Citation organization/management
By now you have probably heard of citation management programs, sometimes called reference managers. The most common ones are EndNote, Zotero, and Mendeley but there are others. There are also tools that will format one citation at a time but don't store and organize like these others do.
Your instructor or group member may have a preference for one. These tools will save you time and help with formatting for both in text (in your paper) and creating bibliographies/reference lists.
Adding citations to a citation/reference manager
- When in a database and saving articles, look for a button or text that indicates "save", "export" or "download" your citations. In some cases it may use words like save to "Citation Manager."
- occasionally the name of your program, like EndNote, may be an option
- While sorting through your results and selecting articles, save them to a folder or file (whatever the database calls them, clipboard in PubMed). This will have your selections to them save in a file to import into your reference manager program.
Already have a pdf saved on your computer? Many will allow you to drag and drop it in the program. It will read the citation components and add them appropriately. Otherwise, you can import it, follow the instructions to upload a file.
Other reasons to use Zotero, EndNote or Mendeley
- You can manually add citations, maybe a pamphlet or a book that is just easier this way.
- Select citations to create a bibliography and have it formatted automatically in the style of your choice.
- Enter in-text citations as you type your paper using the Word addon/plugin provided by the program.
- Note: You have to either download or connect this to your word program first.
- Share your citations and bibliographies easily with the share options.
Citation Management Software
Use citation management software to help you collect and manage your references, import citations for articles and books from databases and the library catalog, and auto-format citations and bibliographies in your papers.
The Library supports four programs: EndNote, RefWorks, Mendeley, and Zotero.
Your instructor may request you use a specific one.
- Comparison chart for citation management software [pdf]Compares EndNote, RefWorks, Zotero, and Mendeley Desktop. Choose based on your needs as well as the recommendation by an instructor or team member.
The two most commonly used in public health and health sciences courses.
- EndNote GuideHelps you manage your bibliography and citations, and is installed onto the computer of your choice. You store your citations offline on your computer, and use a Microsoft Word or Mac Pages plugin to automatically create bibliographies.
- Zotero GuideA research toolbar for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari (or available as a standalone program) to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources. Save a citation of whatever you're viewing on the web to create your own collection of research in one personalized library.