Standards & sources

Every tool here follows a published source. We are not making rules up. If you find an output that disagrees with the official manual or the underlying research, email us and we will fix it.

Citation styles

• APA. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition (2020), plus the APA Style website for edge cases.
• MLA. MLA Handbook, 9th edition (2021), and the MLA Style Center.
• Chicago. Notes-Bibliography variant of the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition (2017).
• Harvard. Cite Them Right (Pears & Shields, 12th edition), the most widely used Harvard variant in UK and Australian universities.

Reading and speaking speed

Reading time uses 225 words per minute, the adult silent-reading average from Brysbaert's 2019 meta-analysis. Speaking time uses 130 words per minute, aligned with Toastmasters guidance for a conversational presentation pace.

Both are averages. If you read fast or speak slow, the numbers will be off in the direction you would expect. Use them as a sanity check, not a stopwatch.

GPA scales

• Unweighted 4.0. The College Board standard.
• 4.3 (A+ counts). Common at MIT and most graduate programs.
• Weighted 5.0. Common at US high schools for AP and IB courses.

Corrections

Found an output that disagrees with your manual? Email us the example and the edition you are checking against. We publish fixes within a day or two.