Citation and Research Tools

There are many software applications available to help you format citations and bibliographies or maintain a list of references for a research project. They may be available as:

• Web sites or web-applications/tools
• Network or PC-based software programs
• Browser extensions.

If you use any of these tools, be sure to review the results carefully and compare to the recommendations of your style manual whenever in doubt. If you are writing for a class or for publication, your instructor or publisher is always the final authority to consult for determining which general style to use, as well as for determining the proper format for a specific citation.

Tools @ UNT​

RefWorks

The UNT Libraries make this reference management tool freely available to UNT students, faculty, and staff. It allows you to quickly gather, categorize, and store references as well as generate citations and bibliographies for research papers.

• You must set up a free RefWorks account to use the software using your UNT email address
• More information available in our RefWorks Guide

Citation Generators

A number of subscribed and managed systems provided by the UNT Libraries can generate a citation for you. A few examples:

• Online Articles Search: The search on the library's homepage allows you to "save items" by clicking the folder icon in the upper-right corner of a result. The Saved folder (upper right of the screen) will provide you with citations in APA, AMA, MLA, Uniform, Chicago/Turabian, and Harvard Styles. Citations can be e-mailed, printed, copied, or exported to RefWorks, EndNote, or BibTex.
• Electronic Resources: Many databases we subscribe to offer citation generation, saving, and/or export functions.
• UNT Digital Library: Items in the UNT Digital Libraries & Portal to Texas History will generate a simple citation. See "Citations, Rights, Re-Use" in the left-hand column of an item's description.

Other Generators and Management Tools

Zotero

Free widely used reference manager with a browser add-on for Firefox. Also available as a standalone download with plugins for Google's Chrome and Apple's Safari Browsers and for both Microsoft Office and OpenOffice.

• Helps you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources.
• The only research tool that automatically senses content, allowing you to add it to your personal library with a single click.
• Collects all your research in a single, searchable interface. You can add PDFs, images, audio and video files, snapshots of web pages, and really anything else.
• Automatically indexes the full-text content of your library, enabling you to find exactly what you're looking for with just a few keystrokes.
• Free citation generator from ZoteroBib

BibMe

Free automatic citation creator that supports MLA, APA, Chicago, and Turabian formatting.

• Leverages external databases to quickly fill citation information for you. 
• Formats the citation information and compiles a bibliography according to the guidelines of the style manuals.
• If you prefer, you can enter your citation information manually.
• Features a citation guide that provides students with the style manuals' guidelines for citing references.

KnightCite

Select a citation style (APA, MLA, or Chicago) and a resource type (e.g., book, journal, musical composition) and fill in the online form to generate a properly formatted bibliographic and in-text citation.