Citation Management Tools

Citation management tools, sometimes called reference management software, can be incredibly helpful if you're writing papers, either for a course or publication. While some tools are downloaded to your computer, most are web-based and can be accessed from anywhere.

These tools have many of the same functions:

• pull in references from sources like Google Scholar or subscription resources through your institution
• organize references based on project or semester
• collaborate with your other authors
• insert a reference list in the citation style of your choice
• insert in-text citations into your paper or manuscript
• save, tag, annotate, and highlight PDFs
  

EndNote Web/EndNote Online is the free, web-based version of EndNote. Users get up to 2 GB or 50,000 references of free storage. Sign up for your account through Clarivate. You'll be able to:

• create project folders
• integrate with your word processor
• download a browser plugin called EndNote Click
• create bibliographies and in-text citations

You can choose to purchase EndNote 20. With EndNote 20, you can:

• create unlimited project libraries
  
• annotate PDFs
• collaborate with others
• integrate with your word processor
• download a browser plugin called EndNote Click
• create bibliographies and in-text citations
  

Mendeley, from Elsevier, can be downloaded to your computer and used on the web. It is free for up to 2 GB of web storage or 500 MB of personal storage. Some features of Mendeley include:

• annotate PDFs
• follow topics and authors of interest
• integrate with your word processor
• use a browser plugin
• complete bibliographies and in-text citations
  

Zotero can be downloaded to your computer and used from your browser. Zotero is free up to 300 MB. Some unique aspects of Zotero include:

• add tags or notes to a source

• integrate with your word processor
• use a browser plugin
• create bibliographies and complete in-text citations
  

• EndNote Help Guide
• Mendeley Help Guides
  
• Zotero Support
  

There are other tools available. These are just a few of the best. It's really a matter of personal preference, what you get used to, and what your collaborators are using. Happy citing!

View my ORCID

Email: carrieprice@towson.edu
Website: https://libraries.towson.edu/
Location: Albert S. Cook Library, York Road, Towson, MD, USA
Twitter: @carrieprice78