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Citation Generators

Citation generators allow you to manually enter your source's bibliographic information (such as title and author for a journal article, web page, or book) in order to produce a citation in your selected format. These are best for when your research only involves a small number of resources.

Note: Check the citations generated through these tools, as they can make errors or are not up to date on current standards. Citation style guides are available here.

Some library databases have built-in citation generators that allow you to click on a "Cite" button to get a citation for that article or book.

Citation Managers

Developing a system for managing and organizing your citations can make your research much easier. For extensive research assignments, tools like citation management software help to keep your citations organized and orderly.

Citation management software programs allow you to download citations from various websites and databases. They also help you electronically store and organize the citations and insert them into your paper.

Note: Always check the citations generated by an online tool, since they can have small errors. Be sure the citation follows the citation style you are using. Citation Style Guides are available here.

Note that many databases also allow you to gather sources in a folder that you can access while searching the database. EBSCO databases, for example, have this function. Keep in mind, though, that you will still need a way to organize your sources when you are no longer accessing the database.

Other citation management questions? Ask Us!