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Citation Management

Information for ATSU-supported Citation & Reference Managers

What is a Citation Manager?

Citation managers - also called reference managers or bibliographic management software - are programs that store and format scholarly references and citations. They are useful for keeping track of important articles or other works, for formatting citations correctly using a wide variety of citation styles including APA and AMA, and sometimes for sharing research between a group of users. 

Most will allow you to :

  • Store your selected citations and even articles
  • Create correctly formatted lists of citations in a variety of styles 
  • Double-check to be sure of formatting
  • Take notes on or about saved articles
  • Share your selected citations and articles with others

Comparison of Citation Managers Options

Which Citation Manager Should You Use?

There are many other citation managers, some free and some charging fees, with different options and qualities. The Library supports these four.

  Zotero Mendeley EndNote Basic EndNote DeskTop
Cost
  • Free
  • Free
  • Free
  • Paid subscription option for students
  • Free for ATSU faculty
Browser Plugins & Tools
Quick Citation without Installation      
Maximum Records (Basic Versions)
  • Unlimited Desktop
  • 300 MB free cloud storage
  • Unlimited Desktop
  • 2 GB free cloud storage
  • 50,000 Records in cloud
  • 999,999 on Desktop
Access Options
  • Browser Plugin
  • Desktop Utility
  • Word Integration
  • Mobile App
  • Browser Plugin
  • Desktop Utility
  • Word Integration
  • Mobile App
  • Browser Plugin
  • Word Integration
  • Mobile App
  • Browser Plugin
    • Firefox
  • Desktop Utility
  • Word Integration
Mobile Options Zotero works in a mobile online environment & integrates with assorted apps
APA Citation Formatting
  • Yes
  • Yes
  • Yes
  • Yes
AMA Citation Formatting
  • Yes (Requires Additional Free Download)
  • Yes
  • Yes (Requires Additional Free Download)
  • Yes (Requires Additional Free Download)
Longterm Access to Data
  • Perpetual
  • Perpetual
  • Perpetual
  • Perpetual
Collaboration & Sharing
  • Create public and private groups
  • Automatic synchronization of collections among multiple computers
  • Create public and private groups
  • Automatic synchronization of collections among multiple computers
  • One private group of 3 members free (costs for private groups)
  • Share EndNote Web account with other EndNote Web users (cannot share file attachments)
  • Free sharing (citations and attachments) of one Endnote Library with up to 14 other people
    • Includes unlimited storage space for PDF attachments
  • Traveling Library within a word processor document
  • Save as compressed file with data subfolder
Link & Upload pdfs
  • Open URL compliant (possible to link to ATSU resources)
  • Add & upload attachments to entries
  • Open URL compliant (possible to link to ATSU resources) 
  • Add & upload attachments to entries
  • Open URL compliant (possible to link to ATSU resources) 
  • Add & upload attachments to entries (up to 2 GB)
  • Open URL compliant (possible to link to ATSU resources) 
  • Add & upload attachments to entries
Open Athens Compatible
  • Browser App extension available HERE
  • Uncertain
  • Login through Open Athens first to use with EndNote
  • Uncertain
Annotate Pdfs
  • No (But can sync Pdfs annotated with 3rd party software or apps)
  • Yes
  • No
  • Yes
Import Records from Databases
  • Yes
  • Yes
Export Formats
  • BibTeX
  • RIS
  • Refer/BiblX
  • BIbliontology
  • MODS
  • Etc.
  • BibTeX
  • EndNote (XML)
  • RIS
  • Tab Delimited (use with Excel)
  • BibTeX
  • EndNote (XML)
  • RIS
  • Refer export
  • Tab Delimited (use with Excel)
  • BibTeX
  • XML
Integrates with Word
  • Yes
  • Yes
  • Yes
  • Yes
Work Offline
  • Yes
  • Yes
  • No
  • Yes
Screencap & Store Webpages
  • Yes
  • Yes
  • No
  • No
Sort & Search Options
  • Sort by Any Field
  • Search by Any Field
  • Sort by Any Field
  • Search by author, title, publication names, year & notes
  • Sort by Author, Title, Year
  • Search by Author
  • Sort by Any Field 
  • Search by Any Field
Pay Upgrades Available
  • Pay for more storage
  • Pay for more storage, more groups, larger groups
  • Pay for access to Endnote Desktop
  • Pay for subscription (students)

Quick Citation - ZoteroBib

Zotero Bib is a free service that will provide you with an automatically formatted citation and quick bibliography.

Who makes this?  This is a free and advertisement-free service provided by a non-profit organization that offers Zotero, a full-service citation manager.
What is the difference between Zotero Bib and Zotero? 
  • Zotero Bib offers a more limited set of options for citation building and does not require installation on a desktop or provide cloud storage.
  • Zotero is a much more robust citation manager that allows for long-term storage, organization, and sharing of citation libraries that requires desktop installation and cloud-based storage.
Why use this? If you need a quickly formatted citation or short bibliography for a paper or blog post, Zotero Bib is a very useful tool.
Does this allow annotation and editing?

Yes.

  1. To add notes, more information, or edit errors in a citation, click on the citation on the screen.
  2. You will be presented with a large number of editable fields, including an "extra" notes field at the bottom.
How do you use Zotero Bib?
  1. Select your preferred citation style from the box below the search box.
    1. You can also switch between these after you have found your initial citation and automatically change your citation's style.
  2. Copy and paste an article, book, or other document's url, PMID, DOI, ISBN, or other identifier into the search box at the top.
  3. Scroll down to find all citations added during your session.
    1. These will stay in your browser cache until you clear it, so you will be able to see them when you visit this site. 
  4. Choose Export to export your complete bibliography from this session.

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Harold Bright
Contact:
480.219.6036