What is citation management software?
Citation management software allows you to create databases of citations or references to resources (books, journal articles, web sites, etc.). The software facilitates the insertion of citations within a research paper as in-text references, footnotes, or endnotes, and the creation of a formatted bibliography using a citation style of choice (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).
What citation management software is available?
There are many open-source and commercial citation management software options to choose from. Zotero and Mendeley are two of the most popular free software options. Zotero (open source) is often used in the social sciences, humanities, etc. Mendeley is often preferred in the sciences.
For information on footnotes, bibliographies, and writing manuals, see the Citing Your Work guide.