Free Tool
Citation Checker
Paste your APA or MLA references to catch common formatting slip-ups before you submit.
This is a heuristic formatting check, not a full style-guide validator — always confirm against your institution's citation guide for edge cases.
How to Use This Checker
Choose APA or MLA, then paste your reference list with one citation per line. The tool flags likely issues, like a missing year or date, incorrect capitalization, or stray punctuation, so you can fix them before you submit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this a full APA or MLA style validator?
No — this tool runs pattern-based checks for common formatting issues, like a missing publication year or incorrect capitalization. It's a helpful first pass, but always confirm tricky edge cases against your institution's official style guide.
Does it check in-text citations too?
This tool is built for reference-list entries (the full citations at the end of your paper). Paste one reference per line for the clearest results.
Can I use this alongside the Reference Generator?
Yes — a common workflow is generating your references first, then running them through this checker as a final formatting review before you submit.
Need to build a citation from scratch? Try the Citation Generator or explore Research Paper Help.