What are citation managers?
Citation managers are great tools for organizing your references and producing beautifully formatted bibliographies. The university and university libraries make these products available at no cost to current NU faculty, staff, and students.
- EndNote Research Help GuideAdditional help including short videos and/or screenshots on commonly asked EndNote questions by students, faculty, and staff is available.
NOTE: Some professors and/or labs may require you to use a specific citation manager. If you are completing an assignment in which use of a specific citation manager is required, please verify on your assignment and/or syllabus.
Which Citation Manager Should I Choose?
Learn how a citation management tool can make your research life easier.
What is a citation manager?
A citation manager is a piece of software that helps you collect and organize your research and create bibliographies and in-text citations. Citation managers generally offer a range of citation styles and features to choose from.
Which citation managers does the library support?
The Northeastern library supports EndNote, Mendeley, RefWorks and Zotero. We also support the use of BibTeX and LaTeX.
Which citation manager should I use?
While citation managers generally have the same basic functions, each one offers some specific features.
Our citation manager comparison chart (below) can help you identify the features that will work best for you. See also our tutorial on choosing a citation manager.
- Comparison chart for citation management softwareCompares EndNote 20, RefWorks, Zotero, and Mendeley Desktop.
Citing with BibTeX and LaTeX
LaTeX is open source software that allows you to create professionally-rendered files that incorporate mathematical symbols, equations and formulas, which can be difficult to do with standard word processors such as Microsoft Word. BibTeX is an add-on to LaTeX that helps you manage your references. Here are some resources to help you get started with these tools:
- Webinar: Citation Management with BibTeXIn this 30-minute training webinar, learn why and when to use BibTeX, how BibTeX files work, and how to cite your sources and share references using BibTeX.
- How do I get started using BibTeX?This 20-minute Bite Size webinar includes an overview of why and why to use BibTex, the basics of how BibTeX files work, and a live demo of how to add references and cite sources using Overleaf.
- OverleafOverleaf is a free online authoring tool for LaTeX and BibTeX. You can set up a free account and access helpful how-to guides.
- Learn LaTeX in 30 minutesA concise, hands-on overview to help you get started with LaTeX.
- Bibliography Management in LaTeXThis Overleaf guide is a great starting point for learning how to build your bibliography, including the basics of BiblaTeX, the latest version of BibTeX.
- Bibliography Styles GuideExamples and code for common citation styles used in LaTeX.