Same author, same year: Add a, b, c: (Smith, 2021a), (Smith, 2021b)
• Direct quote: Always add page number: (Smith, 2021, p. 45)
• Secondary source: (Original Author, Year, as cited in Secondary Author, Year)
• No date: Use (n.d.): (Smith, n.d.)
• Classical/sacred works: (Bible, King James Version, Genesis 1:1) — no reference entry needed

Reference List Rules

• Alphabetical by first author's surname
• Up to 20 authors listed in full; for 21+, list first 19, insert ellipsis, then final author
• No publisher location required (removed in 7th edition)
• DOIs and URLs formatted as active hyperlinks
• Sentence case for article and book titles; Title Case for journal names

APA Reference Formats

Journal Article (with DOI): Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article in sentence case. Journal Title in Title Case, Volume(Issue), pages. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Journal Article (no DOI, with URL): Author, A. A. (Year). Title. Journal Title, Volume(Issue), pages. URL

Book: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book in sentence case. Publisher.

Book Chapter in Edited Volume: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of chapter. In E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. xx–xx). Publisher.

Website: Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. URL

Dissertation/Thesis: Author, A. A. (Year). Title [Doctoral dissertation/Master's thesis, University Name]. Database Name. URL

Conference Paper: Author, A. A. (Year, Month). Title of paper [Paper presentation]. Conference Name, Location. URL

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MLA 9th Edition — Full Rules

The Container System

Every source is built from 9 core elements in this fixed order:

1. Author.
2. Title of source.
3. Title of container,
4. Other contributors,
5. Version,
6. Number,
7. Publisher,
8. Publication date,
9. Location.

Elements that don't apply are simply omitted. A source can have multiple nested containers (e.g., article → journal → database), repeating elements 3–9 for each layer.

In-Text Citations

• Author + page: (Wordsworth 263)
• No author: Shorten title: ("Study on Cognition" 12)
• No page: Use paragraph number or section: (Smith, par. 4)
• Classical works (plays, poems): Use act.scene.line: (Shakespeare 1.2.95)
• Foreign language quote: Must include English translation

Title Formatting

• Italics: Self-contained works (books, films, websites, entire journals)
• "Quotation marks": Works within containers (articles, poems, chapters, episodes, web pages)

MLA Works Cited Formats

Journal Article: Author Last, First. "Title of Article." Journal Name, vol. #, no. #, Year, pp. xx–xx. Database, https://doi.org/xxxxx.

Book: Author Last, First. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

Website: Author Last, First. "Page Title." Website Name, Day Mon. Year, URL.

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Chicago 17th Edition — Full Rules

Notes-Bibliography (NB) System

Used in: History, Fine Arts, Literature, Humanities

First (full) note: ¹ First Last, *Title of Book* (City: Publisher, Year), page.

Subsequent (shortened) note: ² Last, *Shortened Title*, page.

Ibid.: Still permissible for immediately consecutive citations from the same source. Increasingly discouraged in favour of the shortened form. Never use Ibid. if another citation appears between the two references.

Bibliography entry (inverted name, period-separated): Last, First. *Title of Book*. City: Publisher, Year.

Author-Date (AD) System

Used in: Physical, natural, social sciences

In-text: (Last Year, page) → (Smith 2021, 45)

Reference list: Last, First. Year. *Title*. City: Publisher.

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IEEE — Full Rules

In-Text Citations

• Sequential numbers in square brackets: [1], [2], [3]
• Multiple: [1], [2] or [1]–[3] for consecutive
• Can function grammatically as nouns: "As shown in [4]..."
• Placed before terminal punctuation

Reference List Format (sequential, hanging indent)

Journal article: [1] A. A. Author and B. B. Author, "Title of article," *Abbreviated Journal Name*, vol. x, no. x, pp. xxx–xxx, Month Year, doi: xxxxx.

Conference paper: [2] A. Author, "Title," in *Proc. Conference Name*, City, Year, pp. xxx–xxx.

Book: [3] A. Author, *Title of Book*, xth ed. City: Publisher, Year.

Website: [4] A. Author. (Year, Month Day). *Title* [Online]. Available: URL

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Vancouver (ICMJE) — Full Rules

In-Text Citations

• Superscript numbers or (round brackets): Smith¹ or Smith(1)
• Number assigned in order of first appearance; same number reused if same source cited again

Reference List Format

Journal article: 1. Surname AB, Surname CD. Title of article. Abbreviated Journal Name. Year;Volume(Issue):pages.

• Author format: Surname then initials, no punctuation between (e.g., Smith AB, not Smith, A.B.)
• Journal titles abbreviated per NLM catalog (Index Medicus)
• Up to 6 authors listed; if 7+, list first 6 then "et al."

Book: 2. Last FM. Title of Book. Edition ed. City: Publisher; Year.

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Harvard Referencing

Harvard is NOT standardized — always check the specific institutional guide. Common shared features:

• In-text: (Author Year) or (Author Year, p. x)
• Reference list: Alphabetical, author-year prominent
• Punctuation, capitalization, and italicization rules vary by institution (Leeds Harvard, Anglia Ruskin, Cite Them Right, Open University)
• When in doubt, use the institution's own guide

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Common Citation Mistakes to Avoid

| Mistake | Correct Approach | |---|---| | Using 3+ authors in full in APA in-text | Use "et al." from first citation | | Including publisher city in APA 7th | Removed — do not include | | Formatting DOI as plain text | Format as active hyperlink | | Using "Ibid." in Chicago when another citation appears between | Use shortened form instead | | Quoting out of context to distort original meaning | Academic integrity violation | | Ignoring secondary sources | Use "as cited in" / "qtd. in" (MLA) | | Automated citation tool errors | Always verify DOI, page range, volume/issue |

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Citation Tools — Known Limitations

Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote, Cite This For Me, EasyBib are useful but commonly produce errors in:

• Capitalisation (APA requires sentence case for article titles)
• Missing DOIs or malformed DOI links
• Incorrect author formatting for institutional/corporate authors
• Handling of multiple containers (MLA)

Always manually verify automated citations against the official style guide.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: muhammad1438
• Source: muhammad1438/academic-writer-skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.