So how do you pick the best citation management software for you? There are many factors to consider. For example, if you are an undergraduate student, you might be looking for the fastest and easiest option — something with a short learning curve, which lets you grab citations and produce bibliographies in a snap. Oh, and let's not forget: it needs to be free or cheap.
The following tables compare reference management software. Readers using the table to choose reference management software should note the product's 'latest stable release date'. An older release date suggests that the product is not currently supported and users may encounter technical issues and receive little to no technical support.
General[edit]
In the 'notes' section, there is a difference between:
- web-based, referring to applications that may be installed on a web server (usually requiring MySQL or another database and PHP, Perl, Python, or some other language for web applications)
- a centrally hosted website
Software | Developer | First public release | Latest stable release date | Latest stable version | Cost (USD) | Free software | License | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bebop | ALaRI Institute | 2007-11-08 | 2009-11-10 | 1.1 | Free | Yes | BSD | web-based BibTeX front-end (Apache, PHP, MySQL) |
BibBase | Christian Fritz | 2005 | 2013-07 | v3 | Free | No | Proprietary | centrally hosted website, intended for publication pages |
BibDesk | BibDesk developers | 2002-04 | 2019-06-03 | 1.7.1 | Free | Yes | BSD | BibTeX front-end + repository; Cocoa-based; integration with Spotlight |
Biblioscape | CG Information | 1997 | 2015-06-22 | 10.0.3.6 | US$79-299[1] | No | Proprietary | ODBC; web access in Pro ed; optional client/server; discontinued? |
BibSonomy | University of Kassel | 2006-01 | 2018-07-30 | 3.8.13 | Free | Yes | AGPL, GPL, LGPL[2] | centrally hosted website |
Bibus | Bibus developers | 2004-06-03 | 2013-05-23 | 1.5.1 | Free | Yes | GNU GPL | discontinued? |
Bookends | Sonny Software | 1988 (Mac) / 1983 (Apple II+) | 2019-06-22 | 13.2.4 [3] | US$59.99[1] | No | Proprietary | Desktop & iOS synced via iCloud, integrated web search, pdf download, auto-completion, Word plugin, BibTex support, PDF annotations stored as notes |
Citavi | Swiss Academic Software | 2006-02-13 | 2019-01-10 | 6.3 | US$70-949 / Free for projects up to 100 references[4] | No | Proprietary | data can be saved locally on the computer, or, for team access, in the Citavi Cloud or an intranet Microsoft SQL Server;[5] search databases from interface[6] |
CiteULike | Oversity Limited | 2004-11 | Shut down in 2019-03-30[7] | Free | No | proprietary[8] | centrally hosted website | |
colwiz | colwiz Ltd | 2011 | 2016-05-09 | Free / Online storage free up to 3 GB / Additional storage space available | No | Proprietary | Desktop (Win, Mac, Linux) & Web components, iOS and Android | |
EndNote | Clarivate Analytics | 1988 | 2018-01-09 | X9 | US$299.95[1] | No | Proprietary | The web version EndNote basic (formerly, EndNote Web) is free of charge |
F1000Workspace | F1000/Science Navigation Group | 2015-05 | Continually updated online | Institutional access – varies with size of institute / Personal subscription $9.99/month / Free Trial Version | No | Proprietary | Web-based, Microsoft Word plug-in (Win, Mac), Google Docs add-on, browser extension(s) Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Internet Explorer 11, mobile app available | |
JabRef | JabRef developers | 2003-11-29 | 2018-06-05 | 4.3.1 | Free | Yes | MIT license | JavaBibTeX and BibLaTeX manager |
KBibTeX | KBibTeX developers | 2005-08 | 2018-06-21 | 0.8.1 | Free | Yes | GNU GPL | BibTeX front-end, using the KDE Software Compilation |
Mendeley | Elsevier | 2008-08 | 2018 | 1.19 | Free / Online storage free up to 2 GB / Additional storage space available | No | proprietary (OS API clients exist) | Account required, Desktop & Web components, Windows, Linux, macOS, iPhone & iPad, Android |
Paperpile | Stefan Washietl, Gregorgy Jordan, Andreas Gruber | 2013 | Continually updated online | US$2.99/month for academics, 9.99/month otherwise | No | Proprietary | web-application, integrates with Google Docs, collaboration & sharing features, currently only on Google Chrome | |
Papers 3 | ReadCube | 2007 | 2016-05-11 | 3.4.5 | Papers 3 no longer sold as of November 1, 2018 in lieu of ReadCube Papers release. | No | Proprietary | search repositories from interface; supports plug-ins, Universal iOS app |
Pybliographer | pybliographer developers | 1998-10-30 (0.2) | 2018-04-03 | 1.4.0 | Free | Yes | GNU GPL | Python/GTK2 |
Qiqqa | Qiqqa | 2010-04 | 2016-09 | v79 | Free, Freemium and Premium versions | No | Proprietary | Desktop; Tablet; Web; Intranet |
ReadCube Papers now Papers (software) | ReadCube | 2011-10 | 2019-01-18 | v.4.0.16 (Web App) | US$ 3/month for students, 5/month academics | No | Proprietary | Web-based, MacOS, Windows, iOS and Android Microsoft Word plug-in browser extension (Chrome, Firefox, Edge) |
refbase | refbase developers | 2003-06-03 | 2014-02-28 | 0.9.6 | Free | Yes | GNU GPL | web-based for institutional repositories/self-archiving[9] |
RefDB | refdb developers | 2001-04-25 | 2007-11-05 | 0.9.9 | Free | Yes | GNU GPL | network-transparent; XML/SGML bibliographies |
Reference Manager | Thomson Reuters | 1984 | 2010 | 12.0.3 | Not for sale anymore, sales ceased December 31, 2015 | No | Proprietary | network version; built-in web publishing tool; discontinued |
Referencer | Referencer developers | 2008-03-15 | 2014-02-27 | 1.2.2 | Free | Yes | GNU GPL | BibTeX front-end |
RefWorks | Ex Libris / ProQuest | 2001 | 2018 | 3 | Institutional subscription | No | Proprietary | web-based, browser-accessed, Word & Google Docs |
RefME | RefME | 2014 | Shut down in 2017 | Free | No | Proprietary | Web, iOS and Android; Chrome and Safari Extensions available; discontinued | |
SciRef | Scientific Programs | 2012 | 2015-07-26 | 1.5 | US$38.90 / Free trial version | No | Proprietary | |
Sente | Third Street Software, Inc. | 2004 | Shut down in 2017 | 6.7.9 | US$60–80[1] / Free for libraries up to 100 refs | No | Proprietary | Desktop and iPad, centralized backup/synching; discontinued |
Wikindx | Mark Grimshaw | 2004-02 | 2017-12 | 5.2.1 | Free | Yes | GNU GPL | web-based |
WizFolio | WizPatent | 2008-06 | Shut down in 2017 | Avatara | US$25 / Free Basic version | No | Proprietary | centrally hosted website; discontinued |
Zotero | Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at GMU | 2006 | 2019-06-14 | 5.0.67 [10] | Free / Online storage free up to 300 MB / Additional storage space available | Yes | AGPL | Multi-platform desktop version with connectors for Firefox, Chrome and Safari. Web-based access to reference library also available. |
Operating system support[edit]
In the case of web applications, this describes the server OS. For centrally hosted websites that are proprietary, this is not applicable. Any client OS can connect to a web service unless stated otherwise in a footnote.
Software | Windows | macOS | Linux | ChromeOS | BSD | Unix | iOS App | Android App | Windows App |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bebop | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
BibBase | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ? | ? | ? |
BibDesk | No | Yes | No | ? | No | No | Third-party - PocketBib | ? | ? |
BibSonomy | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ? | ? | ? |
Bibus | Yes | Experimental | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
Bookends | No | Yes | No | ? | No | No | Yes | ? | ? |
Citavi | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
CiteULike | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ? | ? | ? |
colwiz | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
EndNote | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
F1000Workspace | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
JabRef | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
KBibTeX | Experimental | Experimental | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
Mendeley | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
Paperpile | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (requires Chromium) | No (requires Chromium) | in beta | in beta | No |
Papers 3 | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | third party - EZPaperz[11] or Aziz, Lite![12] | No |
Pybliographer | Partial[13] | Partial[13] | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
Qiqqa | Yes | No | No | ? | No | No | No | Yes | No |
ReadCube now Papers (software) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
refbase | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
RefDB | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
Reference Manager | Yes[14] | No | No | ? | No | No | No | No | No |
Referencer | No | No | Yes | ? | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
RefWorks[15] | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | No - but is responsive | ? | No |
SciRef | Yes | No | No | ? | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
Sente | No | Yes | No | ? | No | No | Yes[16] | ? | ? |
Wikindx | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
WizFolio | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
Zotero | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | third party | third party - Aziz, Lite![12] | No |
Export file formats[edit]
This table lists the machine-readable file formats that can be exported from reference managers. These are typically used to share data with other reference managers or with other people who use a reference manager. To exchange data from one program to another, the first program must be able to export to a format that the second program may import. Import file formats are in a table below this one.
Software | BibTeX | Endnote/Refer/BibIX | Medline | MODS XML | RIS | Other |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bebop | Yes | No | No | No | No | unAPI |
BibBase | Yes | No | No | No | No | none |
BibDesk | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Endnote XML, user customizable |
BibSonomy | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | various [2] |
Bibus | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | SQLite |
Bookends | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | various user-customizable |
Citavi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various |
CiteULike | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | COinS, Delicious |
colwiz | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | EndNote XML, CSL formatted HTML |
EndNote | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | various[17] |
F1000Workspace | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | CSV |
JabRef | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | BibTeXML, DocBook, HTML, OpenDocument for OO.o, RTF, SQL database, user-customizable |
KBibTeX | Yes | Yes | No | Depends[18] | Yes | PDF, PostScript, HTML, XML, RTF |
Mendeley | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Endnote XML |
Paperpile | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | none |
Papers 3 | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Bookends, CSV, Endnote XML, PDF |
Pybliographer | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Ovid |
ReadCube now Papers (software) | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | none |
Qiqqa | Yes | No | No | No | No | none |
refbase | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | COinS, OpenDocument for OO.o, SRW XML via SRU, unAPI, Word XML |
RefDB | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | SRW XML via SRU web service, DocBook, TEI |
Reference Manager | No | No | No | No | Yes | MEDLARS, TSV, CSV, Reference Manager XML, user-customizable |
Referencer | Yes | No | No | No | No | none |
RefWorks | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | RIS, BibTeX, Tab delimited or XML metadata |
SciRef | No | No | No | No | Yes | Plain text, RTF |
Sente | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | user-customizable |
Wikindx | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | COinS, RTF, HTML, ADS, Word BIB |
WizFolio | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
Zotero | Yes | Yes | as of version 4.0[19] | Yes | Yes | COinS, CSV, Several RDF format standards, TEI, Wikipedia citation templates, Endnote XML, CSL JSON, Refer/BiblX, RefWorks tagged |
Import file formats[edit]
This table lists the file formats which may be manually imported into the reference managers without needing to connect to one particular database. Many of these database companies use the same name for their file format as they do for their database (including Copac, CSA, ISI, Medline, Ovid, PubMed, and SciFinder). For the ability to retrieve citations from the particular databases (rather than the file format), please refer to the database connectivity table that is below this table.
Software | BibTeX | Copac | CSA | Endnote/Refer/BibIX | ISI | Medline | MODS XML | Ovid | PubMed | RIS | SciFinder | Other |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bebop | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | none |
BibBase | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | none |
BibDesk | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | MARC, JSTOR, Reference Miner |
Biblioscape | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
BibSonomy | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Firefox bookmarks |
Bibus | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | none |
Bookends | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various [3]; user-customizable |
Citavi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various |
CiteULike | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | none |
colwiz | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | with built-in browser, bookmarklet |
EndNote | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various[20] |
F1000Workspace | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | EndNote XML, NBIB from PubMed, Medline, PDF |
JabRef | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | BibTexML, Biblioscape, Biomail, Inspec, JSTOR, MSBib, PDF widh XMP annotations, REPEC (NEP), SilverPlatter, SixPack |
KBibTeX | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Depends[18] | No | Yes | Yes | No | none |
Mendeley | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Browser bookmarks |
Paperpile | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | |
Papers 3 | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Endnote ENW, Endnote XML, CHM eBook, PDF |
Pybliographer | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | none |
Qiqqa | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | none |
ReadCube now Papers (software) | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | |
refbase | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | RefWorks |
RefDB | Yes | Yes[18] | No | Yes[18] | Yes[18] | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes[18] | MARC, risx |
Reference Manager | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various;[21] user-customizable |
Referencer | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | none |
RefWorks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various[22] |
SciRef | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | ? |
Sente | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dublin Core, Marc21 SUTRS, JSTOR, SilverPlatter |
Wikindx | Yes | Depends[18] | No | Yes[citation needed] | Depends[18] | No | Depends[18] | No | Yes[citation needed] | Yes[citation needed] | No | ISI, BibReX LaTeX |
WizFolio | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Internet Browser bookmarks[23] |
Zotero[24] | Yes | No[25] | No[25] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | COinS, MARC, RDF, unAPI, Browser bookmarks, Endnote XML |
Citation styles[edit]
Software | APA | Chicago/Turabian | Harvard | MLA | Other | Extension method |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bebop | No | No | No | No | none | none |
BibBase | Yes | No | No | No | none | none |
BibDesk | Yes | yes | No | No | various | BibDesk export templates |
Biblioscape | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 2000+ styles[citation needed] | Biblioscape format (through GUI) |
BibSonomy | Yes | No | Yes | No | none | none |
Bibus | Yes | No | No | No | 56 styles, user-contributed | bibus format (through GUI) |
Bookends | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various[citation needed] | ? |
Citavi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 10200+ styles. Styles can be requested and are centrally corrected; any BibTeX style when used with LaTeX. | Citavi format (through GUI), includes conditions and programmable components; BibTeX |
CiteULike | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various[citation needed] | none |
colwiz | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9397 styles | CSL |
EndNote | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 6926 styles | EndNote format (through GUI) |
F1000Workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9397 styles | CSL |
JabRef | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | any BibTeX style | BibTeX |
KBibTeX | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | any BibTeX style | BibTeX |
Mendeley | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9397 styles | CSL |
Paperpile | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9397 styles | CSL |
Papers 3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9397 styles | CSL |
Pybliographer | Yes | No | No | No | none | Pybliographer XML |
Qiqqa | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9397 styles | BibTeX and CSL |
ReadCube now Papers (software) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9397 styles | BibTeX and CSL |
refbase | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various polar & marine journals | PHP |
RefDB | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 21 biomedical & law journals | XML (citestylex.dtd), interactive script |
Reference Manager | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various | Reference Manager format (through GUI) |
Referencer | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
RefWorks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 4256, plus CSL styles | RefWorks format (through GUI); CSL |
SciRef | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various | SciRef format (through GUI) |
Sente | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various | Sente format (through GUI) |
Wikindx | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ABNT, APA, BMJ, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE, MLA, Turabian | Wikindx format (through GUI) |
WizFolio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1000+ styles | WizFolio format (through GUI) |
Zotero | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9397 styles | CSL |
Reference list file formats[edit]
Zotero and Endnote are incompatible with LaTeX. Among other things, both programs do not provide for robust citation keys. Zotero also does not offer automatic generation and updating of bibliography files in select directories.
Software | HTML | LaTeX[26] | RTF | Plain text | RSS | Other |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bebop | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | unAPI |
BibBase | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No |
BibDesk | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Atom, DOC, PDF, XML, |
Biblioscape | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
BibSonomy | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | OpenOffice-CSV |
Bibus | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
Bookends | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | clipboard |
Citavi | Yes | Yes[27] | Yes | Yes | No | clipboard, DOC, ODT, PDF, HTML |
CiteULike | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
colwiz | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
EndNote | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | clipboard, XML |
F1000Workspace | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | |
JabRef | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | clipboard |
KBibTeX | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | PDF, PS |
Mendeley | Yes | Yes[28] | Yes | Yes | Yes | clipboard, embeddable HTML widget, RSS |
Paperpile | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Papers 3 | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | |
Pybliographer | Yes | ? | No | Yes | No | No |
ReadCube now Papers (software) | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
refbase | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Markdown, PDF, unAPI |
RefDB | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | DocBook, TEI |
Reference Manager | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | clipboard |
Referencer | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
RefWorks | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | DOC, ODT |
SciRef | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Doc, others |
Sente | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | clipboard |
Wikindx | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Multiple via BibUtils plug-in |
WizFolio | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | clipboard, DOC |
Zotero | Yes | Possible via plugin[29] | Yes | Possible via plugins[30] | Yes | clipboard |
Word processor integration[edit]
Some reference management software include support for automatic embedding and (re)formatting of references in word processing programs. This table lists this type of support for Microsoft Word, Pages, Apache OpenOffice / LibreOffice Writer, the LaTeX editors Kile and LyX, and Google Docs. Other programs are able to scan RTF or other textual formats for inserted placeholders which are subsequently formatted. Most reference management programs support copy/paste or drag-and-drop of references into any editor, but this is not meant here.
Software | Word for Windows | Word for Mac | Pages | Apache OpenOffice / LibreOffice | Kile/LyX | Google Docs | RTF scan[31] | Other |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bebop | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | none |
BibBase | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | none |
BibDesk | No | No | No | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
Biblioscape | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | ? | WordPerfect |
BibSonomy | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | none |
Bibus | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | No | No | ? | none |
Bookends | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Mellel, Nisus |
Citavi | Yes | No | No | Only versions prior to 6.0 | Yes[32] | No | Only versions prior to 6.0 | LaTeX editors LEd, Texmaker, TeXnicCenter, TeXstudio, TeXworks, WinEdt, WinShell |
CiteULike | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | none |
colwiz | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | No | No | ? | NeoOffice, Star Office |
EndNote | Yes | Yes | Yes | No[33] | No | No | Yes | No |
F1000Workspace | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | Manuscripts App |
JabRef | Yes[34] | ? | ? | Yes[35] | Yes | No | ? | Emacs, Texmaker, TeXstudio, Vim, WinEdt |
KBibTeX | No | ? | ? | No | Yes | No | ? | none |
Mendeley | Yes | Partial[36] | No | Yes | No | No | ? | NeoOffice |
Paperpile | in beta | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
Papers 3 | Yes | Yes | Only versions prior to 5.0 | Yes | ? | No | ? | Mellel, TextEdit; HTML |
Pybliographer | No | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | No | ? | none |
Qiqqa | Yes | ? | ? | No | Yes | No | No | none |
ReadCube now Papers (software) | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No | Yes | No | none |
refbase | No | ? | ? | Yes[37] | No | No | Yes | PIRA, MediaWiki, SPIP |
RefDB | No | ? | ? | No | No | No | No | none |
Reference Manager | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | none |
Referencer | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
RefWorks | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | none |
SciRef | Yes | ? | ? | No | No | No | No | none |
Sente | Yes | ? | Only versions prior to 5.0 | No | No | No | Yes | Mellel, Nisus, TextEdit; HTML and plain text scan |
Wikindx | No | ? | ? | No | No | No | Yes | Integrated WYSIWYG word processor (RTF output for Word/OpenOffice) |
WizFolio | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | No | Yes | ? | Zoho Writer |
Zotero | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | (with LyZ)[38] | Yes | Yes | NeoOffice |
Database connectivity[edit]
This table lists the academic databases and search engines which reference managers can import from. In some cases, a search and retrieval can be conducted directly in the reference manager. In others, a bookmarklet or Firefox extension will allow a site to be scraped.
Software | ArXiv | CiteSeer | IEEE Xplore | PubMed | Other |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bebop | No | No | No | No | No |
BibBase | No | No | No | No | DBLP, Zotero, BibSonomy, Mendeley |
BibDesk | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ACM portal, Jstor, DBLP, Google Scholar, Web of Science, any Z39.50 or Entrez, and others |
Biblioscape | No | No | No | Yes | Import from integrated web browser |
BibSonomy | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various[39] |
Bibus | No | No | No | Yes | none |
Bookends | Yes | No | No | Yes | Web of Science, Amazon, Google Scholar, Z39.50 |
Citavi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | WorldCat/OCLC, Ovid, EBSCO, ProQuest, Web of Science, Z39.50 (4500+ online resources), SRU. Further catalogs are added upon request. Browser plugins (Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer) support DOI lookup, ISBN lookup, PubMed ID lookup, PMCID lookup, arXiv ID lookup, COinS and import from Wikipedia. |
CiteULike | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various [4] |
colwiz | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Over 30 repositories, Import from integrated web browser |
EndNote | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | various[40] any Z39.50 |
F1000Workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Google scholar, Google Books, Amazon, Web of Science/Web of Knowledge, WorldCat/OCLC, Science Direct, JSTOR, Highwire, PMC Europe, ACMDigitalLibrary, Scopus, Wiley, NIHLibrary, voyager, PrimoLibweb, PubMedID/DOI/ISBN lookup and the majority of journal websites. |
JabRef | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ACM Portal, CrossRef, DBLP, DOAJ, DOI, GVK, Google Scholar, INSPIRE-HEP, Medline, MathSciNet, SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System, Springer, and zbMATH |
KBibTeX | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | BibSonomy, CiteBase, CSB, DBLP, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, INSPIRE-HEP, Z MATH, Z39.50 |
Mendeley | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various [5] |
Paperpile | Yes | No | No | Yes | Google Scholar |
Papers 3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ACM, ADS, Google Books, Google Scholar, JSTOR, MathSciNet, Project Muse, Scopus, Web of Science |
Pybliographer | No | No | No | Yes | none |
Qiqqa | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | GoogleScholar, JSTOR |
ReadCube now Papers (song) | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Microsoft Academic, Google Scholar |
refbase | Yes | No | No | Yes | DOI lookup |
RefDB | Yes | No | No | Yes | any Z39.50 |
Reference Manager | No | No | No | Yes | various[41] |
Referencer | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
RefWorks | No | No | No | Yes | various |
SciRef | No | No | No | No | No |
Sente | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Z39.50, SRU, Web of Knowledge |
Wikindx | No | No | No | Yes | via plug-ins |
WizFolio | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | various[42] |
Zotero | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various[43] |
Password 'protection' and network versions[edit]
Some reference managers provide network functionality. (N/A means the product has no networking, while 'no' indicates it does (but lacks an implemented feature).)
Software | Passworded | Networking | |
---|---|---|---|
User-specific permissions[44] | Simultaneous write access | ||
Bebop | No | N/A | N/A |
BibBase | N/A | N/A | N/A |
BibDesk | Yes | No | No |
Biblioscape | Yes | Yes | Yes |
BibSonomy | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Bibus | ? | ? | ? |
Bookends | ? | ? | ? |
Citavi | Yes[45] | Yes | Yes |
CiteULike | Yes | No | Yes |
colwiz | Yes | Yes | Yes |
EndNote | Yes | No[46] | No[46] |
F1000Workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
JabRef | No | No | Partial |
KBibTeX | No | N/A | N/A |
Mendeley | Yes[47] | Yes | Yes |
Paperpile | Yes[48] | Yes | Yes |
Papers 3 | ? | ? | ? |
Pybliographer | ? | ? | ? |
Qiqqa | Yes | Yes | Yes |
ReadCube now Papers (software) | Yes | Yes | No |
refbase | Yes | Yes | Yes |
RefDB | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Reference Manager | Yes | No | Yes |
Referencer | ? | ? | ? |
RefWorks | Yes | ? | Yes |
Sente | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Wikindx | Yes | Yes | Yes |
WizFolio | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Zotero | Yes[49] | Yes | Yes |
References[edit]
- ^ abcdMSRP for full version, usually with physical media. Discounted downloads and academic discounts might be available. More expensive workgroup/server/librarian versions may be available.
- ^'dev.bibsonomy'. BibSonomy.org. 2016-02-15. Retrieved 2016-02-15.Cite web requires
|website=
(help) - ^'Sonny Software – Bookends update history'. Sonny Software. 2016-11-10. Retrieved 2019-06-22.Cite web requires
|website=
(help) - ^Price depends on affiliation (discounted price for students and members of academic, governmental, and nonprofit organizations), edition (Citavi for Windows for single users and teams with cloud storage, Citavi for DBServer for teams with intranet storage), and, in the case of DBServer, on the license type (per seat license vs. concurrent license), http://www.citavi.com/en/products.htmlArchived 2015-04-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^'Collaborating in a Team with Citavi for DBServer'. Swiss Academic Software. 2018-02-20. Retrieved 2018-02-20.Cite web requires
|website=
(help) - ^'Citavi – Organize your knowledge'. Swiss Academic Software. 2018-02-20. Archived from the original on 2015-04-24. Retrieved 2018-02-20.Cite uses deprecated parameter
|dead-url=
(help); Cite web requires|website=
(help) - ^'CiteULike is closing down'. CiteULike. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
- ^A developer kit is available. The community is invited to create plugins to access data off databases
- ^A centrally-hosted website is available at refbase.net.
- ^'Zotero Changelog'. Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. Retrieved 2019-06-17.Cite web requires
|website=
(help) - ^'Yohan Farouz.net'. Retrieved 23 September 2018.Cite web requires
|website=
(help) - ^ ab'Yohan Farouz.net'. Retrieved 23 September 2018.Cite web requires
|website=
(help) - ^ abThe GUI requires gnome-python, which isn't available for Windows or macOS.
- ^Reference Manager is not compatible with word 2010
- ^'Write-N-Cite Download Page'. www.refworks.com. 2018-04-10. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
- ^'Support iOS versions'. Archived from the original on 2015-02-06. Retrieved 2015-02-06.Cite uses deprecated parameter
|dead-url=
(help); Cite web requires|website=
(help) - ^'Output Styles'. EndNote. Retrieved 2012-07-24.Cite web requires
|website=
(help) - ^ abcdefghiSupported through the bibutils plugin
- ^'Journal Abbreviations'. Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. Retrieved June 19, 2015.Cite web requires
|website=
(help) - ^'Import Filters'. EndNote. Retrieved 2012-07-24.Cite web requires
|website=
(help) - ^'Thomson ResearchSoft Reference Manager Filters: Terms of Use'. Refman.com. Archived from the original on 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2012-07-24.Cite uses deprecated parameter
|deadurl=
(help); Cite web requires|website=
(help) - ^'Products'. RefWorks. Retrieved 2012-07-24.Cite web requires
|website=
(help) - ^'WizAdd'. Archived from the original on December 25, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2009.Cite uses deprecated parameter
|deadurl=
(help); Cite web requires|website=
(help) - ^'Zotero supported data formats'. Zotero.org. Retrieved 2014-02-08.Cite web requires
|website=
(help) - ^ abZotero can import references directly from the database after which this format is named, although it cannot read the format itself.
- ^This refers to the direct output of raw LaTeX (often in a format similar to the BibTeX-generated .bbl files). Many programs can export BibTeX (see above table), which can then be processed into LaTeX.'Creating a Publication with TeX'. Swiss Academic Software. 2015-10-27. Retrieved 2015-10-27.Cite web requires
|website=
(help) - ^Database can be exported as a whole in BibTeX format. Text (i.e. thoughts, comments, and quotations) can be fed into a number of TeX editors in LaTeX code or UTF-8,
- ^Database can be exported as a whole in BibTeX format.Insert citations via citation key generated by Mendeley ,
- ^'Better BibTeX'. Github. Retrieved September 18, 2017.Cite web requires
|website=
(help) - ^'Plugins for Zotero'. Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. Retrieved June 16, 2015.Cite web requires
|website=
(help) - ^Can reformat references in a properly saved RTF document, allowing limited use in OpenOffice.org Writer, StarOffice, FrameMaker, Microsoft Works, WordPad, WordPerfect, Google Docs and others.
- ^Detailed setup guide 'Citavi + LyX'. Citavi. Retrieved 2014-07-10.
- ^'EndNote X8 with LibreOffice – Clarivate Community'. 2017-10-24. Retrieved 2017-11-11.Cite web requires
|website=
(help) - ^See JabRef FAQ: Field Mapping between MS-Office and JabRef.
- ^See JabRef FAQ: OpenOffice/LibreOffice integration.
- ^Requires the Desktop App open to choose references.
- ^Refbase can create a spreadsheet for import into an OO.o database to use the native OO.o bibliography tool. Refbase's MySQL database can additionally be used directly by OO.o [1].
- ^The LyZ extension integrates Zotero with Lyx/Kile
- ^'scraper info'. BibSonomy. Retrieved 2012-07-24.Cite web requires
|website=
(help) - ^'Connection Files'. EndNote. Retrieved 2012-07-24.Cite web requires
|website=
(help) - ^'Reference Manager Z39.50 Hosts'. Refman.com. 2003-03-11. Archived from the original on 2012-02-06. Retrieved 2012-07-24.Cite uses deprecated parameter
|deadurl=
(help); Cite web requires|website=
(help) - ^'WizAdd (Web Importer) - WizFolio'. Help.wizfolio.com. 2012-06-22. Archived from the original on 2012-07-23. Retrieved 2012-07-24.Cite uses deprecated parameter
|deadurl=
(help); Cite web requires|website=
(help) - ^'translators [Zotero Documentation]'. Zotero.org. 2012-03-15. Retrieved 2012-07-24.Cite web requires
|website=
(help) - ^Most databases allow one to create different user accounts to store records. Some further allow you to specify permissions (granting and denying some users the rights to edit or read some or all of your records. This column describes the latter.
- ^Storage in Citavi cloud or, with special license, in Microsoft SQL Server in intranet.
- ^ abvia EndNote basic (cloud based)
- ^via Mendeley Web
- ^uses Google Account
- ^via zotero.org
Bibliography[edit]
- Gilmour, Ron; Cobus-Kuo, Laura (2011). 'Reference Management Software: a Comparative Analysis of Four Products'. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship. Summer 2011. doi:10.5062/F4Z60KZF.
- Perkel, Jeffrey M. (2015-11-02). 'Eight ways to clean a digital library'. Nature. 527 (7576): 123–124. Bibcode:2015Natur.527.123P. doi:10.1038/527123a. ISSN0028-0836. PMID26536960.
- Technische Universität München Library (2016-08-04). 'Reference Management Software Comparison — 6th Update'(PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-09.Cite web requires
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(help) - Tramullas, Jesús; Sánchez-Casabón, Ana I.; Garrido-Picazo, Piedad (2015). 'Studies and analysis of reference management software: a literature review'. El Profesional de la Información. 25 (4): 680–688. arXiv:1508.07480. doi:10.3145/epi.2015.sep.17. ISSN1699-2407.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Comparison_of_reference_management_software&oldid=914012074'
EndNote is a software to maintain the research work. It is the best tool for publishing and managing bibliographies, citations, and references on Windows and Macintosh desktop. It is not merely a standard reference manager. It moves through the research process as the user search, organize, write, publish and share his research work… read more
14 EndNote Alternatives & Similar Software
8
Mendeley
Mendeley is a desktop and web utility for organizing and sharing research papers, finding research and associating online. It combines Mendeley Desktop, a PDF and reference management software (available for Windows, OS X and Linux) with Mendeley Web, an online social network for researchers.
3
Bookends
Bookends is a fully featured reference management program designed for the students and professional researchers to manage and organize their references and research work in a more systemized way. The latest version of Bookends now support for the cloud synchronization that will be surely a great help for those who are frequently required to access their work from multiple platforms and different places.
1
Qiqqa
Qiqqa is the name of a free research and reference manager that guides the users thorough their literature by understanding their research niche. It then highlights the most specific and most influential papers in that niche.
1
Papers
Papers is the name of your own personal library and a best one library for research, in fact, your personal library for research work. It allows the researchers and students to collect and curate the research material.
1
JabRef
JabRef is an application for managing BibTeX databases. This reference management platform deploys the BibLaTeX and BibTeX as its default formats; that’s why can be used for LaTeX as well.
1
Citavi
Citavi is the new way of organizing your knowledge with an advanced reference management system. This platform is going to help you in managing your references, planning the tasks and organizing the knowledge.
0
BibDesk
BibDesk is the name of a graphical database manager for the Mac OS X operating system. BibDesk is one of the best bibliography and references management program that will make the process of managing references and bibliographies easy and simple for you.
0
Docear
Docear that is called as an academic literature suite is one of the best academic literature management systems to manage all of your research and references works. Design with the purpose of offering a very simple and straightforward management solutions to the users, Docear assit its users in creating, organizing and then discovering their academic literature.
0
RefWorks
RefWorks is a web based bibliography and reference management platform that permits its users to create their own personal database of references and then product the bibliographies in multiple formats. This reference management program delivers the solutions for better research management, writing and collaboration at a centralize platform.
0
ReadCube
This free reference and citation manager platform is especially for the researchers. By having the desktop version of ReadCube or its application you can read, manage and discover the new type of literature all the time.
0
Colwiz
Colwiz is the name of a free research group manager and reference manager. It will make you able to easily create bibliography and citations in thousands of styles and set your own research system in the cloud.
0
Best Citation Manager For Mac
Cite This For Me
Cite This For Me is a leading citation tool introduced in October 2010. The platform began with the mission of helping students create the best citations in a fraction of the time.
0
RefMe
RefMe is a world’s number one tool for automating citations reference lists and bibliographies on both mobile and web. It is a comprehensive solution that allows users to scan book and journal barcode without any limitation.
-12
Zotero
Zotero displays an icon the moment a resource is being seen on multiple websites such as library catalogs, PubMed, Google Scholar, Amazon.com, Wikipedia, Google Books and publishers’ websites. By clicking this icon you can save the entire reference information to the Zotero storage.
Best Citation Management Software For Mac
More About EndNote
EndNote is a software to maintain the research work. It is the best tool for publishing and managing bibliographies, citations, and references on Windows and Macintosh desktop. It is not merely a standard reference manager. It moves through the research process as the user search, organize, write, publish and share his research work. Tap into hundreds of online databases and instantly find what you are looking for. It automatically downloads and attaches for free, online full-text PDFS to the saved references. EndNote provides the user with a window having a drop-down menu to choose the kind of reference they need, and fields ranging from the common to those specific to the type of reference. There are some databases (e.g. PubMed) in which the user requires to select citations, select a peculiar format, and save them as .txt files. Hence, the user is allowed to import the citations into the EndNote utility. It also useful to search storage catalogs and free databases such as PubMed from within the EndNote application searches itself.
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