APA Citation Checker
Paste your APA 7 reference list below to review likely formatting issues — author order, year, DOI format, sentence case, alphabetical order, and duplicates. Free, unlimited, no account, and it runs entirely in your browser.
What this checker looks for
- Author names in APA Surname, Initials order, and &(not “and”) before the final author.
- A (year) element after the author — or (n.d.) when there is no date.
- DOIs in the APA https://doi.org/10.xxxx URL format.
- A terminal period (unless the entry ends in a DOI or URL).
- Article and book titles in sentence case rather than Title Case.
- Alphabetical order of the list and duplicate entries.
Every finding is advisory and links to the relevant APA guideline. The checker is deterministic — it never uploads your text, never uses AI, and never auto-rewrites your references. It targets APA 7 reference lists only (in-text citations and other styles are not checked yet).
Frequently Asked Questions
- What does the APA citation checker check?
- It scans each entry in your reference list for high-confidence APA 7 formatting issues: author name order (Last, F. M.), using & instead of and before the final author, a missing (year) element, DOI/URL format (https://doi.org/…), a missing terminal period, titles typed in Title Case instead of sentence case, alphabetical ordering of the list, and duplicate entries.
- Is the citation checker free, and do I need an account?
- Yes, it is completely free with no sign-up, no source limit, and no paywall. The checker runs entirely in your browser — your reference list is never uploaded to a server.
- Does a clean result mean my references are perfect?
- No. The checker flags specific, deterministic formatting issues it can detect with high confidence. It does not verify that a source exists, that a DOI resolves, or that every nuance of APA style is correct. Treat the findings as a helpful first pass, not a guarantee, and always double-check against your assignment guidelines.
- Which citation style does it support?
- The checker is built for APA 7th edition reference lists, the most commonly assigned style. MLA, Chicago, and Harvard checkers are planned as fast-follows. For in-text citations and full- document checking, use the relevant guide on CitationEasy.
- How should I paste my references?
- Paste your reference list with one reference per line, or separate multi-line references with a blank line. The checker analyzes each entry separately and also checks the list as a whole for alphabetical order and duplicates.