Skip to Main Content

Reference Management: Reference Management Tools

Using a reference management tool enables you to import references from online databases, organize your research, and automatically format papers and bibliographies.

What is a reference management tool?

Reference management tools allow you to collect, organize, and store bibliographic information about source material such as journal articles, books, reports, and multimedia. A reference management tool also makes creating and formatting bibliographies and in-text citations easy.

While there are many different reference management tools out there, the library offers support for EndNote and Zotero. Use the menu on the left hand side for tutorials and instructions on how to obtain a copy of Endnote or Zotero for your own use.

 

EndNote logo

 

EndNote is a reference management tool that allows you to create and format reference lists and bibliographies in many different styles. It also serves as an aggregator of all of your references, allowing you to stay organized. In addition, EndNote can:

  • Search hundreds of online resources for references and PDFs
  • Find full text in one click
  • Import records from PubMed with the new direct export format
  • Share your library with colleagues
  • Format references for any project
  • Search, highlight, & annotate PDFs
  • Create uniform citations and footnotes

You may download EndNote by clicking on the button below (login required). Installation instructions are provided on the download page, but if you need further help installing the program email refdesk@mssm.edu.

Zotero logo

 

Zotero is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your information sources. Whether you're citing a preprint on arXiv.org, a journal article on PubMed, a news story from the New York Times, or a book from the library catalog, Zotero has you covered with support for thousands of sites.

Zotero allows you to: 

  • Import references from hundreds of databases.
  • Attach links, PDF's, and other file types to references.
  • Synchronize your library across multiple web-enabled devices.
  • Create groups and collaborate on projects.
  • Create bibliographies and add in-text citations in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and LibreOffice. 
  • Choose from a variety of citation styles (including AMA, APA, and Vancouver) or create a custom output style for a particular journal. 
  • Post references online and share information with other researchers, faculty members, and students.