ISBN to Citation Generator
Paste any ISBN-10 or ISBN-13 to get a verified book citation in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and 40+ styles. Works with any edition, from CrossRef, Open Library, and Google Books.
Accepts ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 — no signup required
What to do next
How it works
Step 1
Find and paste the ISBN
Locate the ISBN-10 or ISBN-13 on the back cover or copyright page of your book. Paste it into the search bar.
Step 2
Review the book details
CiteMe fetches the title, authors, edition, publisher, and year from CrossRef, Open Library, and Google Books. Verify the details match your edition.
Step 3
Copy your formatted citation
Select your citation style (APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, Vancouver, and 40+ more) and copy the formatted reference straight to your clipboard.
Book citation examples by style
APA 7th
Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (2000). The elements of style (4th ed.). Longman.
MLA 9th
Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. 4th ed., Longman, 2000.
Chicago 17th
Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. 4th ed. New York: Longman, 2000.
Harvard
Strunk, W. and White, E.B. (2000) The elements of style. 4th edn. New York: Longman.
Examples use The Elements of Style (ISBN 978-0205309023). CiteMe generates citations from the book record matched to your ISBN.
Why use CiteMe for ISBN to citation?
ISBN-10 and ISBN-13
Accepts both formats. Paste the code with or without hyphens — CiteMe normalises it automatically.
Triple-Verified Records
Each ISBN is checked against CrossRef, Open Library, and Google Books for the most complete and accurate metadata.
40+ Citation Styles
APA 7th, MLA 9th, Chicago 17th, Harvard, Vancouver, ABNT, and dozens more — all from a single ISBN.
Edition-Aware
Each edition has its own ISBN — cite the exact one you read. Works with hardcover, paperback, ebook, and reprint editions from the 1970s onward.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between ISBN-10 and ISBN-13?
ISBN-10 is a 10-digit code used for books published before 2007. ISBN-13 is a 13-digit code (starting with 978 or 979) that replaced ISBN-10 and is now the international standard. CiteMe accepts both formats — paste either and it resolves the correct book record.
Can I cite individual book chapters with an ISBN?
ISBN identifies the whole book, not individual chapters. To cite a chapter in an edited book, CiteMe generates the book record from the ISBN and you add the chapter author and title manually. For journal articles, use DOI instead.
Does it work for older editions?
Yes. Each edition has its own ISBN. Paste the ISBN of the specific edition you are citing — CiteMe verifies against CrossRef and Open Library, which hold records going back to the 1970s.
What if the book has multiple authors?
CiteMe retrieves all listed authors from the book record and formats them correctly for your chosen style (e.g., last author preceded by "&" in APA, "and" in MLA, all inverted in Chicago).
How do I find the ISBN of a book?
The ISBN is printed on the back cover barcode and on the copyright page (usually verso of the title page). For ebooks, check the "About this book" or publisher metadata section. You can also look it up on Google Books or WorldCat by title.
Does it work for ebooks?
Yes, if the ebook has an ISBN-13 (most commercial ebooks do). Paste the ISBN and CiteMe generates the citation. If your style requires a URL or DOI for online sources, you can add it in the edit view before copying.
Need a .bib entry for Overleaf or LaTeX instead?
This tool returns a formatted citation in styles like APA, MLA, Chicago, and Harvard. For Overleaf, LaTeX, or any .bib workflow, use the dedicated ISBN to BibTeX converter — it returns a clean @book entry with author, title, publisher, year, and isbn fields.
Citing something other than a book?
For journal articles use a DOI, for web sources use a URL, and for an existing reference list run the Reference Checker. Each has a dedicated tool.
Generate a book citation from any ISBN. Free to use.
Paste ISBN — Cite Free