Reference and Citation Generator: BibMe

A reference and citation generator has to stand out from the cornucopia of options available on the internet. Often they all have the same features but it usually comes down to accuracy of citations generated from the platforms, complexity of the user interface and such. BibMe is a reference and citation generator that strives to stand out from the rest. It is also powered by Chegg just like EasyBib and a few others. The service is free, again, just like other tools out there. However, you can create an account and pay for premium services like long term citation management.

The upside of BibMe is that it is completely free even for the latest versions of the citation styles. Furthermore, it is quick to find a multitude of sources by their titles alone. It also downloads your bibliography to Microsoft word. However, you will be unable to save your sources unless you use the premium version of the reference and citation generator. The same is true of basic source management like organization/tagging.

It starts on the homepage…

• On the homepage, select your citation style then enter your type of source.
• After that, you may enter the title of the source.
• When you finish, click on ‘search…’
• This will generate results for what you entered in the search bar.  If the right source appears below the search bar then click on ‘select’ right next to the source.

The site will prompt you to enter more information. Citation is meant to provide sufficient information to allow anyone to find the source themselves.

Should you fail to find your source, simply go the manual way.

• Select your type of source then click on ‘manual entry mode’ below the search tab

A form for the source will appear. Note that each form will be different as it will be dependent on the type of source you choose. For example, the source for a journal article will start with the article title at the top while that for a book will start with a question of whether you would like to cite a chapter or the whole book.

• Click on ‘create citation’ at the bottom of the page

At this point, BibMe will prompt you to either add another citation, save the bibliography, download the bibliography, delete or switch the citation style. Therefore, whether you would like to add another citation or not should determine your next step.

Although, before you move on and make the citation permanent you should check for mistakes. These reference and citation generators are often accurate but every once in a while they miss a key detail. If you do find a mistake then you should edit the citation. You can do this by clicking on the pencil icon which will then reveal a window in which you can enter the correction for whatever details.

Annotating with the BibMe reference and citation generator

Annotated bibliographies include the full citation plus commentary about the source. The commentary about the source is the annotation. Often the commentary provides a summary in a few sentences. You will also be required to evaluate the source by discussing how you found it as well as why it was relevant to your paper. An annotation need not be too big. Usually the most you may be instructed to write is 150words, in some cases you will be asked for 8-10 sentences.

BibMe allows you to annotate your bibliography as this is still within the purview of a reference and citation generator. Hence, to do that on the platform you should do the following:

• Start by creating your citations as you normally would on BibMe.
• At the final step, you’ll see “Add Annotation” at the bottom of the citation form. You can also get here by clicking on the “Edit” link on an existing citation.
• Add your summary and evaluation in the box. BibMe will format your citation, with annotation, in the proper format and in the style you choose (MLA style, APA format, Chicago, or another style).
• After you create your citation with its annotation, copy and paste it into your bibliography, download it to Word, or save it for later use.

Our duty is to help you work the reference and citation generator

While a reference and citation generator will make your work easier and perhaps even give you the freedom to work on your papers without assignment help agents, you still need a trained eye to note mistakes that the tool might make. In some cases, they might effect the wrong formatting for styles. This is often due to the constantly changing rules brought on by version updates.