Citation Management

What is a Citation Manager?

A citation manager is a software program or online tool that allows you to collect and organize citations from a variety of sources. Most citation managers allow you to:

Organize citations in folders
Quickly create citations and bibliographies in different citation styles
Save full-text PDFs (subject to storage availability)
Connect your citation manager with your word processor so you can insert citations while you write
Share citations with others in a public or private group

Why use a citation manager?

Using a citation manager can take some getting used to, but it can save you a lot of time locating and formatting references when writing papers.

Comparing Citation Managers

Memorial University Libraries does not recommend one particular citation management software. This guide provides a comparison of the features of Zotero, Mendeley, and EndNote. If you are interested in other citation management options, you may wish to consult Wikipedia's Comparison of Reference Management Software.
	Zotero	Mendeley	EndNote Basic Online	EndNote Desktop
Website	https://www.zotero.org Zotero compatibility information	https://www.mendeley.com Note: Mendeley Desktop is not supported in macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or macOS 11 (Big Sur). See also: Mendeley compatibility information	https://my.endnote.com Note: If you receive a captcha error when trying to register, please follow these instructions.	https://endnote.com EndNote compatibility information
Developer	Open source Developed by the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University	Elsevier	Clarivate	Clarivate
Cost	Free Charges for adding extra storage space	Free Charges for adding extra storage space	Free	Purchase required Student pricing available
Web-based or desktop	Website and desktop application	Website and desktop application	Website only	Desktop application Can sync with EndNote basic (not recommended for very large libraries)
Installation required?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Browser compatibility	Google Chrome Firefox Safari	Google Chrome Firefox Safari Microsoft Edge	Google Chrome Firefox Safari Internet Explorer 8-	Not applicable
Browser add-ons	Zotero Connector	Mendeley Web Importer	Capture Reference bookmarklet Download from EndNote Basic Online, under the Downloads menu	Capture Reference bookmarklet Download from EndNote Basic Online, under the Downloads menu
Privacy	Does not share or sell data Privacy Policy	May disclose personal information to agents, suppliers, service providers and affiliates within the Elsevier group of companies Privacy Policy	"Your data will be transferred to countries with different privacy and data protection laws than your own, including to countries, such as the United States." Privacy Statement	"Your data will be transferred to countries with different privacy and data protection laws than your own, including to countries, such as the United States." Privacy Statement
Word processor compatibility	MS Word plugin (Win/Mac) LibreOffice plugin (Win/Mac/Linux) Google Docs (when using Zotero Connector for Chrome or Firefox)	MS Word plugin (Win/Mac) LibreOffice plugin (Win/Mac/Linux)	MS Word plugin (Win/Mac) OpenOffice (Win)	MS Word plugin (Win/Mac) OpenOffice (Win)
Sharing citations	Zotero Groups: Unlimited groups with unlimited members; Private groups can share files; Public groups can share citations only; Group discussions available	Mendeley Groups: Private groups can have up to 25 members and can share files; Public groups can have unlimited members and can share citations only; Group discussions available	Up to 50,000 references No public groups, only private; no article sharing in groups	Share entire library with up to 100 other users who have EndNote X7.2 or later
Can I save PDFs to my account?	Yes: 300MB of storage	Yes: 2GB of storage	Yes: 2GB of storage	Yes (stored on your computer)
Can I add notes to entries in my account?	Write notes and add tags	Write notes and add tags	Write notes	Write notes and add labels
Access after leaving Memorial	Yes	Yes	Yes, but some style options and filters will no longer be available.	Yes
Mobile app	Zotero for iOS 3rd party Android apps Zotero website is mobile-friendly	N/A	iOS app	iOS app
Security and server location	Cloud storage is optional (mandatory for collaboration) Cloud data stored on US servers	Cloud storage is mandatory Data stored on UK servers	Cloud storage is mandatory Data stored on US servers	Data stored on your computer. Can sync with EndNote basic (data stored on US servers).
Pros & cons	Pros: Free and open-source; can drag-and-drop PDFs to add them to your library; notifications about papers in your library that have been retracted (must have DOI) Cons: Desktop installation required; syncing across multiple computers can be problematic; not great at removing duplicates. Cloud data stored on US servers.	Pros: 2GB of storage space; can drag-and-drop PDFs to add them to your library. Cons: Desktop installation required; syncing across multiple computers can be problematic; not great at removing duplicates.	Pros: No desktop installation required; 2GB of storage space. Cons: no offline-access, no public groups, only private; no article sharing in groups. Data stored on US servers. No ability to manually edit existing citation styles (i.e. to edit the CSL code).	Pros: Data stored on your own computer; excellent for removing duplicates (recommended for systematic reviews for this reason); good for large libraries. Cons: Expensive; not ideal for sharing citations with a group.

This table is adapted from Comparing Citation Management Services by the Western Libraries Citation Management Working Group, licensed under CC BY 4.0.