How to Generate Citations and Export a Bibliography with Citation Machine

Updated

Citation Machine (citationmachine.net) lets you generate citations in styles such as MLA, APA, Chicago, Turabian, and Harvard, then export a finished bibliography to Google Drive or Microsoft Word. The workflow has three parts: pick a citation style, enter or look up your source details by source type, and export the result. You can start a citation without signing in, but the site also offers sign-up and sign-in options, and it lists an "Upgrade" path for its writing and plagiarism tools.

Step 1: Choose your citation style

Open the citation generator and select the style your assignment requires. Citation Machine supports thousands of styles, and its guides and generators explicitly cover:

  • MLA — websites, books, journal articles, YouTube, images, movies, interviews, PDFs
  • APA — the same source types
  • Chicago — the same source types
  • Harvard and Turabian are also listed among supported styles

If you are unsure which to use, your instructor or publication usually specifies one. Pick it before entering source details, since the required fields and formatting change with the style.

Step 2: Enter your source by type

The site organizes input by source type, so the fields you fill depend on what you are citing. For each type, you either type the details manually or use the lookup option to pull information automatically.

Source type What you typically provide
Website Page title, site name, URL, author, publication or access date
Book Author, title, publisher, year, edition
Journal article Author, article title, journal name, volume, issue, pages, DOI or URL
YouTube Video title, channel, upload date, URL
Image Creator, title, host site, date, URL
Movie Title, director, studio, release year
Interview Interviewee, interviewer, date, format
PDF Author, title, publication details, URL

After you submit the details, Citation Machine generates both the in-text citation and the full reference entry in your chosen style.

Step 3: Build and export your bibliography

As you add sources, Citation Machine assembles them into a bibliography or works cited page. From there you can:

  • Export to Google Drive — send the finished list to your Drive
  • Export to Microsoft Word — download or insert it into a Word document

The site describes this as creating "the perfect bibliography or works cited page" and exporting it directly to either platform, so you do not have to copy and reformat entries by hand.

What else the site offers

Beyond citations, Citation Machine lists three related tools:

  • Writing Assistant — AI-powered writing suggestions and instant feedback
  • Plagiarism Checker — scans your paper against billions of sources and produces a report showing what percentage of your text is similar to other sources
  • Grammar and paraphrasing tools — catch spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, improve clarity and flow, and rephrase sentences

These are presented alongside the citation generator, and the site shows an "Upgrade" option, which suggests some features sit behind a paid tier. The available page information does not specify which tools are free versus paid, so check the upgrade page before relying on a specific feature.

Common issues to watch for

  • Wrong style selected — the same source formats differently in MLA versus APA. Confirm the style before you start.
  • Missing source details — automatic lookup does not always find everything. Verify author, date, and title fields, especially for websites and PDFs.
  • Export target — decide up front whether you need Google Drive or Word, since the export step is where your list leaves the site.
  • Free vs. paid features — citations are described as free, but the writing assistant and plagiarism checker may require an upgrade. Confirm before you build a workflow around them.

For step-by-step formatting help, the site's own guides cover MLA, APA, and Chicago in detail, including annotated bibliographies, works cited pages, and full or in-text citations.