Citation generators are tools that help students generate, organize, and store citations for research and writing purposes. Check out this Purdue OWL guide, Using Citation Generators Responsibly, to learn more about how citation generators work and how to prioritize accuracy and academic honesty while using them. In general, we recommend that you check any automatically-generated content against examples from credible sources (like OWL@Purdue and this guide!) in order to ensure that your citations are formatted correctly.
Below, we have included information about three popular citation generators: Zbib/Zotero, Google Docs, and Citation Machine.
General Info
Software download necessary? ✘
Formats offered: MLA (8th ed.), APA (7th ed.), Chicago (17th ed.), and 7,000+ other formats
Tips and Resources
> The popular Citation Machine generator tool on Purdue OWL allows the user to automatically generate a citation by inputting the URL of the source, but the full Citation Machine website offers more comprehensive tools for creating a bibliography.
General Info
Software download necessary? ✘ (Zbib) ✔ (Zotero)
Formats offered: MLA (8th ed.), APA (7th ed.), Chicago (17th ed.), and thousands of other styles available through the Zotero Style Repository.
Should you use Zbib or Zotero?
> In a nutshell, both Zotero and Zbib are free, open-source tools capable of generating citations. Zbib is better for creating quick bibliographies for short-term projects, while Zotero--which requires the user to download software and set up an account-- is better for storing larger numbers of citations for longer-term projects.
> If you are planning on continuing your studies at OSU in the future, you may want to consider downloading Zotero! OSU offers its students larger amounts of storage if they use their student accounts to sign up; it also has librarians on staff that have special expertise in using the software.
Tips and Resources
> Check out the right-hand panel of the page to see a quick Zbib tutorial!
General Info
Software download necessary? ✘
Formats offered: MLA (8th ed.), APA (7th ed.), Chicago Author-Date (17th ed.)