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APA to BibTeX Converter

Paste a reference in APA, MLA, Harvard, or any other style and get a BibTeX entry ready for Overleaf and LaTeX. Moving a whole Word bibliography to LaTeX? The batch formatter converts the list in one pass and exports a .bib file.

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What to do next

BibTeX CheckerBibTeX to APACitation Formatter

How does it work?

1

Step 1

Paste a reference

Copy one reference formatted in APA, MLA, Harvard, or any other style from Word, Google Docs, or a PDF. For a whole list, use the batch formatter.

2

Step 2

Get the BibTeX entry

CiteMe parses the reference into a BibTeX entry with a matching entry type. Verify source looks it up in academic databases and completes the entry from the record it finds: full author names, volume, issue, pages, and DOI.

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Step 3

Copy or download the .bib

Copy the entry into your .bib file or download it for Overleaf or LaTeX. Run the finished file through the BibTeX Checker before you submit.

By CiteMe Editorial Team·

Why converting by hand goes wrong

Retyping a formatted reference as BibTeX means deciding the entry type, splitting author names into "Last, First and Last, First", moving the year, title, and container into the right fields, and protecting capitalisation with braces. Each step is a chance to drop a co-author or put a book chapter under @article. Parsing the reference text does those steps the same way every time.

Check the result before you compile

A converted entry is only as good as the reference it came from. If the original list had a wrong year, a broken DOI, or a reference that was never published (common in lists drafted with AI help), the .bib inherits the mistake. Running the file through a BibTeX check compares every entry with publication records and flags those problems before a reviewer does.

Which citation styles are supported?

APAMLAChicagoHarvardIEEEVancouverABNTAMAASABluebookCSEOSCOLATurabianACSMHRAAPA 6thNaturePLOSScienceCellLancetAIPRSCAPSAAAAAGLCMcGillNP 405ISO 690ISO 690 (DE)ISO 690 (FR)ISO 690 (ES)Chicago NotesABNT Numérico

Need it in a specific citation style?

Format the result in the style your paper requires — APA, MLA, Harvard, Vancouver, Chicago, or IEEE.

APA Citation Generator

Author-date format for psychology, social sciences, and education.

MLA Citation Generator

Works Cited format for humanities and literature.

Harvard Referencing Generator

Author-date common in UK and Australian universities.

Vancouver Citation Generator

Numbered references for medicine and biomedical research.

Chicago Citation Generator

Notes-bibliography or author-date for history and the arts.

IEEE Citation Generator

Bracketed numbers for engineering and computer science.

More ways to look up sources

Check the .bib file for wrong or fake entriesBibTeX to APA (the other direction)DOI to BibTeXExtract BibTeX from a PDFReformat a citation in another style

Also try

BibTeX Checker

Upload a .bib file and verify every entry against academic databases

BibTeX to APA

Convert BibTeX entries to APA formatted citations

Citation Formatter

Paste a reference in any style, get it reformatted

Frequently asked questions

How do I convert an APA citation to BibTeX?
Paste the APA reference and CiteMe parses it into a BibTeX entry with a matching entry type such as @article or @book. Click Verify source to look it up in academic databases: when a record is found, the entry is completed from it, with full author names, volume, issue, pages, and DOI. Copy it or download it as a .bib file.
Does it work with MLA, Harvard, Chicago, or Vancouver references?
Yes. The parser reads the reference text rather than one fixed template, so MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, IEEE, and ABNT references all convert.
Can I convert a whole reference list to BibTeX?
This page converts one reference at a time, free and without an account. For a whole list, the batch formatter takes up to 10 references per batch with a free account and up to 50 with Pro, and exports every entry as one .bib file.
How do I move a Word bibliography into Overleaf?
Copy the reference list from your Word document, paste it into the batch formatter, choose BibTeX, and export the .bib file. In Overleaf, upload it to the project (or replace the existing .bib) and cite each entry with \cite{key}.
Are the converted references checked against real sources?
Only when you verify them. A converted entry is labelled Parsed until Verify source finds a matching publication record, and Record found after; even then a formatted entry is not proof that every field is right. To audit a finished .bib before you submit, run it through the BibTeX Checker, which compares every entry with publication records.

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Each result shows its match evidence and metadata source.

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