What is a Citation Management Tool?
Citation management tools allow you to download citations from various websites and databases, electronically store and organize the citations, and format the citations for your paper and bibliography. Some citation management tools also make it easy to share references with other researchers.
There are a variety of citation management tools. This guide provides information about the tools on which the PSU Library can provide support:
Click here to watch a recorded (previously live) webinar on Zotero and Mendeley.
In addition to citation management software, there are free online citation generators that allow you to enter information from your resource (e.g. journal article, web page, book), the generator creates a citation for the resource which you are then able to copy and paste into your document.
Upcoming Workshops
Zotero and Mendeley workshops are offered throughout Fall, Winter and Spring terms. You can also schedule an individual consultation with Michael Bowman whose contact information is on the right side of this page. Click here to watch a recorded (previously live) webinar on Zotero and Mendeley.
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Comparing Citation Management Tools
The table below describes many of the features of these citation management tools. For a comparison of Zotero and Mendeley, watch this video.
| Endnote | EndNote Web | Zotero | Mendeley | |
|
Pros |
Copes very well with a large library Large number of citation styles Journal abbreviation recognition |
Works very well with Web of Science/Web of Knowledge Free while you're at PSU. |
Add citations (and sometimes also attached articles and page snapshots) from the Web, library catalogs and databases at the click of a button. iPhone/Android apps Nested folders Free access independent of the library (you can use it forever) |
Collaborative PDF annotation iPhone/iPad interface Social networking Free access independent of the library (you can use it forever) |
|
Cons |
Not compatible with Linux Desktop only Costs money |
Word processor plugin not compatible with Linux Procedures differ for each database for exporting citations from each database and importing into EndNote Web. Can only use it while you're at PSU. |
Not compatible with Internet Explorer The desktop application is still in Beta, so it still works best with Firefox |
The web bookmarklet doesn't always work for pulling in citations for database content |
|
Who can use it? |
Must purchase a license | PSU students, faculty and staff | Anyone | Anyone |
| How do I access it? | On your desktop (can be synced with EndNote Web | Web access (can be synced with EndNote) | Web extension for Firefox, desktop program if you use other browsers (with connections to Safari and Chrome) | Desktop program with browser bookmarklet |
| Can I attach articles to my references? | Yes (PDF, Word Doc, PPt, etc.) | Yes (links to attachments) | Yes (PDF, Word doc, PPT, etc.) | Yes (PDF, Word doc, PPt, etc.) |
|
Can I use it to cite sources in my document? |
Yes (Cite while you Write plugin for Word, Open Office and Mathematica) | Yes (Cite while you Write plugin for Word, Open Office and Mathematica) | Yes (plugins for Word and Open Office) | Yes (plugins for Word and Open Office) |
| Can I capture citation info from PDFs and Web pages? |
Yes (PDF) No (Web pages) |
Yes (Web plugin for Firefox) | Yes | Yes (Web importer) |
| Captures web page snapshots? | No | No | Yes | Yes (Web importer) |
| Collaboration? | Via EndNote Web | Share references with groups | Share references with groups |
Share references and notes with groups Academic social network |
| Search across papers? | No | No | Yes |
Yes |
| Annotation? | Notes in the record, not the document | Notes in the record, not the document | Notes in the record, highlighting and annotation of web snapshots |
Highlighting and annotation of PDF documents |
| Free web storage space for records and attached documents? | N/A | Only storage for 10,000 records | 1GB web storage (for-pay options for additional storage) |
100 MB web storage (for-pay options for additional storage) |
Benefits of Citation Tools
Citation managment tools allow you to:
- build a database of your references.
- attach articles to references so that all your research is in one place.
- store notes with references.
- search references
- cite your sources in your paper with a touch of a button.
- automatically build your bibliograhy (also called works cited/reference list).
- easily change your citation style if needed(e.g. APA to MLA, Chicago, etc).
Citation generators allow you to:
- create a citation and biblographic reference that you can copy and paste into your document.
NOTE: Citation generators do not save your references.
Librarian for Individual Consultations
 Michael Bowman Engineering Librarian Links: Profile & Guides |
Librarian for Group Workshops
 Meredith Farkas Head of Instructional Services Links: Profile & Guides |
Table of Contents
How to Create a Citation
Credits
Content on this page was adapted/borrowed from Kim Glover at the University of Kansas.
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