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Citation Management: Citation Management

Why Use a Citation Management Tool?

You put a lot of effort into gathering the materials for your paper - make it easy to find and cite them when it's time to write. Citation management software helps you

  • make sure you get all the citation information you need on a particular source,
  • locate the information you've collected, 
  • easily output your citations in the style (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) required,
  • inject citations into your paper, and
  • generate your bibliography.

Comparison of Citation Management Software

characteristic EndNote Mendeley Zotero
Get Started EndNote Guide https://www.mendeley.com/ Zotero Guide
About EndNote allows you to store and share your research materials, and provides tools for importing database searches and citing materials.  Mendeley allows you to store and organize your research materials, share them with others, and annotate documents.  Zotero is an easy to use application for organizing your research materials, sharing them with collaborators, and citing them in a wide range of citation styles. 
Cost Free for UofL students, faculty and staff (institutionally sponsored) Free Free
Storage

Unlimited with UofL account

Basic free account includes 2GB cloud storage Basic free account includes 300MB cloud storage
Accessibility https://endnote.com/ada-compliance/ https://www.mendeley.com/accessibility https://forums.zotero.org/search/?Search=accessibility
Versions Web-based & desktop Web-based & desktop Web-based & desktop
Compatibility

Windows
Mac
EndNote online

Windows
Mac
Linux
Windows
Mac
Linux
Word processors supported Microsoft Word
Apache OpenOffice
LibreOffice
Google Docs
Microsoft Word
LibreOffice
OpenOffice
Microsoft Word
Google Docs
LibreOffice

This table was adapted from one created by Marina Ito at https://libguides.macalester.edu/citation/citationmanagement.

For more options, see this comparison of reference management software.