Writing and Copyright Resources

Commonly-used citation management tools include Endnote, Mendeley and Zotero. Library Services does not directly endorse any of these but we have some experience with Zotero. More information about Zotero is listed below. 

*EndNote and Mendeley are not supported by IS.

A free, open-source citation management tool with the ability to store author, title, and publication fields, and to export information to formatted references. Zotero is a collaboration between George Mason University and the Corporation for Digital Scholarship, with some U.S. government and foundation funding. Additional storage capacity beyond is available for a fee. Below is a listing of the basic features of Zotero and what you need to do to maximize its use.

• Create your main account on the Zotero website: https://www.zotero.org/ . This will allow access to everything.
  • If you are on an Allina Health computer and prompted for an administration username and password, you can bypass that, by clicking "no", and completing the download process. 
• Download the desktop app: https://www.zotero.org/download/ . The desktop app is where you can create your folders, select citations styles for bibliographies, etc. Once you have a bibliography in the desktop app and a Word/Office plug-in you will be able to access your saved articles and insert in-text citations as well as a bibliography in your selected citation style. You can also simply copy and paste the bibliography into a document.
• Zotero Connector: https://www.zotero.org/download/connectors . These allow one-click uploading of citations and articles from PubMed and many other sites/databases. Connectors work in Edge, Chrome, Firefox and Safari (NOT in Internet Explorer).
• Zotero Word plugin: https://www.zotero.org/support/word_processor_plugin_installation . This will allow you to create in-text citations and insert a bibliography at the end of a document
• Zotero mobile apps: https://www.zotero.org/support/mobile
• For more information – Zotero tutorials: https://www.zotero.org/support/screencast_tutorials
  • especially the University of Ottawa Libraries video: https://uottawa.libguides.com/c.php?g=699879&p=4969298

White papers are document are authoritative and informative research-based reports that offers insight into a complex topic and offers a position on the solution for the problem. 

The term white paper often refers to governmental reports, but they may be produced by academic institutions, businesses or other industries that not controlled by traditional publishers.   This genre of publications may be used to argue a specific position or propose a solution to a problem, addressing an audience outside of their organization. 

The purpose of a white paper is to advocate that a certain policy solution is the best approach for tackling a particular problem. Organizations that seek to publish on specialized, highly relevant, and sometimes very urgent topics will hire experts, practitioners, and/or scholars to conduct research and publish reports outside of traditional academic publishing.

Unlike scholarly publications, which provide analysis and make general recommendations, white paper authors aim to craft and influence specific governmental and/or industry policies. These organizations are often privately funded through donations or special interest groups, or they may be companies pursuing governmental funding for their services. Therefore, it is critical to consider the motivations behind publishing reports in addition to scrutinizing their methods.

Content was reprinted with permission from the UC Davis Library Grey Literature 

For more information, visit the links below.