Verified metadata from Crossref & OpenLibrary — we never fabricate sources.
Not sure what to paste? See how to cite a website, book, or journal article.
Example · ASA 7th Edition
Tian, Jiaqiang, Yujie Wang, and Zonghai Chen. 2021. "An Improved Single Particle Model for Lithium-Ion Batteries Based on Main Stress Factor Compensation." Journal of Cleaner Production 278:123456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123456
In-text: (Tian et al. 2021)
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How ASA citations work
ASA style, from the American Sociological Association, is used in sociology and related social sciences. The current version is the ASA Style Guide, 7th edition (2022).
- Author–date in-text citations with no comma before the year: (Tian et al. 2021). A page number follows a colon with no space: (Tian et al. 2021:45).
- The list is titled References and sorted alphabetically. The first author is inverted, co-authors are written first name first, and full first names are used.
- The year comes right after the authors, followed by the article title in quotation marks.
- Journal entries end with volume and pages joined by a colon with no space, such as 278:123456.
Instant DOI to Citation
Don't waste time typing. Just paste the DOI, ISBN, or URL, and our system will fetch the exact metadata to build a flawless reference.
In-Text Citation Generator
Every reference you create comes with a perfectly formatted in-text citation, ready to be copied and pasted directly into your academic paper.
Batch Citation Style Converter
Have a messy list of sources? Paste your entire bibliography and let our AI automatically correct punctuation, italicize journal names, and format your references in seconds. Every entry is checked against Crossref, and anything we can't confirm is clearly flagged, not silently guessed.
Frequently asked questions
Still stuck? See how to cite a website, a book, or a journal article, or write to support@makecitation.org.
Is ASA the same as Chicago Author-Date?
ASA is based on Chicago, so the two are close. The visible differences are small: ASA puts page numbers after a colon with no space, and a few punctuation details in the reference list differ.
How is an ASA reference list ordered?
Alphabetically by the first author's surname, with a hanging indent. Several works by the same author are listed by year, earliest first.
Can I generate a citation directly from a DOI or ISBN?
Yes. Paste a DOI or ISBN and MakeCitation fetches the metadata automatically from Crossref and OpenLibrary, so you don't have to type out authors, titles, or publication details by hand.
Does this tool make up sources like some AI chatbots do?
No. For single-source lookups, every detail comes from verified academic databases, never from the AI's memory. The AI only handles formatting — it never invents authors, dates, or DOIs.
Can I convert a whole reference list to a different citation style?
Yes. Paste your existing list into the batch tool, choose a new style, and MakeCitation normalizes every entry — punctuation, italics, and order — to match it.
Can I remove duplicate references and sort my bibliography alphabetically?
Yes. Batch formatting can remove duplicate entries and sort your list alphabetically by author with one click, for the styles where alphabetical order applies.
Can I export my citations to Word with correct formatting?
Premium accounts can download a .docx file with hanging indents and italics already applied, ready to drop into your paper.
Is there a citation generator for legal (OSCOLA) or medical (Vancouver, CSE) sources?
Yes. Alongside APA, MLA, Chicago, and IEEE, MakeCitation supports Harvard, Vancouver, OSCOLA, ASA, Turabian, and CSE — covering law, medicine, and the social sciences.
What happens if a source's metadata is missing or incomplete?
MakeCitation only fills in details it can verify from Crossref or OpenLibrary. If a field like the publication date is missing from the source itself, we won't guess — you'll be prompted to add it manually, so your citation stays accurate.