Reference Managers

Reference Managers

Introduction

A reference manager can be one of your best-loved tools as a researcher. There are several options from which to choose, many of which have free versions with plenty of functionality. Try asking what software other members of your lab prefer. It will be helpful if you can easily share libraries with your mentor and collaborators. 

Commonly Used Reference Managers

• Zotero

• Mendeley

• Endnote

• RefWorks

• Citationsy

Collecting References

As you research, you will find scholarly articles relevant to your studies that you want to keep for your reference. All reference managers have easy ways to download reference metadata and build your personal reference library. For example, Zotero installs functionality in your internet browser that allows you to collect information with just one click from your current internet window. With some reference managers, you download a text file in a format accepted by your software (.ris, .bib) from the website of the journal and then import it into your reference manager. You can usually choose whether to download the abstract and a pdf of the paper, in addition to the citation metadata. The abstracts can be useful and are displayed in your reference manager, but be aware of how much space a large library will take up on your computer if you collect every pdf.

Staying Organized

Reference managers allow you to organize your references into folders and subfolders. You will find what system works best for you, but you may want to start by grouping references by topic and by the project or assignment on which you will use them. References can be unfiled or included in multiple folders.

Integration with Microsoft Word

Reference managers are built to work with Microsoft Word (or Open Office) to allow you to easily incorporate in-text citations and a bibliography in any format you prefer. This can save you countless hours compared to having to do these tasks manually. You will need to install and enable the integration respective to your reference manager. A quick internet search will yield easy to follow instructions. Be sure to talk to your mentor or lab mates about what formatting to use. It will save you time to do it their preferred way the first time.