Citation Counter
Paste your essay or paper and get a count of the in-text citations in it: APA-style (Walker, 2017), MLA-style (Austen 42) and numbered [1] or [2, 3]. You also see how many are distinct, how many fall in each format, and how many citations there are per 100 words. Free, no sign-up, and nothing leaves your browser.
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Total Citations
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Unique Citations
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Citations per 100 Words
How to Use the Citation Counter
- Paste the body of your paper. Include the in-text citations but leave out the reference list, which would add words without adding citations.
- Read the three figures. Total Citations counts every match, Unique Citations counts distinct citation texts, and Citations per 100 Words divides the total by the word count.
- Check the breakdown. Citations by Type shows how many matches fell into each format, and Detected Citations lists every match in order so you can see exactly what was counted.
- Scan the list for strays. If something is counted that is not a citation, or a citation you expected is missing, the list shows why.
What Counts as a Citation
The counter looks for four patterns. It reads text, not meaning, so it counts only citations written in these forms:
| Format | What is matched | Example |
|---|---|---|
| APA (Author, Year) | one surname, or two joined by and or &, or a surname with et al., then a comma and a four-digit year in parentheses | (Walker, 2017), (Smith & Jones, 2019), (Lee et al., 2021) |
| MLA (Author Page) | a surname (or two) and a page number or range in parentheses | (Austen 42), (Smith and Jones 45–46) |
| Numbered | square brackets holding numbers, commas or dashes | [1], [2, 3], [4–6] |
| Superscript | used only when none of the above is found: a one- to three-digit number straight after punctuation | text.1 or text,2 |
Each pair of brackets counts once: [4–6] is one citation, not three. Names in any script are recognized.
Worked Example
Paste this passage: Sleep loss harms memory (Walker, 2017). Naps help (Smith & Jones, 2019), and later work agrees (Lee et al., 2021). Earlier studies disagreed (Walker, 2017). The counter reports 4 total citations, 3 unique, because (Walker, 2017) appears twice, and all four are APA-style. With 25 words, that is 16.00 citations per 100 words.
Numbered citations work the same way. Sleep loss harms memory [1]. Naps help [2, 3], and later work agrees [4-6]. Earlier studies disagreed [1]. gives 4 total and 3 unique: [1], [2, 3] and [4-6]. Note that [2, 3] counts once even though it cites two sources.
What the Counter Does Not Count
- Narrative citations. Walker (2017) argued… has the year in parentheses but not the name, so it is skipped.
- Grouped and located citations. (Smith, 2019; Lee, 2020) counts as two citations, and (Brown, 2018, p. 4) as one. Each is listed separately, and (Brown, 2018) and (Brown, 2018, p. 4) are distinct citation texts.
- Footnotes and endnotes. Chicago notes sit outside the text you paste, so they are not counted.
- False matches. Labels such as (Table 3), (Figure 2) and (Study 1) are recognised and skipped, but other parentheticals that read like a name and a number, such as (Room 12), are counted. Check the Detected Citations list and subtract any strays.
- Sources versus citations. Unique means distinct citation text, not distinct sources: (Smith, 2019) and (Smith, 2019a) count as two, and [1] and [1, 2] as two. To count the sources in a reference list, use the Duplicate Citation Finder.
Which Tool Do You Need?
- Count the citations in your text: this page.
- Find repeated entries in a reference list: Duplicate Citation Finder.
- Pull the references out of a Word file: Reference Extractor.
- Check numbered citations run in order: Numbered Citation Order Checker.
- Count the words in a paper: Word Counter.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How many citations should a paper have?
- There is no universal number. Your assignment sets the minimum, usually as a number of sources, and the counter reports citations in the text, not sources. A paper that cites many sources once each will show a high unique count; one that leans on a single source will show many total citations but few unique ones.
- How is citation density calculated?
- Citations per 100 words is the total number of matched citations divided by the number of words in the pasted text, times 100. Words are counted by splitting on spaces, so pasting a reference list inflates the word count and lowers the density. No density figure is a standard for good writing; use it to spot long stretches with no sources.
- Does the counter count unique sources or unique citations?
- Unique citations: the number of different citation texts. Two citations to the same source with different page numbers, such as (Austen 42) and (Austen 57), count as two. Treat the figure as a guide to the number of sources, not an exact source count.
- Which citation formats does the counter detect?
- Parenthetical APA-style citations such as (Walker, 2017), MLA-style citations such as (Austen 42), and numbered citations such as [1], [2, 3] and [4–6]. Harvard citations that follow the (Author, Year) pattern are counted as APA-style. Chicago notes and narrative citations are not counted.
- Why is a citation I can see not being counted?
- The most common reasons are a narrative citation such as Brown (2018), a name that is not capitalized, a date written as n.d., or a parenthetical that mixes a note with the citation, such as (for a review, see Brown, 2018). The pattern needs a capitalized surname, then the year or page number; a leading see, see also or e.g. is allowed.
- Can I paste a whole dissertation?
- Yes. The counter works on any length of text, from a paragraph to a thesis, and updates as you paste. Nothing is uploaded; the counting runs in your browser.