Citation & bibliography generator

Paste a DOI, a plain reference (title, author, year), a single BibTeX/RIS entry — or a whole BibTeX/RIS file to format your entire bibliography at once. Everything comes back in every major style; single references are verified against CrossRef and OpenAlex and checked for retractions. Free to use.

1 free · sign in for unlimited · articles via CrossRef, books via Open Library

Format a whole bibliography at once

Exported a .bib or .ris from Zotero, Mendeley, or EndNote? Paste the whole file and Folio formats every entry into a clean, alphabetized reference list — switch the style for all of them at once, then copy the list straight under your References heading. No re-keying, no per-reference clicking.

More than a formatter

Most citation generators just format text. This one verifies the reference exists — articles in CrossRef and OpenAlex, books in Open Library — and checks it for retractions, because a citation that points to a retracted paper is worse than no citation at all.

Supported styles

APA 7 · MLA 9 · Chicago 17 (author–date and notes-bibliography) · IEEE · Harvard · Vancouver. The reference is built from CrossRef metadata, so it's accurate and consistent — the same engine Folio uses when you cite as you write.

Cite as you write

In Folio, citations format and renumber themselves while you draft — across your whole library.

Try Folio free

Frequently asked

Is this citation generator free?

Yes — free, no sign-up, no ads. Format a single citation or a whole bibliography as often as you need.

How do I find the citation for a paper?

Paste the paper’s DOI (or its title and author) and Folio looks it up in CrossRef and OpenAlex, then returns a formatted citation in the style you choose — a fast way to find and format a citation from just a link or a reference.

Which citation styles are supported?

APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 17 (author–date and notes-bibliography), IEEE, Harvard, and Vancouver. Switch the style and every citation reformats instantly.

Can I format a whole bibliography at once?

Yes. Paste a BibTeX (.bib) or RIS (.ris) file exported from Zotero, Mendeley, or EndNote and Folio formats every entry into one clean, alphabetized reference list.

Does it check that the reference is real?

Yes — unlike a plain formatter, it verifies each single reference against CrossRef, OpenAlex, and Open Library, and flags retracted papers, so you never cite a source that doesn’t exist or has been withdrawn.

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