How we write and check our guides
Students hand in work that leans on what these pages say, so every rule on FreeCitation has to match the manual it comes from. This page explains how we make sure it does, and what happens when we get something wrong.
Last updated: October 2026
Why this page exists
A citation guide is only useful if you can trust it. A wrong rule costs marks, and a confident wrong rule costs more. You should be able to see where our guidance comes from, how old it is and how to tell us when it is wrong.
The manuals we check against
Every rule, example and exception in a guide is checked against the official source for that style, not against other citation websites:
Where a manual leaves a choice open, or where universities teach their own variant, the guide says so instead of pretending there is one right answer.
Our standards for a guide
- Real examples. Example citations use real books, articles and pages that you can look up, so you can compare the citation with the source.
- Answer first. The rule you came for sits near the top, with the reasoning and the edge cases after it.
- Named sources. Statistics and claims about the manuals name where they come from, so you can check them yourself.
- Honest dates. Each guide shows the date it was published. We never change a date without changing the page.
- Plain words. No padding and no invented authority. If something is uncertain, the guide says it is uncertain.
From draft to published
A guide starts from the questions students actually search for. The draft is checked line by line against the manual sections above. Each example is run through our own citation tool and compared with the manual's pattern, and any difference is resolved in favour of the manual. Links are checked before the page goes live, and the page is dated on the day it is published.
The citation tool itself follows the process set out on our methodology page: real records from Crossref and Open Library first, the open Citation Style Language files for formatting, and a clearly labelled AI draft only when no record exists.
Keeping pages current
Style manuals change. When a new edition comes out we update the affected guides and explain what changed. The Chicago Manual of Style 18th edition, published in September 2024, is an example: our Chicago 18th edition guide lists each change that matters for student papers. Older guides are reviewed when we learn that a rule, a link or an example has gone out of date.
When we get it wrong
If you find a mistake in a guide or in a citation the tool made, email [email protected] with the page and, if you can, the manual section it contradicts. We check every report against the manual. Confirmed errors are fixed on the page. We do not quietly delete a page to hide a mistake.
Independence
No publisher, university or software company pays for what our guides say, and we do not sell links or reviews. FreeCitation is funded by advertising and by FreeCitation PRO subscriptions. Advertisers have no say over content, and ads are kept visually separate from the guides. Where a guide mentions another tool, it is because it helps you, not because anyone paid for the mention.
Who is responsible
FreeCitation.org is a service of Outline Technologies LLC, 30 N Gould St, Ste R, Sheridan, WY 82801, USA. Read more about FreeCitation, or contact us through the contact page.