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SBL Citation Generator

Create accurate SBL citations for books, articles, and websites in one click.

Language

We'll automatically detect the type and fetch metadata. Paste one identifier per line to cite a whole list at once.

SBL citation examples

The same three sources formatted in SBL — a note-based style: citations appear in footnotes or endnotes rather than parentheses in the text:

Journal article
Rivera, Maria, and David Chen. “The Mapping of Meaning: A Study of Citation Practice.” Journal of Scholarly Communication 12.3 (2021): 145–62. https://doi.org/10.1000/jsc.2021.145.
Book
Okafor, Amara. The Craft of Research Writing. 2nd ed. University Press, 2019.
Website
Larsen, Sofie. “How Peer Review Works.” Open Science Digest, 14 May 2023. https://www.example.org/peer-review.
In-text citation (for the journal article)
Maria Rivera and David Chen, “The Mapping of Meaning: A Study of Citation Practice,” Journal of Scholarly Communication 12.3 (2021): 145–62, https://doi.org/10.1000/jsc.2021.145.

About SBL

SBL citation style for biblical and religious studies.

When to use SBL: SBL publications and biblical studies. Common in: International.

Subject areas: theology.

How to use this SBL generator

Paste a DOI, a URL to a news article or webpage, or raw BibTeX into the box above. You can also search for a book by title or author and cite it by ISBN. Choose "SBL" in the style dropdown (it's pre-selected on this page), then click "Generate citation." Copy the result into your reference list or bibliography. You can edit the generated entry (e.g. fix a title or add a date) before copying.

Frequently asked questions about SBL

What is Society of Biblical Literature (SBL)?
SBL citation style for biblical and religious studies.
When should I use SBL?
SBL publications and biblical studies.
What does an in-text citation look like in SBL?
SBL is a note-based style: citations appear in footnotes or endnotes rather than parentheses in the text. Citing our sample journal article in the text looks like: Maria Rivera and David Chen, “The Mapping of Meaning: A Study of Citation Practice,” Journal of Scholarly Communication 12.3 (2021): 145–62, https://doi.org/10.1000/jsc.2021.145.
What does a SBL reference list entry look like?
A journal article formatted in SBL looks like this: Rivera, Maria, and David Chen. “The Mapping of Meaning: A Study of Citation Practice.” Journal of Scholarly Communication 12.3 (2021): 145–62. https://doi.org/10.1000/jsc.2021.145.
How can I generate a SBL citation?
Use the free generator on this page: paste a DOI, URL (e.g. a news article), or BibTeX, or search for a book by title or author. Select SBL as the citation style and click Generate to get a formatted reference you can copy into your paper or bibliography.

CitationEasy supports many citation styles from around the world. Our generator uses Citation Style Language (CSL) styles from the official CSL repository.