Referencing generator that actually matches your handbook
Harvard, APA 7th, OSCOLA, Vancouver, IEEE and MLA. Paste a DOI or ISBN and it fills itself in. Nothing is stored and nothing is sent to us.
1. Pick your style
2. What are you citing?
Fills the fields automatically. Free, and nothing is sent to us.
3. Authors
4. Details
Your reference
In-text citation
Departments publish their own variants of every style. If your module handbook differs from this, the handbook is what your marker checks against.
The short answer
This free referencing generator formats citations in Harvard, APA 7th, OSCOLA, Vancouver, IEEE and MLA for journal articles, books, book chapters and websites. Pasting a DOI or ISBN autofills the details using CrossRef and OpenLibrary. It requires no account, has no usage limit, and runs entirely in the browser, so nothing typed into it is stored or transmitted. Where a university publishes its own variant of a style, the module handbook takes precedence.
Six styles, and what each one is for
Harvard
Author-date. The author surname and year go in the text, and the reference list is alphabetical by surname. The most common style in UK and Australian business, health and social science.
APA 7th
Author-date, with tighter formatting rules than Harvard. Standard across psychology, nursing, education and most North American programmes. Marked hard on formatting as well as content.
OSCOLA
Footnote-based, used across UK law. No in-text brackets at all. Marked strictly on punctuation, italicisation and pinpoint accuracy.
Vancouver
Numeric. Sources are numbered in the order they first appear and the reference list follows that order rather than alphabetical. Standard in medicine and many health sciences.
IEEE
Numeric, in square brackets, used across engineering and computer science. Numbers are assigned in order of first appearance.
MLA 9th
Author-page, used across humanities and many North American media programmes. The reference list is called Works Cited.
Four things that lose referencing marks
Using the generic style instead of your university variant
Most institutions publish their own guide. Markers check against that one.
Missing page numbers on direct quotes
Any quoted text needs one. Paraphrase usually does not.
Citing a secondary source as if you read the original
If you read Bell quoting Marks, cite it as "cited in". This is an integrity flag, not just a format error.
A reference list that does not match the citations
Every in-text citation needs an entry, and every entry needs a citation. Mismatches are the easiest thing for a marker to spot.
We have written up the exact referencing style and late submission policy for 38 universities.
About the generator
Is this really free?
Yes, with no account, no limit and no watermark. It runs entirely in your browser, so there is nothing for us to meter. We built it because students searching for referencing help are exactly the people we want to be useful to.
What does pasting a DOI or ISBN do?
It fills in the author, title, journal, year, volume and pages automatically. DOIs are looked up through CrossRef, the official DOI agency, and ISBNs through OpenLibrary. Both are free public services and the lookup happens from your browser, so nothing is sent to us.
Which style should I use?
Whichever your module handbook specifies. Harvard is most common in UK and Australian business and social science, APA 7th in psychology, nursing and North America generally, OSCOLA in UK law, Vancouver in medicine, IEEE in engineering and computing, MLA in humanities.
Will this match my university exactly?
Usually, but not always. Most universities publish their own variant of the standard style, and departments sometimes differ from each other within one institution. Where your handbook disagrees with this tool, follow the handbook, because that is what your marker checks against.
Do you store what I type?
No. There is no account, no database and no server involved. Everything stays in your browser and disappears when you close the tab.
Referencing sorted. Still stuck on the assignment?
Send us the brief and you will have a fixed price and an expert, usually within the hour. Nothing is charged until the work is with you.
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