# Citation Generators by Style

Compare one reference across APA, MLA, Chicago, IEEE, Harvard, Vancouver, AMA, and ACS before choosing a style.

The same source can look remarkably different across disciplines. Citation Generators by Style places eight formatted versions side by side, making punctuation, author treatment, title casing, and in-text form easy to compare.

## Use it when

- you are choosing a style for a report or early draft;
- a reference looks wrong after changing styles and you want to see why;
- you teach or learn citation conventions;
- you need to copy one record in several house styles.

Do not choose a style by appearance alone. A journal, department, or conference may require a specific style or a modified version of one.

## Compare a reference

1. Open **Citation Generators by Style**, or run `/citation-styles`.
2. Paste one complete BibTeX entry.
3. Review the cards for APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 17 author-date, IEEE, Harvard Cite Them Right, Vancouver/NLM, AMA 11, and ACS.
4. Compare the bibliography and in-text form on each card.
5. Copy the version you need or save the original BibTeX.

A journal article with four authors, a DOI, volume, issue, and pages is a useful test: author truncation, year placement, journal emphasis, and numbering become visible immediately.

## What the comparison does not decide

The tool formats the metadata you provide. It does not identify a venue's required style, repair a missing field, or know a publisher's local exceptions. Validation messages help with malformed or incomplete BibTeX, but factual checks remain yours.

Formatting runs on your device. For several records at once, use [Bibliography Generator](/docs/tools/bibliography-generator/). For one source that begins as an identifier or title, use [Citation Generator](/docs/tools/citation-generator/) first.