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Loyola University Chicago Libraries

Citation Managers

This guide provides information on various citation managers and how you can incorporate them into your research process.

Goodbye RefWorks

We are discontinuing the use of RefWorks at Loyola, but migrating your work to another platform is simple. 

All bibliographic management products allow transfer of references from one product to another. The instructions below outline how to transfer existing references from a RefWorks account, to EndNote.

  • Select all of the items in your RefWorks account that you wish to transfer to EndNote. 
  • Click Share > Export references from the RefWorks toolbar.  
  • Select RIS Format from the radio buttons.
  • Click the blue Export button.
  • Depending on your browser, the next steps will vary. With Firefox, you will choose to open the file. With Chrome, the file will likely go to your Downloads folder or the tray at the bottom of the browser. Either way, you should be presented with an option to choose a program to open the file. If EndNote is not already selected, choose it.
  • If EndNote is not open, you will be asked to choose a library. 
  • The citations will import into EndNote.

What is a citation manager?

Citation managers are tools that help you keep track of your research sources. Many have related features like tagging, notes, and citation and bibliography creation. You might have to try different citation managers to see which one works best for you. 

This guide gives a brief introduction to Zotero, Mendeley, and Endnote, as well as provides resources to find more information. These citation managers consist of a desktop library, an online library (which maintains information on a cloud until syncing to your desktop), and a browser plug-in that can detect sources and compile citation information. 

What's the difference between Zotero, Mendeley, and EndNote?

Although these citation managers all have small difference between them, some of the core differences are outlines below.

EndNote

  • Unlimited storage online and on desktop
  • Free with campus subscription, but otherwise expensive (when you leave Loyola, you no longer have access to the free subscription)
  • Generally, more sophisticated to use and more complicated to learn

Zotero

  • Always free and open source
  • 300MB free online or unlimited storage on desktop
  • Generally, easier to learn but with occasional quirks (since it is open source, it has user-maintained forums, not customer service)

Mendeley

  • Free; owned and maintained by the company Elsevier
  • 2GB free online or unlimited storage on desktop
  • Less popular and robust than other options, but with a dedicated customer service