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Writing and Copyright Resources

Citation Tools

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. 

Criteria

Zotero

Mendeley

Endnote basic

Must be online?

No

No

Yes

Web-based?

Can sync with online account; connectors for Firefox, Chrome and Safari and Opera available

Not primarily, but can sync with an online account which is editable

Fully-cloud based so you can access it from any device.

Cost

Free for basic account, some cost for more online storage space

Free for basic account, some cost for more online storage space

Free

Create group or shared libraries

Zotero allows you to share your citations through shared folders -- you can give individuals or groups permissions to add and edit the citations in the shared folder

Mendeley allows you to share citations and documents with a group of up to 2 other users, or create a public reading list that is open to all.

EndNote Basic allows you to share with up to 1,000 other users.

Word-processor compatibility

MS Word, Open Office, Google Docs

MS Word, Open Office, LaTex

MS Word

Storage capacity

Unlimited local storage and data syncing; 100MB free Zotero file syncing (larger syncing plans available for purchase); or can use WebDav

Unlimited local storage and data syncing; 1GB personal and 100MB shared online space (larger online storage plans available for purchase)

Limited to 50,000 citations and 2 GB of attachment storage

Import from databases

Yes

Yes

Yes

Import citation info from web pages

Yes, also archives the page and you can add annotations

Yes, with a bookmark for a limited number of sites (mostly publishers or databases)

Yes, with Reference Capture tool

Attach associated files (PDFs, etc.)

Yes, with option to attach automatically

Yes, and can highlight and annotate PDFs

Yes

Search full text of PDFs

Yes

Yes

No

Create group or shared libraries

Yes

Yes, free for up to 3 group members (larger group plans available for purchase)

Yes

Create bibliography with different styles

Yes

Yes

Choose from 7,000 + styles if accessed via Web of Science.

Automatic citation extraction from PDFs

Yes

Yes

No

Other features

Sync library with multiple computers

Use tags to organize/search

Sync library with multiple computers

Sync with Zotero library

No

Zotero

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.

Copyright Information

Medical Dictionaries

Style Manuals

White Papers

A white paper is a research based report that offers insight into a complex topic and offers a position on the solution for the problem.