Student Resources APA Style and Writing 7 APA Citation Tools for Tracking Your References By Kendra Cherry Kendra Cherry Facebook Twitter Kendra Cherry, MS, is the author of the "Everything Psychology Book (2nd Edition)" and has written thousands of articles on diverse psychology topics. Kendra holds a Master of Science degree in education from Boise State University with a primary research interest in educational psychology and a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Idaho State University with additional coursework in substance use and case management. Learn about our editorial process Updated on March 18, 2022 Fact checked Verywell Mind content is rigorously reviewed by a team of qualified and experienced fact checkers. Fact checkers review articles for factual accuracy, relevance, and timeliness. We rely on the most current and reputable sources, which are cited in the text and listed at the bottom of each article. Content is fact checked after it has been edited and before publication. Learn more. by Emily Swaim Fact checked by Emily Swaim LinkedIn Emily is a board-certified science editor who has worked with top digital publishing brands like Voices for Biodiversity, Study.com, GoodTherapy, Vox, and Verywell. Learn about our editorial process Print Knowing how to use APA citations is important when you are writing psychology papers. APA format is the official publication style of the American Psychological Association (APA). You'll need to know how to format your citations correctly when writing both student psychology papers and professional psychology papers. If you need a little extra help with your APA citations, you can use an APA citation tool. These tools offer a quick, automated way to get your references ready in APA format. However, it is still important that you have a solid understanding of how to cite sources in APA style. You'll still need to check each reference carefully to make sure it's accurate. Please note that some of these APA citation tools may still be in the process of updating to the latest guidelines found in the seventh edition of the APA publication manual. This is another reason why it's important to check any citation generated by a tool to be sure it's right for your paper. 1 KnightCite Hero Images / Getty Images KnightCite is an APA citation maker from the Hekman Library at Calvin University. You can use it to create a basic citation for a book in APA format. It can be a helpful resource for creating APA citations for psychology papers. Before you begin, be sure to select APA from the "Citation Styles" menu on the left. Then complete the required fields and hit submit to receive your APA citation. When using an APA citation tool, it is always a good idea to double-check the formatting of the finished citation using the official APA publication manual. 2 Zotero Zotero is a useful open source web browser add-on that can be used for a variety of research purposes, including creating APA-style citations. Zotero is very helpful for helping keep track of your research and sources. You can use it to organize your references, cite your sources, and share what you have found. When writing a psychology paper, it is essential to cite all of your sources. If you mention any research in your paper, the source of that information should be included on your reference page. However, do not include sources on your reference page that are not cited within the body of your paper. 3 APA Citation Wizards APA Citation Wizards is a handy tool that offers a quick and easy way to create references for web pages, online books, and online journal articles. Make sure to double-check that the current edition of the publication manual is being used for all citation types. The most recent version is the seventh edition of the "Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association," which was published in 2019. However, some colleges and universities may still use the sixth edition of the manual. Check with your instructor for specific guidance on which version you should be using for your psychology papers. 4 Citation Machine The Citation Machine is a tool that allows students to create references in a variety of formats, including APA. Start by selecting the type of source you want to cite. You can fill in the information manually, or you can search for the source by name or URL. If the tool finds the source, it can gather all of the relevant information automatically. You can then select APA 7 from the menu for citation styles. 5 Cite This! CiteThis! is a Firefox add-on that can create citations for online sources in APA, MLA and AMA formats. Always check your finished reference to ensure it is in correct APA 7 format. 6 Bibme Citation Creator Bibme is another citation tool that automatically generates and auto-fills citations for your works cited pages. Bibme website also offers some useful advice on why it is so important to accurately cite other sources. Establishing your sources will strengthen your paper. The site allows you to either search for sources or add them on their own. You can also save your bibliography and add to it as you do more research. You can then easily download your references in APA format, or save them in MLA, Chicago, or Turabian formats instead. 7 Mick Schroeder's Citation Generator Mick Schroeder's Citation Generator offers a free, open-source tool that automatically suggests citations for a variety of publication formats, including APA style. When using the tool, be sure to first select "American Psychological Association 7th edition" from the drop-down menu. This tool is helpful because you can generate citations by entering a URL, PubMed ID, DOI number, ISBN number, or article title. In some instances, you may need to change article titles to title case. In APA format, the words in an article title should be capitalized in the same way that you would capitalize the words in a book title. A Word From Verywell When writing psychology papers, it is important to cite all of your sources accurately. This allows others who read your paper to understand where your information comes from and helps other researchers learn more about the topic you are discussing. Using a citation maker can be very helpful as you prepare your APA format sources, but they are no substitute for a solid understanding of the basics of APA style. These tools are often best used as a quick way to create references that you can then double-check before you complete your assignment. 3 Sources Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. American Psychological Association. About APA Style. American Psychological Association. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). Masic I. The importance of proper citation of references in biomedical articles. Acta Inform Med. 2013;21(3):148-55. doi:10.5455/aim.2013.21.148-155 By Kendra Cherry Kendra Cherry, MS, is the author of the "Everything Psychology Book (2nd Edition)" and has written thousands of articles on diverse psychology topics. Kendra holds a Master of Science degree in education from Boise State University with a primary research interest in educational psychology and a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Idaho State University with additional coursework in substance use and case management. See Our Editorial Process Meet Our Review Board Share Feedback Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! What is your feedback? Other Helpful Report an Error Submit