Citation Generator API

Generate Citation

Generate a properly formatted citation from source data.

Authentication is optional. Authenticated users can save citations to their history.

POST /api/citations/generate

curl -X POST https://api.inspir.uk/api/citations/generate \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
    "citationType": "book",
    "citationStyle": "MLA",
    "sourceData": {
      "author": "Smith, John",
      "title": "The Great Example",
      "publisher": "Academic Press",
      "year": "2023",
      "location": "New York"
    }
  }'

Request Parameters

citationType

string

required

Type of source to cite. Options:

book
article
website
journal
newspaper
video
podcast

citationStyle

string

required

Citation format style. Options:

MLA - Modern Language Association
APA - American Psychological Association
Chicago - Chicago Manual of Style
Harvard - Harvard referencing system

sourceData

object

required

Source information fields. Required fields vary by citation type.

Show Common Fields

author (string): Author name(s)
title (string): Title of work
year (string): Publication year
publisher (string): Publisher name
location (string): Publication location
url (string): URL for online sources
accessDate (string): Date accessed (for online sources)
volume (string): Volume number (for journals)
issue (string): Issue number (for journals)
pages (string): Page numbers

Response

citation

string

The formatted citation string

saved

boolean

Whether the citation was saved to user’s history

citationId

string

Unique identifier for the saved citation (only if saved is true)

data

object

Complete database record (only if saved is true)

Error Responses

Show 400 Bad Request

{
  "error": "Missing required fields: citationType, citationStyle, and sourceData are required"
}

{
  "error": "Invalid citation type. Supported types: book, article, website, journal, newspaper, video, podcast"
}

{
  "error": "Invalid citation style. Supported styles: MLA, APA, Chicago, Harvard"
}

Get Citation History

Retrieve all saved citations for the authenticated user.

This endpoint requires authentication.

GET /api/citations/history

curl -X GET "https://api.inspir.uk/api/citations/history?style=MLA&type=book&limit=50&offset=0" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Query Parameters

style

string

Filter by citation style (MLA, APA, Chicago, Harvard)

type

string

Filter by citation type (book, article, website, etc.)

limit

number

Number of results to return. Default: 50

offset

number

Number of results to skip (for pagination). Default: 0

Response

citations

array

Array of saved citations

Show Citation Object

string

Unique identifier

citation_type

string

Type of source

citation_style

string

Format style

source_data

object

Original source information

formatted_citation

string

The formatted citation string

created_at

string

ISO 8601 timestamp

total

number

Total count of citations

limit

number

Limit applied

offset

number

Offset applied

Get Citation by ID

Retrieve a specific citation.

This endpoint requires authentication. You can only access your own citations.

GET /api/citations/:id

curl -X GET https://api.inspir.uk/api/citations/123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Path Parameters

string

required

The unique identifier of the citation

Response

Returns a single citation object with the same structure as the history endpoint.

Error Responses

Show 404 Not Found

{
  "error": "Citation not found"
}

Update Citation

Update a saved citation. Automatically regenerates the formatted citation if source data changes.

This endpoint requires authentication. You can only update your own citations.

PUT /api/citations/:id

curl -X PUT https://api.inspir.uk/api/citations/123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
    "citationStyle": "APA",
    "sourceData": {
      "author": "Smith, John",
      "title": "The Great Example (2nd ed.)",
      "publisher": "Academic Press",
      "year": "2024"
    }
  }'

Path Parameters

string

required

The unique identifier of the citation

Request Parameters

citationType

string

Updated citation type

citationStyle

string

Updated citation style

sourceData

object

Updated source data

Response

Returns the updated citation object.

Delete Citation

Delete a saved citation.

This endpoint requires authentication. You can only delete your own citations.

DELETE /api/citations/:id

curl -X DELETE https://api.inspir.uk/api/citations/123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Path Parameters

string

required

The unique identifier of the citation

Response

{
  "message": "Citation deleted successfully"
}

Create Bibliography Project

Create a new bibliography project to organize multiple citations.

This endpoint requires authentication.

POST /api/citations/projects

curl -X POST https://api.inspir.uk/api/citations/projects \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
    "projectName": "Research Paper 2024",
    "description": "Citations for my thesis on climate change",
    "defaultStyle": "APA"
  }'

Request Parameters

projectName

string

required

Name of the bibliography project

description

string

Optional description of the project

defaultStyle

string

Default citation style for the project. Default: "MLA"

Response

Returns the created project object:

string

Project ID

user_id

string

Owner’s user ID

project_name

string

Project name

description

string

Project description

default_style

string

Default citation style

created_at

string

ISO 8601 timestamp

Error Responses

Show 400 Bad Request

{
  "error": "Project name is required"
}

Get Projects

Retrieve all bibliography projects for the authenticated user.

This endpoint requires authentication.

GET /api/citations/projects/list

curl -X GET https://api.inspir.uk/api/citations/projects/list \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Response

Returns an array of project objects, sorted by creation date (newest first).

Export Bibliography

Export all citations in a project as a formatted bibliography.

This endpoint requires authentication. You can only export your own projects.

GET /api/citations/projects/:projectId/export

curl -X GET "https://api.inspir.uk/api/citations/projects/123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000/export?format=text" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Path Parameters

projectId

string

required

The unique identifier of the project

Query Parameters

format

string

Export format. Options:

text (default): Plain text bibliography with one citation per line
json: JSON array of citation objects
bibtex: BibTeX format for LaTeX documents

Response

Returns the formatted bibliography as plain text, JSON, or BibTeX depending on the format parameter.

Show Text Format Example

Smith, John. The Great Example. New York: Academic Press, 2023.

Doe, Jane. "Climate Change Effects." Nature Journal, vol. 45, no. 2, 2022, pp. 123-145.

Show JSON Format Example

[
  {
    "id": "...",
    "citation_type": "book",
    "citation_style": "MLA",
    "source_data": { ... },
    "formatted_citation": "Smith, John. The Great Example..."
  }
]

Show BibTeX Format Example

@book{citation1,
  author={Smith, John},
  title={The Great Example},
  publisher={Academic Press},
  year={2023}
}

Error Responses

Show 404 Not Found

{
  "error": "Project not found"
}

Overview

Endpoints

Citation Generator API

Generate Citation

Request Parameters

Response

Error Responses

Get Citation History

Query Parameters

Response

Get Citation by ID

Path Parameters

Response

Error Responses

Update Citation

Path Parameters

Request Parameters

Response

Delete Citation

Path Parameters

Response

Create Bibliography Project

Request Parameters

Response

Error Responses

Get Projects

Response

Export Bibliography

Path Parameters

Query Parameters

Response

Error Responses

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Endpoints

​Generate Citation

​Request Parameters

​Response

​Error Responses

​Get Citation History

​Query Parameters

​Response

​Get Citation by ID

​Path Parameters

​Response

​Error Responses

​Update Citation

​Path Parameters

​Request Parameters

​Response

​Delete Citation

​Path Parameters

​Response

​Create Bibliography Project

​Request Parameters

​Response

​Error Responses

​Get Projects

​Response

​Export Bibliography

​Path Parameters

​Query Parameters

​Response

​Error Responses

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Generate Citation

Request Parameters

Response

Error Responses

Get Citation History

Query Parameters

Response

Get Citation by ID

Path Parameters

Response

Error Responses

Update Citation

Path Parameters

Request Parameters

Response

Delete Citation

Path Parameters

Response

Create Bibliography Project

Request Parameters

Response

Error Responses

Get Projects

Response

Export Bibliography

Path Parameters

Query Parameters

Response

Error Responses