Sources and Citations Formatter: a tidy sources list for any article
Turn a list of links into a tidy Sources section in HTML and Markdown, with checks on every link.
- Free to use
- Runs in your browser
- No sign-up
Paste your sources to format them
You get a Sources section in HTML, Markdown and plain text, checks on every link, and how to cite each source in your text. Or press Try an example.
Embed this tool on your websiteFree. Paste one code; it runs in your visitors' browsers.
Copy this code into a page of your site. The tool sets no cookies and sends nothing your visitors type to us. Change height="760" if it needs more room.
About the Sources and Citations Formatter
Paste the sources behind your article, one per line: a web address, a line such as URL | title | publisher | date, a Markdown link, or a list copied from your document. You get a Sources section in HTML, Markdown and plain text, numbered or bulleted, with each title as the link text, the publisher, the date and an optional accessed date, plus how to cite each source in the text. Checks flag http links, missing titles and dates, old dates, the same page twice, links to search results, short links and tracking tags, which are removed for you. The tool never opens your links: it reads only what you paste, in your browser.
How it works
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01
Paste your sources, one per line. Add the title, publisher and date after the address with | between them, or paste them as you have them. Or try the example.
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02
Choose numbered or bulleted, the heading, the date style and whether to add the date you looked at each page. Tracking tags are removed unless you untick it.
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03
Fix what the checks flag, then copy the HTML or Markdown into your page and cite each source in the text by its number, or by publisher and year.
Why list your sources
Google's guidance on helpful content asks whether a page presents information in a way that makes you want to trust it, such as clear sourcing. Its link guidance says linking to other sites is nothing to be scared of, and that external links can help establish trustworthiness, for example by citing your sources. A list with real titles also gives each link descriptive anchor text, as Google suggests, instead of a bare address or "click here".
What the checks look for
Links that start with http rather than https, sources with no title, publisher or date, dates more than five years old (you can change this) or in the future, the same page listed twice, links to Google or other search results instead of the page itself, short links such as bit.ly that hide where they go, Google redirect links copied from Google Docs, tracking tags such as utm_source and fbclid, affiliate-looking links without rel="sponsored", and staging or local addresses. These are our checks.
What this tool cannot do
It never opens your links, so it cannot see a page's real title or date, whether the page still exists or where a short link leads. When you leave out a title, it makes one from the words in the web address, which you should replace. It writes one simple style of its own, not APA, MLA or another named citation style. It cannot tell whether a source is reliable: that is your call.
Frequently asked questions
How should I format a sources list on a blog post?
Keep it simple and the same on every page: the title of the page as the link, the publisher or website, and the date it was published or updated, plus the date you looked at it if the page may change. Put the list at the end under a heading such as Sources, and number it if you cite sources by number in the text.
Should links to my sources be nofollow?
Not usually. Google's link guidance says external links can help establish trustworthiness, for example by citing your sources, and suggests nofollow only when you do not trust the source. Paid and affiliate links should be marked rel="sponsored". Add | sponsored or | nofollow at the end of a line to mark just that link.
Why remove tracking tags from source links?
Tags such as utm_source, gclid and fbclid were added for someone else's analytics, not for your reader. They make the address long and can make one page look like two different links. The tool takes them off and keeps the rest of the address; untick the option to keep them.
What if a source has no web address?
Type it as a line of text, for example a book, a printed report or a circular, with the publisher and date. It is listed without a link. Where an official web page exists, linking to it lets readers check the source themselves.
Does this tool check that my links work?
No. It never visits your links, so it cannot see broken pages or redirects. Open each one before you publish. To check every link in a finished article, with its anchor text and rel values, use the Link and Anchor Text Checker.
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