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Citations Deep Dive

Capture sources and format them in APA 7th, MLA 9th, Harvard or Chicago 17th, with in-text citations and a reference-list checker.

Overview

The Citations feature automatically captures source information and formats it correctly for academic bibliographies. No more manual formatting — select a source, capture it, and export properly formatted citations.

Who benefits most: Students writing research papers, anyone who needs to cite sources accurately, users who struggle with formatting rules.

Supported Citation Formats

APA 7th Edition

Used in: Psychology, education, social sciences

Basic format:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work. Publisher. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Example:

Smith, J. D. (2024). Understanding accessibility in education. Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1234/example

MLA 9th Edition

Used in: Humanities, literature, arts

Basic format:

Author. “Title of Article.” Website Name, Publisher, Day Month Year, URL.

Example:

Smith, John. “Understanding Accessibility in Education.” Academic Resources, Academic Press, 15 Jan. 2024, www.example.com/article.

Chicago 17th Edition

Used in: History, some humanities

Notes-Bibliography format:

Author, Title (Place: Publisher, Year), page.

Example:

John Smith, Understanding Accessibility in Education (New York: Academic Press, 2024), 45.

Harvard

Used in: Business, general academic

Basic format:

Author (Year) Title. Place: Publisher.

Example:

Smith, J. (2024) Understanding accessibility in education. New York: Academic Press.

All Settings Explained

Default Format

SettingOptionsDefault
Default formatHarvard (Cite Them Right) / APA 7th / MLA 9th / Chicago 17th (author–date)Harvard

Set your most-used format. Your choice is remembered between sessions and across the popup and the library, so you set it once at the start of an assignment. You can still change the format of an individual citation.

These four are the styles AssisT offers. If your department asks for a style that is not on the list, export as BibTeX or RIS and format it in a reference manager.

Auto-Detection Settings

SettingOptionsDefault
Auto-detect authorOn/OffOn
Auto-detect dateOn/OffOn
Auto-detect publisherOn/OffOn
Auto-detect titleOn/OffOn
Capture access dateOn/OffOn

What auto-detection finds:

  • Author: From byline, meta tags, or article schema
  • Date: Publication date from various sources
  • Publisher: Site name, organisation
  • Title: Page title, article headline
  • URL: Current page address

Bibliography Settings

SettingOptionsDefault
Sort orderAlphabetical / Chronological / ManualAlphabetical
Include access dateAlways / When no pub date / NeverWhen no pub date
Hanging indentOn/OffOn

Step-by-Step Usage

Capturing a Citation

Method 1: Auto-capture

  1. Navigate to the source page
  2. Click AssisT icon → School Tools
  3. Click Capture Citation
  4. Review auto-detected information
  5. Click Save

Method 2: From highlight menu

  1. Highlight text you want to cite
  2. Click Citation icon in highlight menu
  3. Citation created with quote attached
  4. Review and save

Method 3: Manual entry

  1. Click AssisT icon → School Tools
  2. Click Add Citation Manually
  3. Enter source details
  4. Select format
  5. Save

Editing a Citation

  1. Open Bibliography Manager
  2. Find the citation to edit
  3. Click Edit icon
  4. Modify fields as needed
  5. Click Save

Common edits:

  • Correcting author names
  • Adding missing page numbers
  • Adjusting dates
  • Fixing titles

Using Citations in Your Work

Copy individual citation:

  1. Find citation in Bibliography Manager
  2. Click Copy icon
  3. Paste into your document

Copy all citations (bibliography):

  1. Click Export Bibliography
  2. Choose format (formatted text)
  3. Copy to clipboard
  4. Paste into document

CRAAP Test Integration

When you capture a citation, you can evaluate source credibility using the CRAAP test:

CriterionWhat It Assesses
CurrencyHow recent is the information?
RelevanceHow related to your topic?
AuthorityWho is the author/publisher?
AccuracyIs information verifiable?
PurposeWhy does this source exist?

Using CRAAP evaluation:

  1. After capturing citation, click Evaluate Source
  2. Answer prompts for each criterion
  3. See overall credibility score
  4. Score is saved with citation

AI-assisted evaluation: With AI features enabled, AssisT can automatically suggest CRAAP ratings based on source analysis. See AI Assist for details.

Bibliography Manager

View All Citations

  1. Click AssisT icon → School Tools
  2. Click View Bibliography
  3. See all saved citations

Organisation

Sort options:

  • Alphabetical: By author last name (default for most formats)
  • Chronological: By publication date
  • Manual: Drag to reorder

Filtering:

  • By format (APA, MLA, etc.)
  • By date added
  • By source type (website, journal, book)

Export Options

FormatDescriptionUse Case
BibTeXStandard bibliography formatLaTeX documents, academic tools
RISResearch Information Systems formatZotero, Mendeley, EndNote import
JSONStructured dataImport to other tools, backup
CSVSpreadsheet-compatibleExcel, Google Sheets analysis
Plain textFormatted bibliographyReady-to-paste into documents
HTMLWeb-formatted bibliographyWebsites, online portfolios

Import works the same way round: bring an existing library in from Zotero as BibTeX or RIS, and it lands in the manager alongside anything you captured from the web.

Bulk actions: select several citations at once to copy, export or delete them together. Deleted citations go to a trash you can restore from, so removing the wrong one is not permanent.

New in Version 1.0.0

In-Text Citations and Page Locators

As well as the reference-list entry, the library gives you the in-text citation for a source. Add a page locator (a page, a page range, a chapter, a paragraph) and the in-text form is built with it. Copying puts a rich version and a plain version on the clipboard at the same time, so it pastes correctly into a word processor and into a plain text box.

Reference-List Checker

Open Check your essay against your reference list, paste your essay text, and AssisT matches every in-text citation against your saved references. It reports three things: citations that match a saved reference, citations with nothing to match, and saved references you never cited. Where a citation nearly matches, it suggests the record it probably meant rather than just flagging it. It is the check a marker does, done before you hand the work in.

The comparison runs on your device. Your essay is not sent to any AI provider or any server.

More Source Types

The type list covers 10 kinds of source, including chapters in an edited book and theses, and it handles a source with no date rather than making you invent one.

Add by DOI

Paste a DOI and AssisT looks the source up and fills in the fields, which is faster and more accurate than typing a journal article by hand.

Common Use Cases

Research Paper

Workflow:

  1. Set default format to match assignment requirements
  2. As you research, capture each source
  3. Use CRAAP test on questionable sources
  4. Continue until research complete
  5. Export full bibliography
  6. Insert into Works Cited / References page

Tips:

  • Capture more than you’ll use — easy to delete later
  • Capture immediately when you find a useful source
  • Include page numbers for direct quotes

Annotated Bibliography

Workflow:

  1. Capture citation normally
  2. Click Add Annotation
  3. Write summary and evaluation
  4. Annotations export with citations (if enabled)

Export includes:

  • Formatted citation
  • Your annotation below
  • Repeat for each source

Multiple Format Requirements

Scenario: Different classes require different formats.

Solution:

  1. Capture citation once
  2. Bibliography Manager stores source data
  3. Export in any format
  4. Same source, different formatting

Group Project

Sharing citations:

  1. One person compiles bibliography
  2. Export as JSON file
  3. Share with group members
  4. Others import JSON
  5. Everyone has same citations

Troubleshooting

Auto-Detection Gets Wrong Information

Solutions:

  1. Always review before saving
  2. Edit after capture to correct
  3. Some pages have poor metadata
  4. Add information manually

Missing Author

Solutions:

  1. Check page for byline
  2. Look for “About” or “Contact” pages
  3. Use organisation name as author
  4. Format allows “Unknown” in some cases

Wrong Date

Solutions:

  1. Look for “Published” or “Updated” date
  2. Check article metadata
  3. Use last updated if no publish date
  4. Access date as fallback

Format Looks Wrong

Solutions:

  1. Double-check format settings
  2. Some edge cases format differently
  3. Manual adjustments may be needed
  4. Compare with style guide examples

Can’t Find Saved Citations

Solutions:

  1. Check Bibliography Manager
  2. Filter may be active — clear filters
  3. Citations stored per Chrome profile
  4. Check if on correct Chrome account

Tips for Better Citations

Capture Immediately

When you find a useful source:

  1. Stop reading
  2. Capture citation
  3. Continue research

Later you won’t remember where you found information.

Use Unique Identifiers

If available, include:

  • DOI (Digital Object Identifier)
  • ISBN for books
  • URL as fallback

These make citations more reliable.

Note Page Numbers

For direct quotes or specific ideas:

  1. Capture citation
  2. Edit to add page numbers
  3. Your in-text citations will need these

Verify Against Style Guide

Auto-formatting covers most cases, but:

  • Complex sources may need manual adjustment
  • New or unusual source types may not match
  • When in doubt, check the official style guide

For Educators & Parents

Teaching Citation Skills

  1. Start with one format — Master it before learning others
  2. Practice auto-capture — Reduces mechanical burden
  3. Teach CRAAP evaluation — Critical thinking about sources
  4. Regular bibliography checks — Catch issues early

Common Student Mistakes

MistakeSolution
Forgetting to citeCapture as you go
Wrong formatSet default correctly
Incomplete informationAlways review before saving
Not verifying auto-detectQuick check saves time later

Academic Integrity

Citations tool helps avoid plagiarism by:

  • Making proper citation easy
  • Tracking all sources used
  • Encouraging evaluation of sources
  • Providing clear attribution

Note: Tool assists with formatting, not judgment. Students must still:

  • Determine what needs citing
  • Quote accurately
  • Paraphrase appropriately