How to Add Citations and a Bibliography in Google Docs

This tutorial shows how to add citations and a bibliography in Google Docs. First, we will enter the source information. Then, we will add in-text citations. Finally, we will create a bibliography (also known as a Works Cited list or References list).

Table of Contents

How to Enter Sources
How to Add In-Text Citations
How to Create a Bibliography

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How to Enter Sources

Select the Tools menu.

Tools menu in Google Docs — Figure 1. Tools menu

Select Citations from the drop-down menu.

Citations option in the Tools menu in Google Docs — Figure 2. Citations option

Select MLA, APA, or Chicago Author-Date from the style guide format menu in the Citations sidebar. (You only have to make this choice for the first source.)

Citations style guide format menu in Google Docs — Figure 3. Style guide format menu

Select Add citation source.

Add citation source button in the Citations sidebar in Google Docs — Figure 4. Add citation source option

Select the type of source from the Source type menu:

- Book
- Book section
- Website
- Journal article
- Newspaper article
- Film
- TV series
- TV episode
- Miscellaneous

Source type menu in the Citations sidebar in Google Docs — Figure 5. Source type menu

Select how you accessed the source from the Accessed by menu. (The options will change according to the type of source you are citing.)

Accessed By menu in the Citations sidebar in Google Docs — Figure 6. Accessed by menu

How to Enter Sources Automatically with ISBNs and URLs

If you are citing a book, book section, website, or article from a website, you can use the ISBN or URL to enter the source information automatically.

Enter the ISBN or URL into the text box and then select the Search button.

ISBN or URL text box and Search button in the Citations sidebar in Google Docs — Figure 7. ISBN or URL text box and Search button

After the source information appears, select the Continue button.

Continue button in the Citations sidebar in Google Docs — Figure 8. Continue button

The source information will be automatically entered into the relevant fields. Manually fix any incorrect or missing information and then select the Add citation source button.

The source will now appear in the Citations sidebar.

How to Manually Enter Sources

If you are citing a journal article, newspaper article, film, TV series, TV episode or miscellaneous source, enter as much information as you have available in the related fields.

Select the type of contributor and then enter the name in the text boxes. (The type of contributors available will depend on the type of source you are citing.)

Contributor menu and Name Text Boxes in the Citations sidebar in Google Docs — Figure 10. Contributor menu and name text boxes

Select Corporation/organization if the contributor is not a person and then enter the name in the text box.

Corporation organization option and text box in the Citations sidebar in Google Docs — Figure 11. Corporation/organization option and text box

Select + Contributor if you need to add additional contributors.

Add Contributor option in the Citations sidebar in Google Bar — Figure 12. Add Contributor option

Fill out the remaining fields with as much information as you have available and then select the Add citation source button (see figure 9).

The source will now appear in the Citations sidebar.

How to Add In-Text Citations

If the Citations sidebar is not visible, select the Tools menu (see figure 1) and Citations from the drop-down menu (see figure 2).
Place your cursor in the text where you want to insert the citation.
Hover your pointer over the source in the sidebar and then select the Cite button.

Cite button in the Citations sidebar in Google Docs — Figure 13. Cite button

If necessary, delete the # or manually enter the page numbers into the citation. (Page numbers are not entered when creating the source because you may cite multiple pages or page ranges from the same source.)

In-text citation in Google Docs — Figure 14. In-text citation page number placeholder text

How to Create a Bibliography

Important Note: Google Docs will include all your sources in the bibliography, even those you didn’t cite in your text.

Therefore, you may want to delete unused sources from the sidebar before creating the bibliography by hovering over the source, selecting the three-dot menu, and then selecting Delete.

Delete option in the Citations sidebar in Google Docs — Figure 15. Delete option

Alternatively, you can manually delete those sources from the bibliography later.

If the Citations sidebar is not visible, select the Tools menu (see figure 1) and Citations from the drop-down menu (see figure 2).
Place your cursor in the text where you want to insert the bibliography.
Select the Insert References or Insert Works Cited button.

Insert Works Cited button in the Citations sidebar in Google Docs — Figure 16. Insert Works Cited button

The bibliography will appear in your document. You can manually edit the heading to Bibliography, Works Cited, Reference List, or List of References as necessary.

Works Cited (bibliography) in Google Docs — Figure 17. Works Cited (bibliography)

Related Resources

How to Insert Citations in Microsoft Word (Step-by-Step)