How the formats differ
The three major citation styles order the same facts differently. APA (American Psychological Association, 7th edition) puts the year right after the author and is standard in the social sciences. MLA (Modern Language Association, 9th edition) puts the year at the end and is standard in the humanities. Chicago (17th edition, bibliography style) resembles MLA but is common in history and publishing.
Book format rules used here
- APA 7th: Last, F. M. (Year). Title in sentence case and italics. Publisher.
- MLA 9th: Last, First. Title in Title Case and Italics. Publisher, Year.
- Chicago: Last, First. Title in Title Case and Italics. Publisher, Year.
Website format rules used here
- APA 7th: Last, F. M. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. https://url
- MLA 9th: Last, First. "Title of Page." Site Name, Day Month Year, URL.
- Chicago: Last, First. "Title of Page." Site Name. Month Day, Year. URL.
APA 7th no longer requires "Retrieved from" before URLs, and MLA 9th drops the http:// or https:// prefix. When there is no author, all three styles begin the citation with the title.
Worked example (book)
Author "Orwell, George", title "Nineteen Eighty-Four", year 1949, publisher "Secker and Warburg" becomes:
APA: Orwell, G. (1949). Nineteen eighty-four. Secker and Warburg.
MLA: Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Secker and Warburg, 1949.
Chicago: Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Secker and Warburg, 1949.
Limitations
Real citations have many edge cases: corporate authors, translators, editions, chapters in edited books, DOIs, and missing dates each have their own rules. This generator covers the common single-author book and basic webpage cases. For anything unusual, consult the official manual: the Publication Manual of the APA (7th ed.), the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), or the Chicago Manual of Style (17th ed.).