Citing & Writing: Managing References

Some common reference managers are:

EndNote ($)

Mendeley (free)

Zotero (free)

What are Citation or Reference Managers?

Citation management software, also known as reference management software,  bibliographic management software or citation managers, can help you manage and organize your citations and format bibliographies and footnotes in your papers.

Many different citation management tools are available - some are available for free while others are not.  Examples include Mendeley, EndNote, and Zotero. All citation managers carry out the same basic functions but specific features may vary from program to program.

Most citation management tools can help you to:

• Import citation information from databases and library catalogs
• Collect, organize, and annotate citations
• Manage PDF articles
• Generate bibliographies and format footnotes or endnotes in a variety of styles

• The University of Wisconsin-Madison's comparison chart.
• MIT Libraries comparison chart.
• Bodleian Libraries (University of Oxford)
• Comparison of Reference Manager Software  (Wikipedia)
• Penn State's Citation Tools