Citation Managers are bibliographic management programs that will help you keep track of articles and books as you find them, organize your references and create bibliographies in 100s of citation styles (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, etc.)
They will also allow you to:
- Import citations as you research from databases and catalogs
- Save and organize citations
- Attach PDFs of articles, when available
- Embed citations (footnotes or in-text) into your word processing documents
- Collaborate with others online
- Discover the latest research
The most popular citation managers are EndNote and Zotero. Below are their differences. Remember to always check with your professor if you are not sure.
EndNote - Web version (EndNote Online or EndNote Basic) free to anyone; integrates with MS Word; the Instruction Labs at the University Library have the Cite-While-You-Write plug-in on Word for students to access their EndNote web accounts
Zotero - Free to anyone; integrates with MS Word and/or Google Docs; must be installed on your own computer
Zoterobib- Free to anyone; allows you to create an instant bibliography from your browser on any devices.
| Criteria |
Zotero |
EndNote and EndNote Web |
| Website |
http://www.zotero.org/ |
http://endnote.com/
EndNote Web: https://www.myendnoteweb.com/
|
| Web based? |
Yes, works with Firefox browser and can sync with online account; connectors for Chrome and Safari available |
EndNote is a standalone app but it can transfer library to EndNote Web. |
| Operating System |
Windows, Mac, Linux |
Windows or MAC |
| Cost |
Free for basic account and the standalone app. Some cost for more online storage space |
Free for EndNote Web but $$ for the standalone app. |
| Import from databases |
Yes |
Direct export from specific databases |
| Import citation info from web pages |
Yes, also archives the page and you can add annotations |
only with EndNote Web bookmarklet |
| Attach associated files (PDFs, etc.) |
Yes, with option to attach automatically |
Yes, and can highlight and annotate PDFs |
adapted from American University Library and Penn State University Libraries
