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Citation Management Software: Citation Management

A brief introduction to using popular citation management software.

What is Citation Management Software?

Citation management software is used to track and organize citations and/or resources. There are many different kinds of citation management software, and they might not all have every feature. Some software is free, free through library subscription, or paid.

Common features are:

  • creating citations inside your paper/project
  • tracking citations
  • generating bibliographies from citations
  • creating folders to organize resources or citations
  • capturing PDFs or files of resources
  • annotating PDFs or other files directly
  • creating cross-references between multiple resources
  • searching keywords or text of PDFs or other files
  • apps or browser add-ons to directly add citations and files to your account
  • account management between computers

Whenever you use any citation creation or management software, always check the citation's accuracy. Pay especial attention to punctuation and capitalization. Many citation standards have capitalization rules, and a computer program will not accurately recognize situations like if a word is a proper noun.

The University of Toronto has a Citation Management Comparison LibGuide. The LibGuide includes a table comparing software feature for free and subscription options.

We have included instructions below for two common software choices: Zotero and Mendeley.

Zotero Download Instructions

Zotero is regularly updated, and new versions are released. These images may be outdated, but the steps should be correct.

To download Zotero:

  1. Visit the Zotero Homepage.
  2. Select the Download button. 
  3. Screenshot of the download button on the Zotero homepage.
  4. The download page will have download options. It will first suggest download versions based off of the operating system and preferred browser it thinks you use.
  5. You can select to show other download options if you don't want the suggested versions. 
  6. Screenshot of download button with other options on Zotero Download Page.
  7. You can download the Zotero app. You can also download the Zotero Connecter, a browser add-on that send browser information and files to the Zotero software.
  8. Allow the download process to happen. 
  9. If you want to use the Zotero Connecter, you may need to edit the toolbar to have the Connector icon appear.

 

How To Use Zotero Video

More About Zotero

Getting Started with Mendeley

​1. Go to mendeley.com to create an account. If you have trouble accessing your account, create a new one or contact Mendeley tech support using the email option at the bottom of the Mendeley support page.​

2. Download Mendeley.

3. Add the Web Importer to your browser.

4. Search for an article in a database. Click the Save to Mendeley button to save a citation from a website.

  

5. You will be prompted to sign into your account if you are not already. Mendeley will try to find the bibliographic information from that website. Choose a folder and click Save.

5. While you are writing, use the Mendeley Cite-O-Matic under the references tab in Word to insert citations and a bibliography.

6. See the Mendeley Quick Start Guide for more information

This information has been modified from a Creative Commons LibGuide for MIT, available here.

How to Use Mendeley