EasyBib by Chegg is a powerful tool that allows you to generate and manage citations. With a single click you can generate citations in various formats including APA, MLA, Chicago, among others. EasyBib also offers proofreading and plagiarism checking services.
What is EasyBib used for?
Easybib offers the following services:
- Citation generator: lets you generate citations in various styles and formats.
- Plagiarism checker: checks papers for instances of plagiarised work.
- Grammar checker: check for stylistic and grammatical errors.
- Spell checker: checks for spelling errors and typos.
EasyBib lets create citations from numerous sources including: websites, books, journals, newspapers, online videos, blogs, chapters, databases, dictionaries, digital files, digital images, editorials, emails, encyclopedia, lectures, magazines, letters, manuscripts, music recordings, pamphlets, patents, press releases, reports, theses, reviews, and many more.
How to generate citations using EasyBib?
To create a citation, choose a source and follow the instructions related to that specific source. You can either type the title of the source and let EasyBib generate a citation for you or click on Create manual citation to type in citation data yourself. I find the second option to be more accurate.
For instance, suppose I want to create a manual citation for a book. I will choose Book from the source list, then select which format (e.g., in print, e-Book: online, e-Book:other, etc). Next, select whether you want to cite the whole book, a chapter, a section, preface, introduction, etc. In contributors section, type in the name of the authors and, if applicable, other contributors. Click on Add another contributor button to add more contributors.
In Print Publication info, type in the the title of the book and other metadata such as volume, edition, series, publisher, place of publication, and year of publication. For e-Books, include other electronic data such as website, version, electronic publication date (day, month, and year), and date accessed (day, month, and year).
In the Annotations section (optional) you can add notes or comments on the content of the book. Next, choose a citation style (MLA9, MLA8, APA7/6, Chicago, etc) then click on Create citation.
All created citations are saved to My Citations list in your EasyBib account. Make sure you are logged in to your account before you start creating citations. Also, registered users have the ability to export all their saved citations to Google Docs or Microsoft Word in which case you will need to connect your Drive and Microsoft accounts to EasyBib.
The ability to export bulk citations to Docs or Word is indeed a practical feature especially for student researchers. As you work on your research paper, you simultaneously create lists of citations on EasyBib and when you are done writing and formatting the paper, click to export the whole citation list to Docs or Word where you can further prune them before you finally incorporate them in your research paper.
Writing guides
EasyBib Writing center offers a wide variety of helpful resources and guides to help students create properly formatted papers. These include Citations guides for MALA, APA, Chicago, and Harvard:
- APA Format: offers APA citation examples, APA in-text citations, APA reference page, APA sample paper, and APA formatting guide
- MLA Format: offers MLA bibliography, citation examples, in-text citations, sample paper, works cited, and MLA formatting guide.
- Writing assignments: includes a number of essays: argumentative, expository, persuasive, research paper, and general essay.
- Grammar guides: include resources on adjectives, adverbs, determiners, interjections, nouns, prepositions, verbs, and pronouns
Plagiarism guide
This guides introduces readers to the concept of plagiarism and provides more resources on how to avoid it. More specifically, the guide covers the following points:
- What is Plagiarism?
- How to Avoid Accidental Plagiarism
- How to Avoid Plagiarism
- How to Paraphrase
- Plagiarism Checker
What is EasyBib plagiarism checker?
EasyBib provides a powerful plagiarism checker that allows users to check their papers for instances of plagiarism."The plagiarism checker compares your writing sample with billions of available sources online so that it detects plagiarism at every level. You’ll be notified of which phrases are too similar to current research and literature, prompting a possible rewrite or additional citation. You’ll also get feedback on your paper’s inconsistencies, such as changes in text, formatting, or style. These small details could suggest possible plagiarism within your assignment."
Video lessons and infographics
In this section, you get access to a number of video tutorials on APA and MLA citation styles. The videos cover the following topics: how to format a paper in both APA and MLA, how to add in-text and parenthetical citations, how to cite images in APA and MLA, how to cite videos in APA and MLA, and how to cite websites.
There are also handy infographics to use with your students in class such as : MLA vs. APA, MLA: How to format a paper, APA: How to format a paper, What is plagiarism?, and Identifying fake news.
Is EasyBib free?
EasyBib free plan supports ads and offers very limited features. The premium plan offers more features including access to all writing, "plagiarism and spelling issues; check unlimited papers; and save your papers online."
For alternatives to EasyBib, check out my list of the best 8 citation and bibliography tools for teachers and students.
