Manage Citations with Zotero, Mendeley, and EndNote: Other Programs

There are other citation management applications aside from Mendeley, Zotero, and EndNote. These other applications may cater towards specific types of research (for example, coding and engineering) or may be used in other universities. The most common ones that you may run across while doing your research include BibTeX, F1000Workspace, Paperpile, ReadCube, and RefWorks.

BibTeX is both a tool and a file format that is used with LaTeX documents, which are specifically geared towards coding, engineering and mathematics.

​Zotero can do a one-time export of citations as a *.bib file. In the drop-down menu, select “File” and then “Export Library…” In the drop-down list of file types, select BibTeX (*.bib). Save your BibTeX file in the same location as your LaTeX files. If you plan on making any changes to your citations, it may be easier to download a plugin like Better BibTeX.

The screenshot below shows a one-time BibTeX export in Zotero.

Mendeley can do a one-time export of citations as a *.bib file. Within your "My Library" in Mendeley, select the references you would like to export to BibTeX. In the drop-down menu, select "File" and then "Export"; In the drop-down list of file types, select BibTeX (*.bib). Save your BibTeX file in the same location as your LaTeX files. If you plan on making any changes to your citations, it may be easier to go to your Mendeley Desktop "Preferences," click the "BibTex" tab, and select the box labeled "Enable BibTeX syncing" and any additional options you require.

The screenshot below shows a one-time BibTeX export in Mendeley.

EndNote can export citations as a *.bib file to BibTeX. Click "Select Another Style" in the drop-down menu in the toolbar at the top of the screen. Select "BibTeX Export" from the drop-down list. Save your BibTeX export in the same location as your LaTeX files.

F1000Workspace is another citation management tool. It is web-based, and has native Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS apps. It integrates with Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and Manuscripts. It’s mobile apps allow you to add items to your library from mobile devices, the only program that can do that. You can search Google Scholar and PubMed directly from the app and add citations you find to your library.

The major downside is that F1000Workspace is only free for a 30-day trial and costs $9.95 per month thereafter.

Paperpile is citation management too built specifically for the Chrome browser and works on OS X, Windows, Linux and Chrome OS. It works with your Google Apps and integrates with your citations with Google Drive and Docs. Because it integrates with Google Apps, it is very easy to share and keep everything updated on the go.

The downside is that Paperpile is limited specifically to Google apps, and does not work with other browsers or word processors. Paperpile is only free for a 30 day trial, after which you will need to pay a fee of $36/year to use it.

ReadCube is web-based with apps for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. It can provide access to enhanced PDFs of articles from participating publishers. It integrates with Microsoft Word, but not as well as other programs. It does also provide integration with Overleaf. You can search Google Scholar and PubMed for articles and add them directly to your library.

ReadCube is free and only works on a single computer. You need to upgrade to ReadCube Pro for $55 annually to sync your library between devices. With ReadCube Teams you can collaborate with other members of your team.

RefWorks is a web-based tool that lets you export articles from library databases or RSS feeds to your RefWorks account, which you can then organize online. It also works with other citation management software if you are collaborating with researchers. RefWorks is not free and requires an annual subscription.