Cite style converter

Cite Style Converter

An academic citation style conversion tool supporting APA (7th), MLA (9th), IEEE, and Harvard — the four most widely used citation formats. It enables cross-format conversion, format validation, and batch processing.

Supported Styles

Style	Description	Example
APA	American Psychological Association, 7th ed.	Smith, J. A. (2023). Title. *Journal*, *1*(2), 10-20.
MLA	Modern Language Association, 9th ed.	Smith, John A. "Title." *Journal*, vol. 1, no. 2, 2023, pp. 10-20.
IEEE	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers	[1] J. A. Smith, "Title," *Journal*, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 10-20, 2023.
Harvard	Harvard Referencing Style	Smith, J.A. (2023) 'Title', *Journal*, 1(2), pp. 10-20.

Quick Start

1. Convert by Text Input

Convert an APA citation to IEEE format:

python3 scripts/citation_formatter.py convert --to ieee "Smith, J. A. (2023). Machine learning approaches. Nature, 12(3), 45-67."

2. Convert by Structured JSON Input (More Precise)

echo '{"authors":["Smith, John A.","Jones, Mary B."],"year":"2023","title":"Machine learning approaches","journal":"Nature","volume":"12","issue":"3","pages":"45-67","entry_type":"article"}' | python3 scripts/citation_formatter.py format --style ieee

3. Format Validation

python3 scripts/citation_formatter.py check --style apa "Smith J (2023) Machine learning. Nature 12(3) 45-67"

4. Batch Processing

# Batch convert from a file (one citation per line)
python3 scripts/citation_formatter.py convert --to mla --input refs.txt

# Batch validate
python3 scripts/citation_formatter.py check --style apa --input refs.txt

5. Auto-Detect Style

python3 scripts/citation_formatter.py detect "Smith, J. A. (2023). Title. Nature, 12(3), 45-67."

Subcommand Reference

format — Format Structured Data

Converts structured citation data in JSON into a formatted citation string. This is the most reliable method since it doesn't require text parsing.

# Pass JSON via stdin
echo '{"authors":["Zhang, Wei"],"year":"2024","title":"Deep Learning","publisher":"Springer","entry_type":"book"}' | python3 scripts/citation_formatter.py format --style harvard

# Pass JSON via --data flag
python3 scripts/citation_formatter.py format --style apa --data '{"authors":["Li, Ming"],"year":"2024","title":"AI Methods","journal":"Science","volume":"5","pages":"1-10","entry_type":"article"}'

# Batch: pass a JSON array file
python3 scripts/citation_formatter.py format --style mla --input citations.json

JSON Field Reference:

Field	Type	Required	Description
authors	string[]	Yes	List of authors in "Last, First" format
year	string	Yes	Publication year
title	string	Yes	Title of the work
journal	string	For articles	Journal name
volume	string		Volume number
issue	string		Issue number
pages	string		Page range, e.g. "45-67"
publisher	string	For books	Publisher name
doi	string		DOI
url	string		URL
entry_type	string		article / book / chapter / webpage
edition	string		Edition
city	string		City of publication

parse — Parse Text into Structured Data

python3 scripts/citation_formatter.py parse "Smith, J. A. (2023). Title. Nature, 12(3), 45-67."
# Outputs structured JSON

convert — Convert Between Styles

# Auto-detect source style, convert to target
python3 scripts/citation_formatter.py convert --to harvard "Smith, J. A. (2023). Title. Nature, 12(3), 45-67."

# Specify source style explicitly
python3 scripts/citation_formatter.py convert --from apa --to ieee "Smith, J. A. (2023). Title. Nature, 12(3), 45-67."

# JSON output
python3 scripts/citation_formatter.py convert --to mla --json "Smith, J. A. (2023). Title. Nature, 12(3), 45-67."

check — Validate Citation Format

# Check if a citation conforms to APA style
python3 scripts/citation_formatter.py check --style apa "Smith, J. A. (2023). Title. Nature, 12(3), 45-67."

# JSON output (useful for programmatic processing)
python3 scripts/citation_formatter.py check --style apa --json "Smith, J. A. (2023). Title. Nature, 12(3), 45-67."

Validation checks include:

• Missing required fields (author, title, year)
• Year format correctness
• Journal name, volume, and page numbers for journal articles
• Publisher information for books
• DOI format
• Style-specific punctuation and structural conventions

detect — Auto-Detect Citation Style

python3 scripts/citation_formatter.py detect "[1] J. Smith, \"Title,\" Nature, vol. 1, 2023."
# Output: ieee

Usage Tips

1. Most reliable method: Extract structured information from user input, build the JSON, then use the format subcommand
2. Quick conversion: If the user already has properly formatted citation text, use the convert subcommand directly
3. Batch processing: Place citations in a file (one per line) and use the --input flag
4. Quality assurance: After conversion, verify results with the check subcommand

Prerequisites

• Python 3.7+
• No additional dependencies required (uses only the standard library)
• No API key needed