We are all aware that one of the most difficult parts of a thesis, dissertation, and research paper is referencing. Students who try to put APA citations manually end up consuming a lot of time, tiredness, and confusion, with no fruitful results. So, to ease this process of creating a references list and doing in-text citations, there are various free citation-generating tools available that you can use in 2024.
Business Research Insights states that the market size of reference managing tools was worth $318.6 million in 2022. It is expected to grow at a 7.5% CAGR, reaching $660.53 million by 2031. This emerging trend and the statistics show the importance of these citation generator tools in students’ lives.
If you don’t put the right citations in your work, you may lose your marks or get a second chance to improve it overall. To save yourself from this worsening condition, you should use the right APA citation generator tool from the list provided below. In addition, students also often get dissertation help online from experts to manage their references and create a bibliography. Their expertise in this field will leave no stone unturned in making your work shine bright among others.
What is the APA Citation Format?
APA stands for American Psychological Association, is the form of citation format used to cite sources of information in a paper. It helps students and other readers to easily find and locate the sources of information used in academic work. The basic components of APA citation format include:
- Author’s name
- Publication date
- Title of the source
- Page number of the source
- Publisher or Journal information
Image Source: Mendeley
If you still don’t understand how, it works and are struggling to write a proper citation for your dissertation, we have a life-saving option for you. You can hire a native dissertation writer who has all the knowledge and expertise in this field. Students often seek support from these professionals to make sure their work is completely error-free and up to the highest standards.
However, if you are willing to learn it and want to do this task on your own, make your life easier by using the following citation-generating tools.
Top 8 APA Citation Generator Tools in 2024
Wondering where to get the right reference management tools that work best in 2024? Here is a list of some top APA citation-generating tools from which you can select according to your needs.
- Zotero
- Citation Machine
- Mendeley Cite
- EasyBib
- BibMe
- Citefast
- Scribbr
- Cite This for Me
1. Zotero: The Ultimate Research Management Assistant
Zotero is famous for managing your references but also does much more than that. It is basically a research tool that allows you to do thorough research and save pages with references side by side. You can use it either through its desktop app or the browser extension. It provides access to one-click APA citation generation and also supports adding and editing references at the same time.
Furthermore, it lets you make bibliographies, easily include citations in your writing, and arrange your research materials in an approachable fashion.
Specifications:
- It provides 10,000 citation styles to use
- You can also add notes and tags to your references
- It helps you to organise your references and create bibliographies
- In this open-source and free tool, you can directly add APA citations to Word or Docs.
- It is accessible on Linux, macOS, and Windows
- It supports various advanced functions, including note-taking, group collaboration, and tagging
Pros:
- Robust features for research management
- Smooth interaction with the writing program
- More functions for well-organised research
- Being free and open-source makes it available.
Cons:
- Beginners face difficulty in learning this tool.
- Installation of the program is necessary.
2. Citation Machine: Rich in Features for a Variety of Needs
For research students, it is one of the easiest and most flexible APA citation generator tools that comes with plenty of useful features. Using its free version, you can add multiple citations and create a reference list for your document. It supports numerous source types and even allows the creation or editing of citations manually. It also comes with a paid version to get access to more versatile features. However, using its free access, you have to watch an ad every 48 hours to continue your citation here.
Specifications:
- A free online tool with the ability to edit citations manually
- It provides access to more than 7,000 citation styles
- It can accommodate several kinds of sources like books, articles and more
- You can easily switch citation styles with one click
- Sort references alphabetically or by date
- Easily integrates with Microsoft Word and Google Docs
- It also offers a paid feature for plagiarism checks.
Pros:
- Extensive support for source types
- Editing and making corrections in APA citations by hand
- Works with well-known writing programs
- Checking for plagiarism (premium feature)
Cons:
- To access more features, you need to buy its paid plan
- Monthly limit of free citations
3. Mendeley Cite: Cloud-Based Reference Management
Working on a Word document and don’t want to leave it for referencing? You can achieve it through its reference tab by using an APA citation generator tool called Mendeley. It is also available in a desktop app where you can easily create your bibliographies by organising your research material here.
You can use its different variants like Word plug-in, web importer or more to do your research and store the information along with proper citations. It lets you manage your research materials on the cloud and offers an easy-to-use APA citation generator.
Specifications:
- You can use its different styles as it offers 8,000+ citation styles
- It provides access to manually edit citations.
- You can store and reach your research documents using its free version too
- It can easily integrate with widely used word-processing programs
- Storage of sources accessible on multiple devices.
- Highlighting and noting relevant sections from your sources.
- It allows you to collaborate with others on a project.
- It generates one-click citations and a bibliography.
Pros:
- Storing study materials on the cloud
- Can work with word processing software
- Easy-to-use citation creation in a variety of formats, including APA citation
Cons:
- Storage space is limited for a free plan
- Requires software installation
4. EasyBib: Student Collaboration and Educational Resources
EasyBib is another free option for effortlessly creating your citations. It is a feature-rich tool that does more than just produce APA citations. It provides collaborative capabilities for group work and instructional materials on writing and citation formats. It promotes online learning as well through the Chegg platform, which is why it looks similar to the Citation Machine tool. It is mostly used to generate MLA citations but also offers other citation styles.
Specifications:
- It has the ability to automatically or manually cite sources.
- It can cite more than 50 types of sources and includes 7000 citation styles.
- You can easily switch between citation styles if you need to.
- It saves all your APA citations in one place.
- Also provides access to plagiarism and grammar checker tools.
- You can also add annotations to your source materials.
- Allows you to sort references alphabetically or by date.
- It can also combine with Google Classroom to facilitate collaboration.
- You can store citations for future use.
Pros:
- Resources for education on writing and APA style
- Combines with Google Classroom
- Easy-to-use UI with both simple and sophisticated functionality (paid plans)
- Tools that promote cooperation on group projects
Cons:
- Certain functions are limited in the free version.
- Possibly needing to register for an account
5. BibMe: Easy to Use and Clear for Fast Citations
BibMe is a well-known online APA citation generator among students. It is famous for its convenient services and user-friendly interface. It comes with 2 options: the first one is to use it automatically by autofill mode, and the second is to use it manually. To get the benefit of its automatic citation creator mode, you just have to paste your keyword or source URL in it and see the magic of BibMe. It will automatically search for data from different platforms and generate a citation for you. To save your created citation to the Word, you need to make an account there.
Specifications:
- Free online platform to create citations
- It allows you to save, copy and paste citations easily.
- Create citations in MLA, APA, Chicago, and Turabian styles.
- You can add citations and a bibliography directly to your paper.
- It provides up to 20 suggestions for improving your essay, including style, punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure.
- It has the ability to cite up to 22 different source types automatically.
- It supports over 7,000 citation styles, including APA citations.
Pros:
- User-friendly interface and experience
- Basic functions are free to use; premium plans are available for additional features.
- Excellent for quickly producing simple APA citations for free
Cons:
- Fewer features than in several other tools
- Might not be able to handle complicated source types well
- Inadequate compatibility with writing programs and limited integration with word-processing software
6. Citefast: On-the-Go Citation Creation
Need a free APA citation generator on an urgent basis? Citefast is the best option to use, and it is famous for its easy and straightforward citation coverage. However, it supports only these styles: Chicago, APA, and MLA. Without requiring a lot of information input, it manages common source types and produces an APA citation that is properly formatted. To save your citations for more than four days, you need to create a free account for it.
Specifications:
- It can easily create, save and export your citations
- No need to create an account to use this free online tool
- Quickly find your sources for automatic citations.
- Cite 18 different types of source materials.
- It supports standard source kinds, such as webpages, books, and articles.
- Easy-to-use interface for rapid creation of citations
Pros:
- Easy-to-use interface for producing citations quickly and easily
- No need to create an account
- Basic features with no cost of use
Cons:
- Fewer features than in other tools
- Might not be able to handle complicated source types well
- Absence of sophisticated customising choices
7. Scribbr: Industry-Leading Technology for Trustworthy References
In our list of the best APA citation generator tools, Scribbr is a valuable addition useful to create citations and bibliography. It is such a perfect tool for citation generation that automatically adds all the information as your reference. For this, you just need to put the title of the source or the URL, ISBN, or DOI to get access to the source of information. It supports a number of sources used for research, such as articles, journals, webpages, reports, news, theses, TV, social media, and more.
Specifications:
- It offers both options: automatic citation creation and manual citations
- It is a free online resource but has a monthly cap on citations
- It has a strong search engine capability to locate information from different sources
- It also supports the recent editions of APA citation, the sixth and seventh
- It also provides citation style guidelines and examples
Pros:
- Powerful search tools for locating original content
- Supports the sixth and seventh editions of APA
- Options for exporting in several formats
- Provides examples and guidelines for citing styles.
Cons:
- Monthly free citations are limited; you need to pay for a paid plan to get unrestricted access.
- For complete functionality, an account creation may be necessary.
8. Cite This for Me: Smarter Citation Generating Resource
Students have been using this APA citation generator tool for many years, and it has a speciality in APA styles. Like many other tools, Chegg designed this easy-to-use reference management tool that mainly works in APA, MLA, and Chicago styles. If you are in a hurry to create an instant citation, you should try it by putting your source title or URL into it. It has the ability to auto-cite your source of information and help you manage your heavy academic workload.
Specifications:
- It is a free online tool to create citations
- You can create and edit citations automatically and manually, too
- Accommodates several kinds of sources
- A user-friendly interface with clear instructions
- It comes with limited word-processing software integrations
Pros:
- Easy-to-use interface for quickly creating standard APA citations
- Basic features with no cost of use
- Automatic citation creation
- It works with a few authoring programs
Cons:
- It has limited functions as compared to many other APA citation generators
- It cannot handle more complicated source types
- There is a monthly limit of free citations
How to Cite the APA Reference Format?
Well, there are two parts of a reference, and for both, you need to follow the guidelines provided. According to the latest 7th edition style guide of APA citation format, students should completely describe the source of information used. The following is its breakdown into two essential parts:
- In-text Citation:
Inside the text, you just have to write two main things: the last name of the author and the date of publication of that particular source.
For example, David, 2002
- Reference List:
It comes at the end containing all the information on the source used, including the name of the author, publication year, title of the source used, book or journal, and publisher.
APA format example: David, G. (2002). Organic Chemistry. Oxford University Press.
Conclusion
During any kind of research work, students have to put a lot of information into their documents from various credible sources, along with their proper citations. Generating these in-text citations and their reference list is the most critical, tedious and time-consuming task for students. That’s the reason they look for some APA citation generator tools that they can use to ease their burden. Among a variety of options available, we choose some top brand names famous for creating free citations for students. Follow the above guide to select the right tool according to your work demands.
Woking on references and citations demands you to follow proper rules and regulations. However, if you don’t have enough knowledge about it and you are also short on time, you should seek dissertation writing services from a reliable source. Their professionals are so skilled in writing your work excellently and with proper APA citations within the shortest deadline possible.
