Free citation generator · CSL
American Geophysical Union Citation Generator
Generate references in American Geophysical Union from a DOI or link in seconds. CitApp renders this style with citeproc, the same engine as Zotero and Mendeley, so every comma matches the spec. Free for students, no sign-up to try.
What an American Geophysical Union reference looks like
American Geophysical Union is an author-date style: the in-text citation gives the author surname and year in parentheses.
Rendered live from the same engine CitApp uses in the app:
Journal article
Babonis, L. S., & Martindale, M. Q. (2022). A novel regulatory gene network in cnidarians. PNAS, 119(19), e2113701119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2113701119
Book
Kuhn, T. S. (1970). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. University of Chicago Press.
Web page
IPCC. (2021, August 9). Climate change 2021: the physical science basis. Retrieved July 15, 2026, from https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/
In-text citation
(Babonis & Martindale, 2022)
Journal article with 26 authors
Harris, C. R., Millman, K. J., van der Walt, S. J., Gommers, R., Virtanen, P., Cournapeau, D., et al. (2020). Array programming with NumPy. Nature, 585(7825), 357–362. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2649-2
American Geophysical Union at a glance
Read from the style file and checked against the examples above.
- Used mainly in geology.
- For a paper with 26 authors, the reference list names the first 6 authors and shortens the rest.
- In the text, the same paper becomes (Harris et al., 2020).
- First names are shortened to initials.
- DOIs are printed as links (https://doi.org/...).
- Web pages include the date you accessed them.
- The reference list is sorted alphabetically by author.
- The reference list uses a hanging indent and double spacing.
- The style file was last updated in September 2012.
The guide this style follows: publications.agu.org
How American Geophysical Union compares with APA Style 6th edition
Where American Geophysical Union differs:
- For a paper with 26 authors, the reference list names the first 6 authors and shortens the rest.
Frequently asked questions
How many authors does American Geophysical Union list?
For a paper with 26 authors, the reference list names the first 6 authors and shortens the rest. In the text, the same paper becomes (Harris et al., 2020).
How does American Geophysical Union handle DOIs and web pages?
DOIs are printed as links (https://doi.org/...). Web pages include the date you accessed them.
How is the reference list ordered in American Geophysical Union?
The reference list is sorted alphabetically by author. The reference list uses a hanging indent and double spacing.
Prefer a built-in style?
APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, IEEE, Vancouver and Oxford have dedicated generators too.
Open the citation generatorKeep every source organized
Save sources to projects, drag them into chapters and export a finished reference list. Free to start, no credit card.