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Reference Managers

Multiple free and subscription software applications are available to help you organize your references and create bibliographies for large projects.

For details about additional reference managers, see Wikipedia's Comparison of Reference Management Software.

Features of Zotero

Zotero is a free, open-source reference manager run by the non-profit, Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. You can store all types of files in your Zotero account along with their references.

  • Requires desktop installation on a PC or Mac
  • Comes with 300MB of free storage with options to upgrade storage to 2 GB, 6 GB or unlimited - see Storage Pricing
  • Can organize and store references in parent and child folders
  • Creates bibliographies in over 100,000 citation styles
  • Consistently captures references and documents using the Zotero Connector for Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or Microsoft Edge
  • Provides plug-ins for Microsoft Word and OpenOffice to allow insertion of in-text citations and dynamic bibliographies
  • Export files are compatible with BibTeX, EndNote, Mendeley, and RefWorks 

Sign up for your free Zotero account at https://www.zotero.org/. You can purchase additional storage through annual fees - see Upgrade Storage at the top right. A comparison of reference managers is available in Wikipedia.

Drawbacks of Zotero

  1. Not as user friendly as RefWorks or Mendeley
  2. Need to do clean up of references before producing bibliographies.

How to Use Zotero (A Complete Beginner's Guide)

Watch this excellent YouTube video from TipTopBio to get started with your Zotero account.

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