Citation Management Software
What is citation management software?
A reference manager supports researchers in performing three basic research steps: searching, storing, and writing [...]. It helps researchers find relevant literature, allows them to store papers and their bibliographic metadata in a personal database for later retrieval, and allows researchers to insert citations and references in a chosen citation style when writing a text.
Fenner, Martin, Kaja Scheliga, and Sönke Bartling. ‘Reference Management’. In Opening Science, edited by Sönke Bartling and Sascha Friesike, 125–37. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00026-8_8.
Citation managers can save researchers a lot of time, as well as help to reduce mistakes and avoid plagiarism.
Click here for a comparison of different citation managers.
Comparison of citation management softwareZotero
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Zotero is a popular free and open-source option among researchers that offers many features as well as extensions.
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Mendeley is a proprietary option from Elsevier. BI faculty and staff have free access via our partnership with BAU.
Software
Developer
First public release
Latest stable release date
Latest stable version
Cost (USD)
Free software
License
Notes
Bebop
ALaRI Institute
2007-11-08
2009-11-10
1.1
Free
Yes
BSD
web-based BibTeX front-end (Apache, PHP, MySQL)
BibBase
Christian Fritz
2005
2013-07
v3
Free
No
Proprietary
centrally hosted website, intended for publication pages
BibDesk
BibDesk developers
2002-04
2021-08-15
1.8.3
Free
Yes
BSD
BibTeX front-end + repository; Cocoa-based; integration with Spotlight
Biblioscape
CG Information
1997
2015-06-22
10.0.3.6
US$79-299[1]
No
Proprietary
ODBC; web access in Pro ed; optional client/server; discontinued?
BibSonomy
University of Kassel
2006-01
2019-12-11
3.9.2
Free
Yes
AGPL, GPL, LGPL[2]
centrally hosted website
Bibus
Bibus developers
2004-06-03
2013-05-23
1.5.1
Free
Yes
GNU GPL
discontinued?
Bookends
Sonny Software
1988 (Mac) / 1983 (Apple II+)
2021-01-23
13.5.1[3]
US$59.99[1]
No
Proprietary
Desktop & iOS synced via iCloud, integrated web search, PDF download, auto-completion, Word plugin, BibTex support, PDF annotations stored as notes
Citavi
QSR International[4]
2006-02-13
2022-01-05
6.11.0.0
US$89-1947[5]
No
Proprietary
data can be saved locally on the computer, or, for team access, in the Citavi Cloud or an intranet Microsoft SQL Server;[6] search databases from interface[7]
CiteULike
Oversity Limited
2004-11
Shut down in 2019-03-30[8]
Free
No
proprietary[9]
centrally hosted website
colwiz
colwiz Ltd
2011
2016-05-09
Free / Online storage free up to 3 GB / Additional storage space available
No
Proprietary
Now combined with wizdom.ai
EndNote
Clarivate Analytics
1988
2021-11-30
20.2.1
US$299.95[1]
No
Proprietary
The web version EndNote basic (formerly, EndNote Web) is free of charge
JabRef
JabRef developers
2003-11-29
2021-07-05
5.3
Free
Yes
MIT license
Java BibTeX and BibLaTeX manager
KBibTeX
KBibTeX developers
2005-08
2020-04-26
0.9.2
Free
Yes
GNU GPL
BibTeX front-end, using the KDE Software Compilation
Mendeley
Elsevier
2008-08
2020
1.19.8
Free / Online storage free up to 2 GB / Additional storage space available
No
proprietary (OS API clients exist)
Account required, Desktop & Web components, Windows, Linux, macOS (not macOS 11 Big Sur)
Paperpile
Stefan Washietl, Gregorgy Jordan, Andreas Gruber
2013
Continually updated online
US$2.99/month for academics, 9.99/month otherwise
No
Proprietary
web-application, integrates with Google Docs, collaboration & sharing features, currently only on Google Chrome
Pybliographer
pybliographer developers
1998-10-30 (0.2)
2018-04-03
1.4.0
Free
Yes
GNU GPL
Python/GTK2
Qiqqa
Qiqqa
2010-04
2020-10-04
v80
Free
Yes
GNU GPL
From end 2020, Open Source
ReadCube Papers (now Papers)
ReadCube
2011-10
2021-03-09
v.4.23.3
US$ 3/month for students, 5/month academics
No
Proprietary
Web-app, Desktop (MacOS, Windows), Mobile (iOS and Android). Microsoft Word and Google Docs add-in. Browser extension (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari)
refbase
refbase developers
2003-06-03
2014-02-28
0.9.6
Free
Yes
GNU GPL
web-based for institutional repositories/self-archiving[10]
RefDB
refdb developers
2001-04-25
2007-11-05
0.9.9
Free
Yes
GNU GPL
network-transparent; XML/SGML bibliographies
Reference Manager
Thomson Reuters
1984
2010
12.0.3
Not for sale anymore, sales ceased December 31, 2015
No
Proprietary
network version; built-in web publishing tool; discontinued
Referencer
Referencer developers
2008-03-15
2014-02-27
1.2.2
Free
Yes
GNU GPL
BibTeX front-end
RefME
RefME
2014
Shut down in 2017
Free
No
Proprietary
Web, iOS and Android; Chrome and Safari Extensions available; discontinued
RefWorks
Ex Libris / ProQuest
2001
2018
3
Institutional subscription
No
Proprietary
web-based, browser-accessed, Word & Google Docs
SciRef
Scientific Programs
2012
2020-07-30
1.6.2
US$38.90 / Free trial version
No
Proprietary
Sente
Third Street Software, Inc.
2004
Shut down in 2017
6.7.9
US$60–80[1] / Free for libraries up to 100 refs
No
Proprietary
Desktop and iPad, centralized backup/synching; discontinued
Wikindx
Mark Grimshaw
2004-02
2021-07-07
6.4.10
Free
Yes
ISC license
web-based
WizFolio
WizPatent
2008-06
Shut down in 2017
Avatara
US$25 / Free Basic version
No
Proprietary
centrally hosted website; discontinued
Zotero
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at GMU
2006
2021-01-11
5.0.95 [11]
Free / Online storage free up to 300 MB / Additional storage space available
Yes
AGPL
Multi-platform desktop version with connectors for Firefox, Chrome and Safari. Web-based access to reference library also available through Zotero.org or through a personal cloud-based database folder on a user's computer (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.).
Source: Wikipedia (retrieved 04 Mar 2022)
