Bibliography generator for books, articles, websites and more
Your sources are scattered: browser tabs, a pile of library books, PDFs in a folder and a photo of a reading list. Send everything to your todo.is agent and this prompt turns it into one clean bibliography in the style you need, with optional short annotations and a file you can import into Zotero or another reference manager.
The prompt
- Build a bibliography from these sources: [SOURCES]. Style: [CITATION STYLE]. Open each link or file, or read the photos, and find full details. Remove duplicates, sort the list the way the style requires, and use hanging indents. [ANNOTATIONS]. Flag any source that looks unreliable or that I should replace with a better one, and any detail you could not confirm. Deliver: 1) a Word document with the formatted bibliography, 2) a BibTeX (.bib) file of the same sources so I can import them into my reference manager. Title the page [PAGE TITLE].
What to change
- [SOURCES]: Mix anything: links, DOIs, ISBNs, PDFs, a photo of a stack of books, a screenshot of your reading list.
- [CITATION STYLE]: e.g. "APA 7", "MLA 9", "Chicago notes-bibliography", "Harvard (my university)", "IEEE".
- [ANNOTATIONS]: "No annotations", or e.g. "Add a 3-sentence annotation to each: summary, how it is useful for my topic on urban heat islands, and one limitation".
- [PAGE TITLE]: e.g. "Bibliography", "Works Cited", "References", "Annotated Bibliography".
Example result
- Annotated Bibliography (APA 7)
- Topic: cooling cities with green roofs and street trees
- Ferreira, L., & Okafor, T. (2022). Street trees and summer temperatures in dense neighborhoods. *Urban Climate Letters*, *11*(3), 45–60. https://doi.org/10.0000/ucl.2022.113
- • Summary: compares street temperatures in blocks with and without mature trees over two summers.
- • Use for my paper: strong local evidence for the street-tree section.
- • Limitation: one city only, so results may not apply to drier climates.
- Hart, M. (2020). *Green roofs: Design and performance* (2nd ed.). Brightfield Press.
- • Summary: a technical guide to roof types, plant choices and cooling effects.
- • Use for my paper: definitions and the difference between extensive and intensive roofs.
- • Limitation: focuses on new buildings, less on retrofits.
- Municipal Climate Office. (2024). *Heat action plan 2024–2030*. https://www.example.gov/heat-plan
- • Summary: a city plan setting tree canopy and cool roof targets.
- • Use for my paper: shows how policy turns research into targets.
- • Limitation: a policy document, not peer-reviewed research.
- Flagged
- • "10 crazy facts about green roofs" (blog, no author, no sources): replace it with a peer-reviewed review article. Your agent found two candidates, with links in the reply.
- • Hart (2020): the photo shows the 2nd edition; confirm you read the same edition.
- Cleaned up
- • 1 duplicate removed (same article from the journal site and a PDF copy)
- • 2 ISBNs from the book photo matched to the publisher's records
- Files
- • Annotated_Bibliography.docx: formatted, hanging indents, double-spaced
- • sources.bib: 12 entries for Zotero, Mendeley or LaTeX
How to do it with todo.is
- List or attach all your sources, pick the style and decide on annotations.
- Send the to-do to your agent in todo.is, or send book photos from your phone on Telegram or WhatsApp.
- Download the Word file for your paper and the .bib file for your reference manager.
- Found more sources? Send them with "add to my bibliography" and you get an updated, re-sorted list.
Tips for a better result
- Book photos work best with the title page and the copyright page, which show edition, publisher and year.
- Ask for annotations only if your assignment requires them. They take the bibliography from a list to a mini literature review.
- Replace flagged weak sources early. A bibliography full of blogs can lower your grade even if the formatting is perfect.
- Import the .bib file into a reference manager so in-text citations stay in sync as you write.
bibliography generator: FAQ
- What is the difference between a bibliography and a reference list? A reference list contains only the sources you cite. A bibliography can also include background reading. MLA calls its list "Works Cited".
- What is an annotated bibliography? A bibliography where each entry is followed by a short paragraph that summarizes the source and says how it is useful and what its limits are.
- Which citation styles can it use? Any common style, including APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE, Vancouver and Turabian. If your school has its own guide, attach it.
- Can it read sources from photos? Yes. It reads the text in photos of title pages, reading lists or book spines, then looks up the full details online.
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