Bibliography generator and citation maker
Turn your sources into ready-to-paste footnotes and a formatted bibliography — APA 7, MLA, Chicago or a numbered footnote style. Built from real metadata, never guessed. Export to Word, PDF, LaTeX, BibTeX or RIS.
Free plan: 3 full sources per project, no card required.
How the engine finds your sources
Under the hood, cytado runs a research pipeline most tools skip entirely — here's what happens between typing your topic and getting a footnote with a working link.
- 1.
You type a topic
Optionally paste your outline, so sources get matched to every chapter, not just the topic as a whole.
- 2.
We search real academic databases
Dozens of scholarly sources and the open web, checked in parallel, in your language and in English.
- 3.
We download the actual PDF
Not just the metadata — the full document, so we can read what's really printed on the page.
- 4.
We read the page, score it, link it
The printed page number comes straight from the document; then a quality score and a link to the original are attached before it ever reaches your bibliography.
Every style your faculty asks for
Footnotes and the bibliography, formatted to the standard — switch style with one click and everything reformats itself.
- Numbered footnote style
- APA 7
- MLA 9
- Chicago (notes & bibliography)
- Harvard
- BibTeX / RIS for reference managers
A complete citation, not just a link
Authors, title, journal, volume and issue, and the printed page — recognized per source type (journal, book, report, thesis) and formatted to the norm.
A real, clickable source behind every entry
Every item in your bibliography is a document we actually downloaded and read — not a name that merely sounds plausible. Open the link, check the page, see for yourself.
A link you can open right now
Every source carries a link to the original — a DOI or a direct address. More than half the corpus is open access, so that link opens the full text, free — nothing you'll have to hunt for elsewhere.
A page number read from the document
Not estimated, not guessed from the citation — extracted from the printed page itself, even unusual formats like “p. E138”.
Nothing invented
If cytado can't find a real source that backs a claim, you get nothing back — never an invented citation dressed up as a real one.
Recognized source type
Journal article, book, report or thesis — each formatted to the citation standard automatically.
Export straight into your document
Tick the sources you want and the bibliography sorts and formats itself. Download to Word, PDF, LaTeX, BibTeX or RIS and paste it in.
How it works
- 1.
Add your sources
Find them with cytado or paste your own list.
Social media’s effect on youth - 2.
Pick a style
APA, MLA, Chicago or a footnote style — change it anytime.
…and adolescent self-esteem★ 8.2Digital media & youth…★ 7.5 - 3.
Copy & export
Ready footnotes with page numbers and a formatted bibliography to download.
M. Iwanowska, Związki…, 2023, p. 47.
Copy footnote
Frequently asked questions
Which citation styles are supported?+
APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago and a numbered footnote style, plus BibTeX and RIS for reference managers. Switching style reformats both the footnotes and the bibliography.
Can I export to Word and LaTeX?+
Yes — Word (.docx), PDF, LaTeX, BibTeX and RIS. The list comes sorted and formatted, ready to paste.
Are the citations built from real sources?+
Yes. Every entry is built from real metadata — authors, title, journal, printed page — with a link to the original. Nothing is invented.
Which style does your field use?
A quick guide — your department always has the final say, but this is the usual match.
- Humanities, historyChicago / footnote style
- Psychology, social sciencesAPA 7
- Literature, languagesMLA 9
- LawFootnote style
- Sciences, engineeringNumbered / IEEE-style
- Economics, managementHarvard or APA
cytado vs. doing it by hand
| cytado | Word | Zotero / Mendeley | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real printed page numbers | |||
| Ready-to-paste footnotes | partly | partly | |
| Switch style in one click | |||
| Finds the sources for you | |||
| Export Word / LaTeX / BibTeX | partly | ||
| No setup or plugins |