About YesCite

A short note before we begin

Thank you for using YesCite.

If you are here, there is a good chance you feel the same way I do. Citation matters, but dealing with it can be exhausting.

I did not build YesCite because I enjoy generating citations. I built it because, in my own writing and research, I kept running into the same problem. Citation rules are not hard to understand, but they are tedious, detailed, and very easy to get wrong.

Why I built YesCite

In my own work, I regularly use APA, MLA, and Chicago citation styles. When I took the time to read the official guides, I realized something important. The rules themselves are clear. The real difficulty is applying them correctly every time.

Each style has its own requirements for author order, punctuation, italics, and publication details. Even within the same style, different editions introduce small but meaningful changes. Despite my technical background, I still had to check the official manuals again and again to avoid mistakes. This took far more time and attention than it should have.

For most people, the situation is even harder.

Many users are not citation experts. They do not have the time or patience to review style manuals in detail. In practice, they have no choice but to rely on tools to handle citations.

That led me to a simple question.

What should a citation tool actually be good at?

How I see citation tools

After using and comparing many citation generators, I noticed something that made me uneasy. The same source often produces very different results across different tools.

These differences do not always come from the citation rules themselves. More often, they come from how each tool chooses to interpret or simplify those rules. Some tools focus on producing output that looks reasonable at first glance, instead of following the original standards closely. In academic writing, peer review, or publishing, these quiet differences can cause real problems.

My own requirement is simple.

I want a citation that is accurate and traceable, even if some fields are missing. I would rather see incomplete information than a complete looking result that is based on guesses.

If a tool cannot explain which rules it follows, or when it makes assumptions, it becomes very hard for users to trust the output when something looks wrong.

A note on AI and citation

Many tools today rely heavily on AI to generate citations. I do not deny that AI can be helpful for speed and convenience. But citation is a special case.

In my view, citation is primarily a rule execution problem, not a text generation problem. If the rules are unclear or the process cannot be explained, a fluent result does not automatically mean a correct one.

Because of this, I take a cautious approach. In YesCite, AI can assist with identifying and organizing source data, but it should not replace clear, rule based decisions. Consistency and traceability matter more to me than producing something that only looks complete.

How YesCite handles citations

When designing YesCite, I chose a conservative but reliable approach.

YesCite follows official citation guides, including but not limited to:

• APA Publication Manual, Seventh Edition
• MLA Handbook, Ninth Edition
• The Chicago Manual of Style, Seventeenth Edition

For each source type, YesCite determines which fields are required and applies the relevant rules for author order, punctuation, italics, capitalization, and missing information.

When source data is incomplete or when a rule falls into a gray area, YesCite avoids filling in details by assumption. The goal is not visual completeness, but results that stay within what the rules clearly allow.

What role I want YesCite to play

YesCite is designed to be a reliable assistant, not a replacement for human judgment.

When the rules are clear, it helps you save time.

When the rules are complex or information is missing, it avoids creating hidden errors and instead shows what is missing so you can decide how to proceed.

If you are preparing an important paper, report, or publication, I still recommend reviewing the final citation before submission. Being open about the limits of a tool is, in my view, part of building real trust.

Maintenance and responsibility

YesCite is designed, developed, and maintained by me personally.

I actively track updates to official citation guides and continue improving accuracy and usability whenever possible. If you encounter issues or have questions about citation rules, you are welcome to reach out.

Email: contact@yescite.com

I read every message carefully. User feedback directly influences how YesCite evolves.

Final words

If YesCite helps you avoid even one unnecessary revision or correction in your work, then it has already done what I built it for.

Thank you for using YesCite.