How to Add Citations and Bibliography in Google Docs

Adding a citation and bibliography is a great way to display authenticity and credit the source at the same time. Whether you are a college student or a regular blogger, citation from sources is both important and necessary when writing. Fortunately, your favorite Google Docs word processor makes it easy to add citations and bibliography by offering you different ways.

Whether you want to add and cite sources yourself or search the internet for them, Google Docs has all the options you need. In this article, we’ll learn how to add citations and a bibliography to a Google Docs document. Let’s get started.

How to add quotes in Google Docs

If you already have the details of the source you want to mention, probably the easiest way to add a citation to your Google Doc document is to use the Citation tool. This is how it works.

Step 1: Open your Google Docs document, go to Tools, and choose Citations from the list.

2nd step: A Quote panel will appear on the right side of your Google Doc. Here you can use the drop down menu to choose your preferred quote format.

Step 3: Now click on the “+ Add citation source” button to add a citation.

Step 4: Choose the appropriate options from the “Source Type” and “Accessed By” menu. After that enter the information about the contributors like name, title, year of publication etc. Once done, click on the “Add citation source” button.

To note: To receive the proper formatting, be sure to complete all of the recommended fields while citing a source.

The citation entry will be added below the citable items. From there, you can insert the quote anywhere in your document.

How to insert and edit quotes in a Google Docs document

Once you’ve added the quotes to Google Docs, here’s how to insert them into your Google Docs document.

Step 1: Open your Google Docs document. Go to Tools and select Quotes from the list.

2nd step: Move your cursor over the text where you want to add a quote. Now in the quotes panel on your right, navigate to the source and click on the Quote option that appears.

Once added, you can edit the quotes as you see fit. For example, you can replace the ‘#’ with a page number. You can also remove the quote by using the three dot menu icon next to the quote option.

How to add a bibliography in Google Docs

In addition to inserting citations, Google Docs also allows you to create a bibliography to list all your sources at the end of the document. Here’s how.

Step 1: Open your Google Docs document. Move your cursor to where you want to add a bibliography.

2nd step: Go to Tools and choose Quotes. Now click on the Insert Bibliography button at the bottom.

The bibliography will be added to the document. Once added, it is important to know that changes to citations will not automatically reflect in the bibliography. So be sure to cite all your sources first, then insert a bibliography.

How to add quotes using the Explore tool

In addition to using the Citations tool, you can also cite sources in your document using the Google Docs Explore tool. The main advantage of this tool is that you can quickly search the source online without leaving your Google Docs document. This is how it works.

Step 1: Open your Google Docs document. Click the Explore button in the lower right corner.

2nd step: Google will automatically suggest sources based on your document. You can either use them or use the search toolbar above to find additional sources on the internet.

Alternatively, if you already have a link to the source you want to cite, you can paste the URL directly into the search box.

Step 3: Click on the three-dot menu to select your preferred citation format before adding it.

Step 4: Now find your favorite source and click on the quotation mark to add a footnote citation.

Step 5: You will find a note number where the cursor has been placed. In addition, the numbered footnote will be added at the end of the page.

The Explore tool works similar to Google search, allowing you to quickly find the relevant source from Google Docs itself.

Add citations and bibliography using an add-on

Google Docs also offers a few add-ons that can help you easily cite sources. Add-ons will allow you to save your citations for repeated use instead of adding citations for each document separately.

Some of the popular names include EasyBib, Sciwheel, Paperpile, etc. These add-ons also provide a few more options while adding quotes like in-text quote, spelling and plagiarism checker, etc.

Source matters

As we just learned, there are many different ways to add citations and bibliography in Google Docs. Depending on your usage, you can either rely on the built-in tool for occasional use or opt for a third-party add-on for a feature-rich experience.