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Health Sciences

Starting place for health sciences research

Citation Management Tools

Citation management tools allow you to keep citations, full-text articles, and other research resources organized in one place. These tools can also be used to format your bibliographies and the citations in your papers according to the appropriate style (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) To use these tools, you should be familiar with the target citation style in order to input information correctly and notice any errors in your bibliography. Please contact a subject librarian for further assistance.

End Note

EndNote is software that helps manage citations for bibliographies. Includes an add-in for Microsoft Word. For questions about EndNote, please contact your subject librarian.

Mendeley

Mendeley is a free reference manager and academic social network that can help you organize your research, collaborate with others online, and discover the latest research. It includes a Microsoft Word plug-in and web importer. For questions about Mendeley, please contact Rachel Hinrichs, the Mendeley specialist librarian, or your subject librarian.

Zotero

Zotero is a free Firefox extension to help you collect, manage, cite, and share your research sources. It includes an add-in for Microsoft Word. For questions, please contact your subject librarian.

Compare Citation Managers

EndNote Mendeley Zotero
Link to Library Guide EndNote Guide Mendeley Guide Zotero Guide
Download Link Download EndNote Download Mendeley Download Zotero
Type Desktop software. Also has a web-based version called EndNote Web. Doesn't work well with Safari. Desktop software and web-based.  Desktop software and browser add-on. Works best with Firefox, but can be used with Chrome and Safari.
Cost Free through IU, but will cost $$$ to update after graduation. Free. Storage upgrade with a monthly fee. Free. Storage upgrade with a monthly fee. 
Learning Curve Takes longer to learn, but not difficult with training.  Quick to learn with a pretty simple interface. Quick to learn with a simple interface.
Strengths
  • Best for major research projects, because it offers the most options for customization and formatting
  • Most customizable
  • Can handle a large amount of references
  • Great for managing PDFs
  • Has a social aspect. Can see what other users are reading and citing. Find other members with common research interests.
  • Does an excellent job of pulling citation metadata from PDFs
  • Can share citations and documents with others
  • Simple download of records
  • Good for managing a variety of formats, including webpages
  • Offers most functionality in a free, open-source product
Locate full-text through IUPUI subscriptions Yes No No
Storage Unlimited with X7 5,000+ papers 700+ papers
Word processing software Word and Open Office Word and Open Office Word and Open Office