Free citation generator for APA, MLA, Chicago & Harvard
Free citation generator, no sign-up. Paste a URL, book, or paper for an instant APA, MLA, Chicago, or Harvard citation — and build a full bibliography.
Scholarly's free AI citation generator creates correctly formatted APA, MLA, Chicago, and Harvard citations from a website URL, book, or journal article in seconds. Pick a style, paste your source, and copy a single reference or build a full bibliography — no account or credit card needed.
Free to start · No credit card · APA, MLA, Chicago & Harvard
Create a Free Citation Instantly — No Sign-Up
Fill in the source information below to generate properly formatted citations.
Your source information is securely processed by Scholarly's AI.
From source to citation in seconds
Add a source, let the AI format it, then copy it or build a full bibliography you can export.
Step 1: Add Source
Enter a URL, book details, journal information, or any source you need to cite for your research.
Step 2: AI Formats
Our AI extracts source information and creates properly formatted citations following academic standards.
Step 3: Copy & Export
Copy citations to your clipboard or export your bibliography in multiple formats for your research paper.
Every major style, formatted correctly
Switch between the four styles your instructors actually ask for, with the punctuation and ordering rules handled for you.
APA Style
The standard for psychology, education, and the social sciences, with author–date in-text citations.
MLA Style
Common in the humanities and English courses, using author–page references and a Works Cited list.
Chicago Style
Used in history and the arts, supporting both notes-bibliography and author-date systems.
Harvard Style
A widely used author–date style across UK and international universities and many sciences.
Citations you can actually trust
Built for real research workflows, not just a single reference at a time.
Multiple source types
Cite websites, books, and journal articles, with the right fields for each kind of source.
Instant formatting
Get a correctly ordered, punctuated citation in seconds instead of cross-checking style guides.
Accurate by design
The AI follows current style rules so your in-text citations and reference list line up.
Build a bibliography
Add citation after citation to a running reference list as you research a paper.
Copy or export
Copy a single citation to your clipboard or download your whole bibliography as a file.
Free to use
Generate citations without an account, then sign up free to save your bibliographies.
Spend your time on the paper, not the punctuation
Citations are where careful work quietly leaks marks. A misplaced comma, the wrong order of author and date, or an inconsistent reference list can cost points even when the research is strong. An AI citation generator removes that friction so you can focus on the argument.
Scholarly reads the details of each source, whether it is a website, a book, or a journal article, and formats it to the style you choose. As you collect sources, it builds a clean bibliography you can copy or export straight into your document.
It is also a fast way to learn the conventions. Seeing your own sources formatted correctly in APA, MLA, Chicago, or Harvard makes the rules concrete, so referencing gets easier with every paper you write.
Frequently asked questions
Which citation styles does the generator support?
You can generate citations in APA, MLA, Chicago, and Harvard styles. Pick your style before generating and the formatting, ordering, and punctuation are handled for you.
What sources can I cite?
You can cite websites and online articles by URL, books by title and author, and journal articles with volume, issue, and page details. Each source type has the right fields built in.
Is this citation generator free?
Yes. You can generate citations for free with no account required. Sign up free to save your bibliographies, organize your research, and reach the rest of Scholarly's study tools.
Can I build a full bibliography?
Yes. Add each citation to a running reference list as you research, remove any you no longer need, and download the whole bibliography as a file when you are ready to paste it into your paper.
Is this a free citation generator with no sign-up?
Yes. You can use this free citation generator with no sign-up and no ads — generate APA, MLA, Chicago, or Harvard citations right on the page. Create a free account only when you want to save bibliographies and reuse them across your research.
How is an AI citation generator different from a manual one?
A manual citation generator just slots whatever you type into a template. Scholarly's AI citation generator reads the details of your source — a website URL, a book, or a journal article — works out the right fields, and applies the current APA, MLA, Chicago, or Harvard rules for ordering, capitalization, and punctuation, so the reference is consistent with the rest of your list.
How do I cite a website in APA?
Choose the Website/URL tab, paste the page's address, select APA Style, and click Generate. Scholarly reads the page's details — author, title, site name, and date — and returns an APA-formatted reference you can copy or add to your bibliography. The same steps work for MLA, Chicago, and Harvard: just switch the style before generating.
Can it cite PDFs and papers?
Yes. For a journal article or paper — including one you have as a PDF — use the Journal Article tab and enter the title, authors, journal name, volume, issue, pages, and year to get a correctly formatted citation. If the paper is published online, you can paste its URL on the Website/URL tab instead and let the AI pull the details.
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Perfect Your Research with Scholarly
Sign up for free to save your bibliographies, organize research, and access more academic tools.
Free
See what it does with one of your own sources.
- 3 AI Chat messages per day
- 1 free AI creation total
- 1 free file upload total (8MB)
- 5 quiz questions per day
- 1 exam attempt per day
- 15 voice minutes per day
- 32-page PDF to flashcards
- 500 autocomplete words per day
Use it to generate flashcards, improve a deck, or create a podcast, video lecture, slides, infographic, mind map, study guide, worksheet, spreadsheet, story book, timeline, SOP, flowchart, lesson plan, or outline — or run Deep Research or turn a recording into AI Meeting Notes.
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$30/month
Everything in Free, plus:
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- Export to Anki
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billed monthly · cancel anytime
Everything in Premium, plus:
- Any Frontier model — Claude Opus 5, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Grok 4.6
- 75 AI creations per week
- 20 Frontier creations per week
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- 12 hours of voice mode per day
- Priority support and early access to new Frontier models
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AI chat
Premium and Laureate include unlimited AI chat. Frontier Boost on makes Auto (Laureate) use Claude Opus 5; off uses GPT 5.6 Luna.
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Premium includes recommended access to Grok 4.6, Gemini 3.1 Pro, and Claude Sonnet 5. Laureate adds the remaining Frontier catalog plus 20 Frontier creations and 20 Frontier Chat responses each week; Auto uses Claude Opus 5 while boosts remain and GPT 5.6 Luna afterward.
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AI creations
AI creations are used for AI Flashcards, deck edits, AI Podcasts, AI Video Lectures, AI Slides, worksheets, AI Infographics, mind maps, study guides, spreadsheets, story books, timelines, SOPs, flowcharts, lesson plans, outlines, AI Meeting Notes, and Deep Research reports.
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Creation Frontier Boosts
Frontier Boost on makes Auto (Laureate) use Claude Opus 5; off uses GPT 5.6 Luna. Laureate includes 20 boosts within its 75 weekly creations. Flashcards never spend a boost.
- Free
- —
- Premium
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- Laureate
- 20/week · included
Video lectures
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- Uses AI creations
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- Included in 10/week
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- Included in 75/week
File uploads
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- 1 total (8MB)
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PDF to flashcards
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- 32 pages
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Practice questions
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- 5/day
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Practice exams
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- 1/day
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Voice mode
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- 15 min/day
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- 2 hr/day
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- 12 hr/day
Autocomplete
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- 500 words/day
- Premium
- Unlimited
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- Unlimited
Export to Anki
- Free
- —
- Premium
- Included
- Laureate
- Included
Support
- Free
- Standard
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- Priority
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- Priority
What customers say
Scholarly has enhanced the quality of notes and questions I administer to my tutees. Insightful, to the point.
TD Georgas
Tutor
I have very good experience with Scholarly it summarize me scientific text in hovel academic level with citation. I use this for any therapeutic area . It is great and useful tool.
Diana
Scholarly user
Scholarly has been a valuable tool for my studies. The AI-generated flashcards and intuitive features make organizing and retaining information much easier.
Briana
Scholarly user
This app is great for studying for big test. Drop your PDF's in the system and it'll do the trick. You can organize it specifically for your needs.
Kelvin
Scholarly user
Your questions, answered
Is Scholarly free to use?
Yes! The free plan includes core study tools with clear limits: 3 AI Chat messages per day, one free AI creation total, 1 free file upload total, quizzes, practice exams, and manual flashcard creation. Upgrade to Premium for 10 AI creations per week and unlimited uploads.
What uses my free AI creations?
Generating flashcards, improving a flashcard deck, making a podcast, creating a video lecture or infographic, building slides, a spreadsheet, or a story book, making a mind map, study guide, or worksheet, having an AI Agent create a timeline, SOP, flowchart, lesson plan, or outline, running Deep Research, or processing a recording uses your free AI creation. It is a lifetime free credit and does not reset. AI Chat messages, quizzes, and exams still have separate daily limits; free file uploads are also lifetime credits.
Can I cancel anytime?
Absolutely. There are no contracts or commitments. You can cancel your subscription at any time from your account settings, and you'll keep access until the end of your billing period.
What payment methods do you accept?
We accept all major credit and debit cards through Stripe. Pricing is displayed in USD by default, but local currency is available in the app.
Can I use Scholarly with a class or school?
Yes. For a school or organization-wide rollout, contact us at hello@scholarly.so and we'll help you find the right setup.
What happens when I hit a free plan limit?
You'll see a prompt to upgrade. Your existing work is never lost — limits only apply to new actions. Free AI creations and the free upload are lifetime credits and do not reset. Premium includes 10 AI creations per week and unlimited uploads.