Citing Sources: Quick Citation Generators

An overview of tips, tools, and resources for all your citation needs

Quick citation generators are useful for creating larger, one-time bibliographies, and many support a wide range of citation styles and resource types. They are especially useful for information not found in UW Libraries Search or other databases (such as articles or resources found online). Easy to use and without any strong learning curves, these tools free you from the task of alphabetizing citations or formatting hanging indents so you can dedicate more time and energy to your research.

We evaluated over 20 citation generators to recommend our top 3: ZoteroBib, BibGuru, and BibCitation! Use the chart below to determine which one best suits your own needs.

Text-based Chart:

	ZoteroBib	BibGuru	BibCitation
Adding Entries	Search for title, ISBN, DOI, etc., paste URL, or enter manually	Search for title, ISBN, DOI, etc., paste URL, or enter manually	Search for title, ISBN, DOI, etc., paste URL, or enter manually
Citation Styles	APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and thousands more	APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and thousands more	APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and thousands more
Resources to Cite	Books, articles, web pages, and 31 more	Books, articles, web pages, and 91 more	Books, articles, web pages, and 27 more
Storage	Hard drive and cloud	Projects saved to online account	Projects saved to online account
Extensions and Add-ons	Web-based only	Chrome Extension	Chrome Extension and Google Doc Add-on
Interface Language	English	English, German, Spanish, and Portuguese	English
Accounts, Personal Information, and Privacy	No account registration required	No account registration required (unless saving project — registration through Google, Facebook, or Clever only)	No account registration required (unless saving project — up to 6 citation lists)
Ownership	Nonprofit, open-source	Commercial	Commercial

Citation Generators

ZoteroBib
Build a bibliography instantly from any computer or device, without creating an account or installing any software. Supports 9,000+ citation styles. From the team behind Zotero.

BibGuru
Citation builder offering an accessible user experience; supports countless citation style & source types, and multiple interface languages.

BibCitation
Convenient citation generator with option for Chrome Extension and Google Doc Add-on.