Citing Sources: What tool should I use?

Zotero 5.0

EndNote X8 - X9 soon

Best if...

- You use a variety of online sources such as blogs, NGO reports, news websites, video, journal articles & books.

- You collaborate with more than one research group at time.

- You have a lot of PDFs already saved to add to a manager.

- You primarily use sources like journal articles & books.

- Your research group uses it.

- You wish to search PubMed,  WoS or other databases Brandeis subscribes to in the program with no switching back and forth to a browser.

Saving references

- Browser plug-in = one click to grab citation information from websites and library databases.  Compatible with Chrome, Firefox, Safari.
- Able to use journal and database tools to download citation.

- Journal and database tools to download citation preferred.  

- Install Capture References browser plugin to add references from non-journal or database sites.  Compatible with Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Creates citation from PDFs you already have

Yes. Drag a PDF into Zotero, and it will look for citation information automatically.

Yes.  Import (no drag-and-drop) a PDF into EndNote and it will look for citation information automatically.

Finds PDFs for citations you have

Yes: will automatically find and attach PDFs to records if you choose.

Yes: if Brandeis subscribes, will automatically find and attach PDFs to records if you choose.

Creating bibliographies and in-text citations

- Generate citations easily in over 8,000 styles, including APA, Chicago, and MLA - or create one.

- Create and update citations from within MS Word or LibreOffice.

- Drag-and-drop or copy/paste bibliographies into any text editor (e.g., Google Docs, email, etc).

- Generate citations easily in over 6,000 styles, including APA, Chicago, and MLA - or create one.

- Create and update citations from within MS Word.

- Drag-and-drop or copy/paste bibliographies into any text editor (e.g., Google Docs, email, etc).

Platforms

Mac, Windows, Linux, Online

Mac, Windows, Online

Mobile apps

- Mobile website and bookmarklet allow you to view and save citations to your Zotero library.

- Third-party apps available for iOS and Android.

- Mobile website allows you to view and save citations, and integrates with the MS Word App on Android devices.  

- EndNote app available for iPad.

Sharing options

- Collaboratively manage and share sources with a group.

- Create and join public groups.

- Granular permissions available for group members and public.

- Share a Group or whole library.
- Can set permissions (view or edit) for each user; can view changes made with Track Changes feature.

Note-taking and PDF annotation

- Notes can be attached to citations and searched in your library.
- Annotate PDFs in the app of your choice (e.g., Preview, Acrobat).

- Notes can be added to a field of the citation information and searched in your library.

- Annotate PDFs in built-in viewer.

Syncing and online storage

- Unlimited citations can be synced online.  Up to 300 MB of attached files (e.g., PDFs) can be synced on Zotero servers for free; storage plans can be purchased for additional file storage.

- Or set up syncing with free cloud storage like Box or Google Drive.

- Brandeis subscription covers unlimited online citations and attachments.
- After leaving Brandeis, EndNote Basic Web is free for up to 50,000 citations and 2GB of attached files.

Technical support

Robust documentation and user community; no professional tech support.

Documentation, training videos, and user community forums; professional tech support available while at Brandeis by email and phone.

Developer

Open-source software; Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media and Corporation for Digital Scholarship

Commercial software; Clarivate Analytics

Cost

Free

Free to you while at Brandeis; $113.95 (student) or $249.95 regular price