ACM reference tool
ACM citation generator: create a reference from a DOI
Look up a scholarly DOI, review the source metadata, and copy an accurate ACM format reference or BibTeX record for computer science, software engineering, systems, and computing research manuscripts.
01 Source identifier
02 Formatted output
Your formatted reference will appear here
Submit a DOI to retrieve its registry metadata. The output area stays in place while the lookup runs.
Keep the source with the manuscript
Open a Rivul AI workspace to save references, insert citations, and export Word or LaTeX.
Use this tool when a computer science or computing paper has a DOI and you need to cite in ACM format with bracketed numbers or author-year citations.
Use the IEEE citation generator when you are writing for an IEEE publication or engineering journal that requires IEEE numbered format →ACM reference tool
How this ACM citation generator works
This tool creates citations from publisher metadata deposited at Crossref and DataCite. An accurate ACM citation generator formats the source fields cleanly, but resolving the DOI directly lets you verify author names, proceedings titles, and volume numbers before the reference reaches a manuscript.
Start with the DOI
Paste a registered DOI or full doi.org URL. Resolving a registered identifier fetches authenticated deposit records directly from Crossref or DataCite rather than scraping brittle web pages.
Verify the bibliographic fields
Inspect author initials, publication year, article title, proceedings or journal title, and volume information against the source paper to ensure deposit accuracy.
Copy the formatted ACM citation or BibTeX
Copy the standard numbered ACM reference directly into your document, or grab the matching BibTeX entry for your LaTeX bibliography file.
Formatting a reference does not prove that a source supports a claim. Check the relevant passage in the source before you rely on it.
Read the complete IEEE citation format guide →Field reference
Where each ACM reference field comes from
An ACM reference generator depends entirely on the fidelity of the underlying registry metadata. These are the fields retrieved from the DOI deposit and key conventions to verify before citing.
| Field | Source | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Authors | Registry author list | ACM style standardizes author names with initials followed by the family surname, or full surname followed by initials depending on the exact sub-track. Check that multi-author papers include all contributors up to conference requirements. |
| Publication year | Issued date | ACM format places the publication year prominently immediately after the author listing. Verify that online pre-prints or early access deposits reflect the actual conference or volume year. |
| Article title | Deposited title | Article and paper titles should be checked for preserved math formulas, capitalization, and escaped punctuation. In ACM style, titles are styled in sentence or title case without extra quote wrappers in standard references. |
| Venue & proceedings | Container title | Computing papers frequently appear in conference proceedings (e.g., SIGCOMM, CHI, NeurIPS, ICSE). Ensure the full proceedings title or ACM conference abbreviation is accurately retained. |
| DOI & URL | Deposited DOI identifier | ACM reference specifications strictly require the full resolution link https://doi.org/... at the end of the citation for reader verifiability. |
Troubleshooting
When the lookup does not return what you expected
The DOI fails to resolve
Why it happens. The pasted input may contain leading or trailing punctuation from a PDF copy, or might be an arXiv or SSRN identifier that lacks a Crossref DOI deposit.
What to do. Trim spaces and trailing periods, ensure the string starts with 10., or convert your preprint identifier to its official DOI.
Missing conference title or proceedings name
Why it happens. Some publisher deposits omit container titles for workshop or symposium papers, providing only an ISBN or collection title.
What to do. Check the paper's header or title page and append the conference acronym and location into the generated reference.
Author given names not formatted as initials
Why it happens. Registry records frequently store full given names. While acceptable in some ACM tracks, standard ACM reference format prefers initial abbreviations.
What to do. Abbreviate the given names to single uppercase initials with periods before pasting into your final bibliography.
Article title casing does not match ACM requirements
Why it happens. Crossref deposits often store titles in uppercase or haphazard publisher casings.
What to do. Convert title to standard ACM sentence or headline capitalization, keeping proper nouns and technical acronyms capitalized.
Questions
ACM citation generator questions
Is this ACM citation generator free to use?
Yes. Resolving a DOI and formatting the ACM reference or matching BibTeX record is completely free and requires no account or credit card.
What distinguishes the ACM reference format from other styles?
ACM citation format is the standard bibliographic style of the Association for Computing Machinery. It places author initials before or after surnames depending on whether standard or numbered format is selected, specifies the publication year prominently after authors, and requires the complete DOI hyperlink at the end of every digital reference.
Can I generate BibTeX entries alongside the ACM citation?
Yes. Every DOI lookup generates both the formatted ACM citation text and a clean, fully validated BibTeX record. You can copy the plain text reference for word processors or paste the BibTeX markup directly into your LaTeX document bibliography.
How should conference proceedings and symposium papers be cited in ACM style?
ACM style places major emphasis on conference proceedings because computing research publishes heavily in symposia. An ACM conference citation includes the authors, year, paper title in quotes or sentence case, proceedings title, publisher details, page ranges, and the permanent DOI link.
What should I do if an ACM paper does not have a registered DOI?
While almost all papers published in the ACM Digital Library and related major computing venues possess a registered DOI, older historical conference papers or working drafts might not. If your computing source lacks a DOI, use our manual BibTeX generator to enter the conference title, year, and pages directly.
How does ACM format handle multiple authors or collaborative groups?
In ACM format, all contributing authors are listed up to the venue limit, joined by commas with an Oxford comma and 'and' before the final name. For institutional groups or large consortia, the official working group name is placed in the author position without individual initials.