Research for Thesis & Dissertation Literature Reviews: Citation Managers & Info Organization
Citation Management Tools
The following tools allow you to collect book and article citations from the library catalog and databases and (using a plugin for MS Word) insert those citations into your paper in the appropriate format. Some of the tools make it easier to import citations from the catalog and databases than others.
The library has created a detailed guide on how to choose and how to use each of these tools.
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ZoteroZotero is a free, open source citation management tool that comes as a Firefox extension or a standalone program for other browsers. It offers plugins for MS Word and Open Office so you can insert citations as you write your paper.
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MendeleyMendeley is not only a citation manager, it is also a social network for scholars. Download the free desktop app that works on any platform. It has plugins for MS Word and Open Office. Mendeley offers a mobile app too.
Tracking Searches and Resources
Organizing Research for Writing
There are numerous ways to organize the material in a lit. review. For example, one might organize the selected readings by
- different theoretical approaches
- specific concepts or issues
- different methodologies employed
- level of support or otherwise that they lend to one’s own hypothesis/theory.
Such methods are generally better than organizing chronologically or by author.
(From Writing a Literature Review Phase 5: Organizing the Review, Boston College Libraries)