Citations are an ideal way to inform your readers that some part of your content is from another source. When you cite sources you use in your work, it shows your readers that you’ve done proper research to produce quality content for them and make sure that you aren’t plagiarizing content.
Moreover, you leave no question regarding your point in your readers’ minds. Another significant advantage of using citations in your articles or research work is, it helps you avoid plagiarism. There are plenty of other benefits of referring to resources you draw in your work.
So, if you want your article, research paper, or general content to look more credible, consider putting citations in your writings. Fortunately, there are several citation tools available in the market that help you generate citations effortlessly. Since it does not make sense to try all the citation tools available online, we have put together the ten best citation tools that have been widely used by teachers, students, and researchers.
So without any further delay, let’s get to know about them.
1. Zotero
Zotero is one of the popular citation tools that enables you to collect all your research in a single interface. It allows you to add PDFs, screenshots of web pages, audio, and video files within your work. With this tool, you don’t need to index your content manually. It automatically indexes the entire content of your library so that you can find exactly what you’re looking for within just a few mouse clicks.
You can install the Zotero plugin in your browser and store all your digital sources virtually. The good thing is Zotero is free to use; you won’t need to pay subscription charges.
2. BibMe
If you’re in search of a tool that can help you build a professional bibliography, BibMe is the one you need. The tool has all the features a content creator requires. No matter whether you need to use Modern Language Association (MLA), Chicago, or Turabian style, you can cite your work effortlessly.
Besides this, the BibMe tool also helps you check for plagiarism against different sources on the World Wide Web. It helps you ensure that you’re not using someone else’s content.
3. Citation Machine
Citation Machine has become the favorite citation tool for a lot of students around the world. And why not? It’s easy to use and includes all of the styles students need.
Even if you want to cite films, the tool won’t disappoint you. It comes with both free and paid version. With the free version, you can cite 57 different types of resources that include manuscripts, podcasts, and films for absolutely free. Moreover, it allows you to add your bibliography and citations straight into your paper.
Citation Machine lets you create citations in MLA, APA, Chicago, and many other prominent styles. It also supports an auto-fill tool that helps you search for the resource by simply typing the title.
4. EasyBib
EasyBib is another popular citation tool for students to search for sources by title, author, or URL. The tool lets you cite more than 50 types of resources, including blogs, digital images, court ruling, and more.
However, it allows you to cite using the MLA style only. In case you want to create a citation using APA, Chicago, or any other style, you will need to upgrade to the premium version, which will cost you $9.95 per month. after the free trial.
5. OttoBib
Started as a hobby project by Jonathan Otto in 2006, OttoBib has become one of the popular tools for generating an alphabetized bibliography of books. If you’re looking for a free bibliography and citation tool which is designed specifically for book sources, you can use OttoBib.
It allows students and eLearning content creators to reference their content by providing the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) of the book they have taken information from.
The tool supports six different citation styles that include MLA, Turabian, APA, Chicago, and Wikipedia. You can add this tool to your Chrome browser as an extension and create citations comfortably.
6. Sylan Paper
This easy-to-use academic research provides an organizational framework for writing papers. It captures and highlights pictures, webpages, PDFs for research in Chicago, MLA, and APA format. It comes equipped with everything needed by the teachers and students, including rubrics, citation tools, Britannica, and bibliography.
Also, it allows completing editing access to add or create one’s own resources and tools. You can get free as well as premium plans. Compared to other citation tools, it is 80% cheaper, which makes it a more affordable and efficient solution.
7. Cite Fast
CiteFast is one of the efficient and simple ways to cite sources in MLA, Chicago, and APA styles. You just need to create an account to see your sources even after four days. CiteFast is completely free and allows you to search for sources by ISBN, Title, or author. Also, it allows you to copy and paste your citations and export without any hassle.
8. Cite This For Me
Cite This For Me tool is designed to help you make citations and bibliographies in formats like MLA, APA, Harvard, and more. Like other tools, it has a paid and free version. With its free version, you can create citations for around 30 types of resources. You export your bibliography and share it with others. This free version also allows you to search for sources by ISBN, title, and author. However, if you want to check your work for plagiarism and want to create multiple bibliographies simultaneously, you will need to upgrade to its premium version.
9. Docear
Docear is an open-source citation and bibliography tool that supports a wide range of features that can help content developers cite their work effectively. Its user-friendly interface lets you manage your documents and place annotations without making any extra effort. The tool works perfectly with Windows, Linux, and Mac operating systems. Since it is an open-source tool, you can use it without paying for any subscription charges.
10. Paperpile
Paperpile is an extension for the Chrome browser that helps users search and refer to books. You can add citations directly to your paper and search for sources by title, ISBN, and author. The tool also helps you with improving your grammar, writing style, sentence structure, and punctuation. It can give you up to 20 suggestions for grammar-related issues.
So, these are the ten best citation tools that students, teachers, and researchers can use to keep their work organized and format their bibliography and references correctly.
