Citation Management
Overview
When you begin writing research papers in college, you’ll hear a lot about “citation management.” Various types of online tools help you keep track of books, articles, websites, and other resources while also helping you create your bibliographies (the lists of references at the end of your papers) automatically.
You may already be familiar with online citation tools such as EasyBib or NoodleTools. And while these two are great starting points, especially in high school, research at the college level often demands more advanced, robust, and flexible citation management systems that can do even more. Below, we’ve listed the most-used citation management software supported by colleges and universities.
Here are some of the most widely used citation/reference management tools in higher education.
Zotero
- Zotero is a free, downloadable program (Mac, Windows, Linux, and iOS) that lets you collect, organize, and cite your sources all in one place.
- You can save information from library databases, websites, and PDFs and export them into Zotero.
- Zotero automatically organizes your sources into folders that you can tag or search.
- Zotero has a free Microsoft Word plug-in that makes inserting and formatting citations simple. When it’s time to write your paper, you can click a button in Microsoft Word to add citations as you type.
RefWorks
- RefWorks is a cloud-based citation software that helps you organize, store, and share your references while instantly creating citations and bibliographies.
- Users can upload files or link to physical or electronic books, or book chapters available in your institution, as well as citations to external websites.
- Like EndNote, RefWorks requires a paid subscription. However, many academic libraries provide it for free to students.
- Like other citation tools, RefWorks integrates with Microsoft Word, allowing you to easily add citations as you write.
Mendelay
- Mendeley is good for managing large numbers of research articles, especially PDFs. It organizes them, helps you highlight or make notes inside them, and builds citations.
- Like Zotero, it also integrates with Word, letting you add citations without leaving your document.
- Mendeley is especially popular in science and health fields.
- Mendelay is a free software management tool.
EndNote
- EndNote is one of the most powerful citation management software available for large-scale research efforts.
- EndNote is especially popular in the hard sciences (biology, chemistry, engineering, and medicine) and is often used by science graduate students and researchers who need to manage hundreds of sources.
- EndNote works with Word, through its Cite While You Write (CWYW) plugin tool, providing lots of advanced options for customizing your citation style.
- EndNote is not free to individuals, but many college libraries provide a subscription. Check with your library!
- Because of its many functions, EndNote has a steeper learning curve than many of the other software listed on this page.
