Is CiteMe free to use?

Yes. The free plan covers everyday citing in all 60 curated styles with no credit card required. Pro plans start at ~$3.75/month (semester billing) and unlock batch PDF import, 10,000+ styles on demand, Word export, and unlimited Reference Checker.

Can I export my citations to BibTeX or RIS?

Yes. Pro users can export their entire citation library to BibTeX or RIS format, compatible with LaTeX, Zotero, Mendeley, and other reference managers.

How is CiteMe different from Zotero or Mendeley?

Zotero and Mendeley are reference managers, great for organizing large libraries, but they require manual import or browser plugins to capture each source. CiteMe is a search-first tool: type your topic and get formatted citations instantly from 250M+ papers. Many users use CiteMe to find and format, then export to Zotero or Mendeley via BibTeX/RIS.

How accurate are the citations?

Formatting follows CSL (Citation Style Language), the same standard used by major reference managers. Metadata accuracy still depends on the source record, so CiteMe shows provenance and flags generated or incomplete results for review.

What databases does CiteMe search?

Current lookup paths can consult OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, PubMed, BASE, Europe PMC, HAL, arXiv, Google Books, Open Library, BDTD, CrossRef. Availability, identifier type, request budget, language, and document type determine which services run for a request.

What if a paper doesn't have a DOI?

We can search by title and authors across the available indexes. Preprints, working papers, and older publications without DOIs may still be found when a current source carries a matching record.

Can I cite a book chapter from an edited volume?

Yes. Search by ISBN or book title. CiteMe detects whether the result is a whole book, an edited volume, or a specific chapter and formats it with editor names, edition numbers, and page ranges included.

Does CiteMe work for theses and dissertations?

Yes. Thesis and dissertation lookup can use BDTD, OpenAlex, BASE, and other current repository indexes. Grey literature may require manual review when metadata is incomplete.

Can I cite legislation, court cases, or legal sources?

Not yet. CiteMe focuses on scholarly publications: journal articles, books, conference papers, and theses. Primary legal sources like statutes, case law, and regulations require manual citation. We're exploring legal citation support for a future release.

My professor's formatting rules differ from the official style guide. What do I do?

Follow your professor. CiteMe generates citations per the official style specification (APA 7th, MLA 9th, etc.), but many departments and supervisors have their own preferences. Use our output as a reliable starting point, then adjust punctuation or field order to match your specific requirements.

Find Real Sources. Cite Them Right.

Search OpenAlex, CrossRef, PubMed, and other scholarly databases for APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, and 60+ styles. Source provenance stays visible; results that need review are labeled.

Try:CRISPR gene editing climate change 10.1038/s41586-024-07487-w

Paste a DOI, PMID, ISBN, URL, paper title, or topic — no account needed

Source provenance shown10,000+ citation stylesFree to use

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Pick the fastest path for your task

Most visitors arrive with a concrete task. Start from the path that matches yours.

Check a bibliography before submission

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Find missing matches, broken identifiers, and records that need manual review before submission.

Search a paper or DOI

Paste a DOI, PMID, ISBN, paper title, or topic to retrieve a formatted citation and source record to review.

Extract references from a PDF

Turn a paper PDF into structured references you can clean up, save, and export.

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Same paper, any format

Switch between citation styles and see the same source reformatted instantly. This is what CiteMe generates from a single search.

Try it yourself

Watson, J. D., & Crick, F. H. C. (1953). Molecular structure of nucleic acids: A structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid. Nature, 171(4356), 737–738.

DOI: 10.1038/171737a0

Learn more about APA citations

Start From Your Intent

Go straight to the format or tool you need

Need a "cite for me" tool? Let CiteMe cite for you in seconds — jump into the strongest citation hubs or use a tool built for common source lookups and bibliography cleanup.

Citation Checker

Free Citation Generator

Start from a DOI, ISBN, URL, or title, then switch styles after the lookup without re-entering the source.

PDF to RIS

Extract references from a paper and import them into EndNote, Zotero, Mendeley, RefWorks, or Citavi as a clean RIS file.

PDF to BibTeX

Extract references from a paper and move them into Overleaf, Zotero, or Mendeley without typing them by hand.

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Common questions

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Yes. Paste a DOI, ISBN, URL, PubMed ID, or paper title and CiteMe looks for a source record, then formats its metadata in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, Vancouver, or 55+ other curated styles. No manual retyping and no account required.

CiteMe consults scholarly indexes and registries such as OpenAlex, CrossRef, Semantic Scholar, and PubMed. Results show the recorded metadata source. If generated fallback is used, the result is marked as needing review rather than presented as a scholarly record.

Yes. AI chatbots can invent authors, titles, or DOIs. CiteMe searches source records first and shows where matching metadata was found. DOI presence and record existence are shown separately, and fallback results remain marked for review.

APA 7th, MLA 9th, Chicago 17th, Harvard, Vancouver, IEEE, ABNT, AMA, Turabian, OSCOLA, Bluebook, CSE, ACS, MHRA, and 10,000+ CSL styles on demand for niche formats.

Yes. CiteMe is fully web-based — no desktop software to install. We also offer Chrome and Firefox extensions so you can cite sources while browsing.

Need a citation from a DOI, URL, ISBN, or paper title?

Search the source, switch the style, and copy the reference you actually need.

No account needed · Source provenance shown · Free in all 60+ citation styles