Research Guides: Cite Sources: Select a Citation Management Software Product

Select Zotero

Zotero

How to Install and Use Zotero Software

How to Install and Use Zotero - Tutorial Video
Zotero Bib
If you don't want to set up software, Zotero Bib allows you to enter doi or URL and the software will generate a bibliographic entry for copy and paste. This will help you cite sources but not manage them.

Select Mendeley

Mendeley

Select EasyBib

EasyBib

Select Academic Writer

Compare Software Products

Citation Management Comparison Graph

Citation Management Software Product Comparison

Recommendations:

Use Zotero IF:
1. use personal computer,
2. use multiple databases and websites, use multiple document formats,
3. need simple collaboration tools,
4. use journal-specific citation styles,
5. prefer open access products,
6. use after graduation or employment,
7. only need limited storage
Use Mendeley IF:
1. use personal computer,
2. extensive collaboration both in and outside of institution,
3. want to use citation management tool to discover other literature,
4. share resources and datasets with public,
5. use primarily pdf documents,
6. want to annotate and note on pdf,
7. have extensive pdf library (simple drag and drop),
8. use after graduation or employment,
9. want unlimited storage
Use EasyBib IF:
1. use multiple public computers,
2. want simple implementation – little to no learning curve,
3. MLA citation style (free version),
4. use primarily to generate citations and not as a management system,
5. use GoogleDocs,
6. do not need document storage

NOTE: If accessibility is an issue, please contact the Office of Disability Services for a software solution.

Feature	Zotero	Mendeley	EasyBib
Price	Free download and account. Subscription price for upgraded storage plans. No institutional subscription offered.	Free for basic individual plan. Subscription price for Max individual plan.	Free for MLA style. Subscription cost for other citation styles.
Accuracy[1] (APA)	2.4 errors/citation, volume/issue, article title, access	Unknown	Unknown
Platform	Web. Browser. Desktop client. Firefox is preferred browser, also works with Safari and Chrome.	Web. Desktop client. Browser button	Web
Commercialization	Open source	Proprietary - Elsevier	Proprietary - Chegg
Citation Styles	Major styles included in default list. 8,000+ styles available through style repository – requires separate download.	All major styles included. 6,000+ styles.	MLA only in free version. Other styles in subscription version.
Customer Support	Discussion boards. No direct support.	Online community and video tutorials for free customers.	Very little in free. Search youtube for tutorials.

Collaboration and Data Sharing for group projects. Social media capabilities.	Add collaborators to group folder. Share items in folder.	Add collaborators to group folder. Share items in folder. Group can be private or public. Private groups can share documents as well as references. Groups have newsfeed which allow groups to communicate and follow progress. Group annotations of documents and group notes beside document. Create profile to connect with researchers in similar fields. Follow colleagues. Browse public groups to discover similar research and researchers.	Email bibliography to collaborators
Installation/Setup	Create account. Download software. Sync account. Confirm presence in desktop MSWord.	Create account. Download software. Must manually sync account.	Generate bibliography (free), create account (paid)
Available to students after graduation	Yes. Citations and saved pdfs available	Yes. Personal account with personal storage limits available.	Yes
Full text (pdf)	Yes. Saves pdf when available. Upload separately when obtained later (such as ILL)	Yes. Saves pdf when available. Can also drag and drop from computer.	No
PDF Annotation	No.	Yes. Highlight, sticky notes.	No
Notes	Yes	Yes.	Yes (paid)
Organization	Folders, subfolders, tags.	Folders, subfolders, tags.	Folders, subfolders and Online notebook (paid)
Word-processing integration	Zotero plugin. MSWord in-text citations and bibliography. Not Pages or GoogleDocs.	Mendeley citation plugin.MS Word for in-text citations and bibliography. Not Pages or GoogleDocs.	EasyBib add on for GoogleDocs (paid). Only creates bibliography, doesn’t integrate with in-text citations.
Mobile apps	Zotpad – access to citations, pdfs	Mendeley app.	EasyBib app.
Processes to Add Citations	Zotero button on browser. Manual entry. Import from other citation managers.	Mendeley button on browser. Add papers from computer (click and drag). Mendeley will extract citation from pdf. Manual entry. Import from other citation managers.	Citation generator – select format, search for item, select item, cite, copy.
ADA Compliant – 508 compliance (discuss software options with Office of Disability Services if accessibility is a concern)	Not explicitly. Zotero states that it depends on whether browser chosen is ADA compliant.	No information found.	No information found.
Storage limits	300MB/user for free version. Rate plans vary.	2GB for free plan. Rate plans vary.	N/A
Search features	Yes, global search. Includes pdf documents that can be searched.	Yes, global search. Includes pdf documents.	Search web for resources
Extract citation data from pdf format	Yes, with plugin installed	Yes.	No
Datasets	No	Yes – share datasets with other researchers.	No

Products			(copy URL and some of these may work well)
Library Catalog	Direct	No.	No.
EBSCO Databases	Direct	Direct	Direct
ACS Publications	Direct	Direct	No
AnthroSource	Direct	Direct	No
AVON	Direct (use export).	Direct (use export).	Direct (use export).
BioOne	Direct	Direct	No
BIOSIS	No	No	No
Choice	No	No	No
Cochrane	Direct. Incomplete.	No	No
Digital Theatre Plus	Direct. Incomplete.	Direct. Incomplete.	No
Ebrary	Direct	Direct	No
Engineering Village	No.	Direct (use export)	No
Films on Demand	Direct. Incomplete.	No	Direct
GenderWatch	Direct	Direct. Incomplete	No
JSTOR	Direct	No	Direct
MathSciNet	Direct	No	No
Media Education Videos	Direct. Incomplete.	No	No
Opposing Viewpoints	Direct. Incomplete.	No	Direct
LexisNexis	Direct	No	No
NAXOS	Direct. Incomplete.	No	No
Policy Map	Direct. Incomplete	No	No
Primal Pictures	No	No	No
PubMed	Direct	Direct	No
Sage	Direct	Direct	No
ScienceDirect	Direct	Direct	No
SciFinder Scholar	Direct	No	No
Springer	Direct	Direct	No
Wiley	Direct	Direct	No
WorldCat (public)	Direct	Direct	Direct
Youtube	Direct	Direct. Incomplete.	No
Google Scholar	Direct	No, go to actual site.	No
Wikipedia	Direct	Can save and cite resources, but not actual Wikipedia page.	No
Amazon	Direct	Direct	No
Database direct export totals	22 complete plus 7 incomplete	13 complete plus 3 incomplete	6

[1] Lindley Homol, “Web-Based Citation Management Tools: Comparing the Accuracy of Their Electronic Journal Citations,” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 40, no. 6 (November 2014): 552–57, doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2014.09.011. I have provided the average number of errors/citation for APA citation format in the three products evaluated in the journal article. MLA was not used because the article was published when MLA7 was in use. The article discovered that majority of errors were based on errors imported from EBSCO. It should be noted that all three tools had lower error rates than the EBSCO citation feature itself.