Introducing the APA Citation Machine – a Free Online References Formatting Tool
Citations form a vital part of any research paper or other academic documents. They provide an efficient way of directing the reader to further reading or clarification of concepts, help establish credibility, and – extremely importantly – guard against plagiarism charges by giving full credit to the sources used in putting the paper together. However, compiling a proper bibliography or references section can be time-consuming and complex – and this is where our Citation Machine tool comes into its own.
What Our References Generator Tool Does for You
Our easy-to-use software takes a list of the references you wish to create and puts them together in a format which complies with the APA (American Psychological Association) citation guidelines. This ensures that not only are your references written in the correct structure but that they include all the relevant data to complete a full and proper citation that will pass academic scrutiny.
The APA rules for citations are very specific, and when you’re working on a complicated paper the last thing you need is to keep referring to a handbook to ensure you’ve got the format right. Our bibliography generator tool does all the heavy lifting for you in this area, so all you need is a list of the citations you wish to include and a few minutes to enter the appropriate details.
More information is given further below on why using correct APA citation is so important, but if you want to dive straight into using the tool, then read on to find out how.
How Our APA-Style Citation Machine Works
Using the Cite Machine is simplicity itself. Before beginning, make sure you have your list of desired references ready to hand. Then, each individual source needs to be entered individually using the clearly laid out online form.
For each citation, first, choose whether your reference is to an online or offline source. This is important, as in general for an offline source you’ll need to provide a page number and publisher details, while for an online document a URL (web address) or DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is usually more appropriate.
Next, choose the publication type of the source document you wish to reference. The tool is equipped with templates for many different sorts of citation sources and will ensure that all the necessary information for each type is entered so that a fully APA compliant citation can be generated for you.
You can choose from among the following source types:
- Book or Electronic Book
- Newspaper, Journal or Magazine, whether online or offline
- Encyclopedia Entry
- A Dissertation or Thesis
- Published Company Report
- Several other common and standard reference sources.
Whichever source type you choose, the tool is intelligent enough to know which details are required for proper citation formatting, and won’t let you proceed until they’ve been entered. While you’re filling in the form, you can see a quick preview of how your citation will look, instantly updated on-screen as you type.
When you’re happy with each individual reference, click to add it to the master bibliography list, and you can move on to the next entry. As before, you can see an on-screen preview of the whole bibliography, along with the option to go back and edit or delete any previously entered information or copy an individual entry to the clipboard for use in other programs.
Once all the data has been entered for every citation, click on ‘save list as file’ to download the completed, pre-formatted bibliography section to append to your paper, ready for review, marking, or publication.
Top 6 Benefits of Using Our APA Reference Generator
BENEFIT 1. It creates results in standard MS Word format, ready to download for direct addition to your project, or for easy further editing if required. Alternatively, copy and paste the plain text direct into any other program.
BENEFIT 2. An improperly constructed references section looks unprofessional. Our tool is built against the APA manual and ensures that all the appropriate information is included in your references section so that your research paper has complete credibility.
BENEFIT 3. You can be sure that your citations are in the correct format to be read by machines, which is of huge importance if you want your work to be properly indexed by online databases and search engines.
BENEFIT 4. Our references generator takes the work out of determining what’s required for each type of citation source and simplifies the whole process of drawing up your own APA references citation section.
BENEFIT 5. We provide a wide range of templates to make the appropriate APA citation for most types of sources, both offline and online.
BENEFIT 6. Using our Citation Machine tool is free!
Why Using the APA Citation System is Important
1. A standard format for references provides consistency, along with ease of use and interpretation between different authors and publications.
2. Correct citations give clear credit for use of prior publications, which allows you to use others’ work in your research without risking plagiarism.
3. Clear and accurate citations are an easy way to provide pointers to further reading, or explanations of concepts that are outside the scope of your paper.
4. Properly formatted citations help to establish credibility and authority for research.
5. Bibliographies in a standard format such as APA make it possible for computers to index and process links between papers, which benefits researchers in all fields.
Our Citation Machine Helps Your Research Paper Reach its Potential
Composing a complicated research paper is time-consuming and stressful enough without worrying whether you’ve followed the correct set of citation guidelines, or if you’ve adopted the correct format for each individual source. Our APA guidelines-compatible citation tool takes care of the onerous technical aspects of getting your bibliography section right, leaving you free to focus on ensuring your paper reaches the standards you wish to achieve.
We have created this tool because we believe that research and writing can be an easy process. Whatever project you are working on, be assured you have a reliable tool to work with – the free APA citation machine by PrivateWriting.com!