- This article contains a list of best free reference management software for Windows. These software are reference manager plus bibliography software which can be used by students, teachers, scholars, or any research participant to organize their knowledge database. You can basically arrange and manage references which you have used in your study and research.
- Free Reference Manager 12.0.3 Update: Switch from Reference Manager to EndNote Buy EndNote X9 (for Windows, Mac, Online via browser and/or iPad) Our highest priority is delivering the most comprehensive reference management tool. That's why the important decision is made to discontinue the sale of Reference Manager, effective January 1, 2016, and focus exclusively on the continued enhancement.
- Reference Manager software, free download
- Reference Manager software, free download
- Reference Manager
- Reference Manager Software For Word
- Reference Manager 11 Download Free
Find the best Reference Management Software using real-time, up-to-date data from over 568 verified user reviews. Read unbiased insights, compare features & see pricing for 40 solutions. Request demos & free trials to discover the right product for your business.
Mendeley is a free, award-winning, academic referencemanager and web application for managing and sharing research papers, creating bibliographies, discovering new research trends and collaborating online.
- Mendeley-Desktop-0.9.6.1-win32.exe
- Mendeley
- Shareware ($)
- 17.05 Mb
- WinXP, Win Vista, Windows 7
Referencemanager for bibliography creation and research papers management Mendeley is a free, award-winning, academic reference manager and web solution designed for managing and sharing research papers, discovering research data and collaborating online.Feature highlights:d-deD? Create your personal bibliographic database using Mendeley's automatic extraction of document details and cited references from PDFs, as well as automatic retrieval of additional information from CrossRef, PubMed, ArXiv, etc.
- mendeley.exe
- Mendeley Ltd
- Shareware ($)
- 21.24 Mb
- Linux, Mac OS X, WinXP, Win Vista, Linux Gnome, Windows 7, Windows 7 x64
NoteExpress is a professional reference and research management tools. Founded in 2003, NoteExpress is fully committed to R&D of the bibliographic search and management system with its newly-upgraded software NoteExpress--one of the most professional system of bibliographic search and management. This multi-language system is a perfect assistant for researchers to search, download and manage bibliographic data and dissertations with high efficiency.
- NoteExpress_2.6.1.1482_en.exe
- AegeanSoftware Corp.
- Shareware ($128.00)
- 22.68 Mb
- WinXP, Win Vista, Win Vista x64, Windows 7, Windows 7 x64, Win2000, Win2003
Application written in C# to store references for papers, convert them to APA format and then retrieve them again later (if needed). Not a ground-breaking application by any means, but it does the job.
- APA Reference Manager
- Curtis Kularski
- Freeware (Free)
- Windows
JabRef is an open source bibliography reference manager. The native file format used by JabRef is BibTeX, the standard LaTeX bibliography format. JabRef runs on the Java VM (version 1.
- JabRef-2.8-setup.exe
- Kolja Brix & JoergZieren
- Freeware (Free)
- 11.6 Mb
- Win All
JABREF is an open source bibliography referencemanager. The native file format used by JABREF is BIBTEX, the standard LATEX bibliography format. JABREF runs on the Java VM (version 1.5 or newer), and should work equally well on Windows, Linux and. ...
- JabRef
- JabRef
- Freeware (Free)
- 4.96 Mb
- Windows Vista, 2003, XP, 2000, 98, Me, NT
LinkFixerPlus is like a 'power version' of AutoDesks ReferenceManager. But unlike ReferenceManager, LinkFixerPlus allows you to select files in multiple folders and subfolders at one time. And in place of typing the full replacement path, or having. ...
- LinkFixerPlus for AutoCAD
- LinkTek Corporation
- Shareware ($641.70)
- 16 Mb
- Windows 2003, XP, 2000, 98, NT
JabRef is an open source bibliography referencemanager. The native file format used by JabRef is BibTeX, the standard LaTeX bibliography format. JabRef runs on the Java VM (version 1.5 or newer), and should work equally well on Windows, Linux and. ...
- JabRef for Linux
- Morten Alver
- Freeware (Free)
- 7.2 Mb
- Linux
JabRef is an open source bibliography referencemanager. The native file format used by JabRef is BibTeX, the standard LaTeX bibliography format. JabRef runs on the Java VM (version 1.5 or newer), and should work equally well on Windows, Linux and. ...
- JabRef for Mac OS X
- Morten Alver
- Freeware (Free)
- 6.7 Mb
- Mac OS X
Docear (pronounced dog-ear) is what we call an 'sacademic literature suite't. It integrates everything you need to search, organize and create academic literature in a single application: a digital library, referencemanager, PDF and file manager,. ...
- !!!___download_the_latest_releases_only_from_www.docear.org___!!!.txt
- docear
- Freeware (Free)
- 1 Kb
- Windows; Mac; Linux
ORPAL is a referencemanager utilizing a relational database. The interface focuses on easy searching, note-taking, and electronic article storage, but also supports traditional citation and bibliography management (in APA and MLA formats).
- ORPAL
- So Psyched
- Freeware (Free)
- Windows
PaperAssitor is, but not only, a referencemanager as EndNote or bibliography. Apart from managing your academy reference, paperAssistor also concentrates on simplifying the information collection process.
- paperAssistor
- Ce Zhang
- Freeware (Free)
- Windows
Related:Reference Manager - Reference Manager Software - Endnote Reference Manager - Online Reference Manager - Gnu Reference Manager
The following tables compare reference management software. Readers using the table to choose reference management software should note the product's 'latest stable release date'. An older release date suggests that the product is not currently supported and users may encounter technical issues and receive little to no technical support.
General[edit]
In the 'notes' section, there is a difference between:
- web-based, referring to applications that may be installed on a web server (usually requiring MySQL or another database and PHP, Perl, Python, or some other language for web applications)
- a centrally hosted website
| 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 | 2019-06-03 | 1.7.1 | 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 | 2018-07-30 | 3.8.13 | 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+) | 2019-06-22 | 13.2.4 [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 | Swiss Academic Software | 2006-02-13 | 2019-01-10 | 6.3 | US$70-949 / Free for projects up to 100 references[4] | No | Proprietary | data can be saved locally on the computer, or, for team access, in the Citavi Cloud or an intranet Microsoft SQL Server;[5] search databases from interface[6] |
| CiteULike | Oversity Limited | 2004-11 | Shut down in 2019-03-30[7] | Free | No | proprietary[8] | centrally hosted website | |
| colwiz | colwiz Ltd | 2011 | 2016-05-09 | Free / Online storage free up to 3 GB / Additional storage space available | No | Proprietary | Desktop (Win, Mac, Linux) & Web components, iOS and Android | |
| EndNote | Clarivate Analytics | 1988 | 2018-01-09 | X9 | US$299.95[1] | No | Proprietary | The web version EndNote basic (formerly, EndNote Web) is free of charge |
| F1000Workspace | F1000/Science Navigation Group | 2015-05 | Continually updated online | Institutional access – varies with size of institute / Personal subscription $9.99/month / Free Trial Version | No | Proprietary | Web-based, Microsoft Word plug-in (Win, Mac), Google Docs add-on, browser extension(s) Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Internet Explorer 11, mobile app available | |
| JabRef | JabRef developers | 2003-11-29 | 2018-06-05 | 4.3.1 | Free | Yes | MIT license | JavaBibTeX and BibLaTeX manager |
| KBibTeX | KBibTeX developers | 2005-08 | 2018-06-21 | 0.8.1 | Free | Yes | GNU GPL | BibTeX front-end, using the KDE Software Compilation |
| Mendeley | Elsevier | 2008-08 | 2018 | 1.19 | 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, iPhone & iPad, Android |
| Paperpile | Stefan Washietl, Gregorgy Jordan, Andreas Gruber | 2013 | Continually updated online | US$2.99/month for academics, 9.99/month otherwise | No | Proprietary | web-application, integrates with Google Docs, collaboration & sharing features, currently only on Google Chrome | |
| Pybliographer | pybliographer developers | 1998-10-30 (0.2) | 2018-04-03 | 1.4.0 | Free | Yes | GNU GPL | Python/GTK2 |
| Qiqqa | Qiqqa | 2010-04 | 2016-09 | v79 | Free, Freemium and Premium versions | No | Proprietary | Desktop; Tablet; Web; Intranet |
| ReadCube Papers (now Papers) | ReadCube | 2011-10 | 2019-01-18 | v.4.0.16 (Web App) | US$ 3/month for students, 5/month academics | No | Proprietary | Web-based, MacOS, Windows, iOS and Android Microsoft Word plug-in browser extension (Chrome, Firefox, Edge) |
| refbase | refbase developers | 2003-06-03 | 2014-02-28 | 0.9.6 | Free | Yes | GNU GPL | web-based for institutional repositories/self-archiving[9] |
| 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 |
| RefWorks | Ex Libris / ProQuest | 2001 | 2018 | 3 | Institutional subscription | No | Proprietary | web-based, browser-accessed, Word & Google Docs |
| RefME | RefME | 2014 | Shut down in 2017 | Free | No | Proprietary | Web, iOS and Android; Chrome and Safari Extensions available; discontinued | |
| SciRef | Scientific Programs | 2012 | 2015-07-26 | 1.5 | 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 | 2019-08-20 | 5.8.2 | Free | Yes | CC-BY-NC-SA | 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 | 2019-06-14 | 5.0.67 [10] | 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. |
Operating system support[edit]
In the case of web applications, this describes the server OS. For centrally hosted websites that are proprietary, this is not applicable. Any client OS can connect to a web service unless stated otherwise in a footnote.
| Software | Windows | macOS | Linux | ChromeOS | BSD | Unix | iOS App | Android App | Windows App |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bebop | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| BibBase | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ? | ? | ? |
| BibDesk | No | Yes | No | ? | No | No | Third-party - PocketBib | ? | ? |
| BibSonomy | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ? | ? | ? |
| Bibus | Yes | Experimental | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Bookends | No | Yes | No | ? | No | No | Yes | ? | ? |
| Citavi | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| CiteULike | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ? | ? | ? |
| colwiz | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| EndNote | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| F1000Workspace | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| JabRef | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| KBibTeX | Experimental | Experimental | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Mendeley | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Paperpile | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (requires Chromium) | No (requires Chromium) | in beta | in beta | No |
| Pybliographer | Partial[11] | Partial[11] | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Qiqqa | Yes | No | No | ? | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| ReadCube (now Papers) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| refbase | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| RefDB | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Reference Manager | Yes[12] | No | No | ? | No | No | No | No | No |
| Referencer | No | No | Yes | ? | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
| RefWorks[13] | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | No - but is responsive | ? | No |
| SciRef | Yes | No | No | ? | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
| Sente | No | Yes | No | ? | No | No | Yes[14] | ? | ? |
| Wikindx | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| WizFolio | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| Zotero | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | third party | third party - Aziz, Lite![15] | No |
Export file formats[edit]
This table lists the machine-readable file formats that can be exported from reference managers. These are typically used to share data with other reference managers or with other people who use a reference manager. To exchange data from one program to another, the first program must be able to export to a format that the second program may import. Import file formats are in a table below this one.
| Software | BibTeX | Endnote/Refer/BibIX | Medline | MODS XML | RIS | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bebop | Yes | No | No | No | No | unAPI |
| BibBase | Yes | No | No | No | No | none |
| BibDesk | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Endnote XML, user customizable |
| BibSonomy | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | various [2] |
| Bibus | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | SQLite |
| Bookends | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | various user-customizable |
| Citavi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various |
| CiteULike | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | COinS, Delicious |
| colwiz | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | EndNote XML, CSL formatted HTML |
| EndNote | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | various[16] |
| F1000Workspace | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | CSV |
| JabRef | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | BibTeXML, DocBook, HTML, OpenDocument for OO.o, RTF, SQL database, user-customizable |
| KBibTeX | Yes | Yes | No | Depends[17] | Yes | PDF, PostScript, HTML, XML, RTF |
| Mendeley | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Endnote XML |
| Paperpile | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | none |
| Pybliographer | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Ovid |
| ReadCube (now Papers) | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | none |
| Qiqqa | Yes | No | No | No | No | none |
| refbase | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | COinS, OpenDocument for OO.o, SRW XML via SRU, unAPI, Word XML |
| RefDB | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | SRW XML via SRU web service, DocBook, TEI |
| Reference Manager | No | No | No | No | Yes | MEDLARS, TSV, CSV, Reference Manager XML, user-customizable |
| Referencer | Yes | No | No | No | No | none |
| RefWorks | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | RIS, BibTeX, Tab delimited or XML metadata |
| SciRef | No | No | No | No | Yes | Plain text, RTF |
| Sente | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | user-customizable |
| Wikindx | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | COinS, RTF, HTML, ADS, Word BIB |
| WizFolio | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Zotero | Yes | Yes | as of version 4.0[18] | Yes | Yes | COinS, CSV, Several RDF format standards, TEI, Wikipedia citation templates, Endnote XML, CSL JSON, Refer/BiblX, RefWorks tagged |
Import file formats[edit]
This table lists the file formats which may be manually imported into the reference managers without needing to connect to one particular database. Many of these database companies use the same name for their file format as they do for their database (including Copac, CSA, ISI, Medline, Ovid, PubMed, and SciFinder). For the ability to retrieve citations from the particular databases (rather than the file format), please refer to the database connectivity table that is below this table.
| Software | BibTeX | Copac | CSA | Endnote/Refer/BibIX | ISI | Medline | MODS XML | Ovid | PubMed | RIS | SciFinder | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bebop | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | none |
| BibBase | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | none |
| BibDesk | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | MARC, JSTOR, Reference Miner |
| Biblioscape | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| BibSonomy | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Firefox bookmarks |
| Bibus | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | none |
| Bookends | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various [3]; user-customizable |
| Citavi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various |
| CiteULike | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | none |
| colwiz | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | with built-in browser, bookmarklet |
| EndNote | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various[19] |
| F1000Workspace | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | EndNote XML, NBIB from PubMed, Medline, PDF |
| JabRef | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | BibTexML, Biblioscape, Biomail, Inspec, JSTOR, MSBib, PDF widh XMP annotations, REPEC (NEP), SilverPlatter, SixPack |
| KBibTeX | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Depends[17] | No | Yes | Yes | No | none |
| Mendeley | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Browser bookmarks |
| Paperpile | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | |
| Pybliographer | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | none |
| Qiqqa | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | none |
| ReadCube (now Papers) | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | |
| refbase | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | RefWorks |
| RefDB | Yes | Yes[17] | No | Yes[17] | Yes[17] | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes[17] | MARC, risx |
| Reference Manager | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various;[20] user-customizable |
| Referencer | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | none |
| RefWorks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various[21] |
| SciRef | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | ? |
| Sente | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dublin Core, Marc21 SUTRS, JSTOR, SilverPlatter |
| Wikindx | Yes | Depends[17] | No | Yes[citation needed] | Depends[17] | No | Depends[17] | No | Yes[citation needed] | Yes[citation needed] | No | ISI, BibReX LaTeX |
| WizFolio | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Internet Browser bookmarks[22] |
| Zotero[23] | Yes | No[24] | No[24] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | COinS, MARC, RDF, unAPI, Browser bookmarks, Endnote XML |
Citation styles[edit]
| Software | APA | Chicago/Turabian | Harvard | MLA | Other | Extension method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bebop | No | No | No | No | none | none |
| BibBase | Yes | No | No | No | none | none |
| BibDesk | Yes | yes | No | No | various | BibDesk export templates |
| Biblioscape | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 2000+ styles[citation needed] | Biblioscape format (through GUI) |
| BibSonomy | Yes | No | Yes | No | none | none |
| Bibus | Yes | No | No | No | 56 styles, user-contributed | bibus format (through GUI) |
| Bookends | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various[citation needed] | ? |
| Citavi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 10600+ styles. Styles can be requested and are centrally corrected; any BibTeX style when used with LaTeX. | Citavi format (through GUI), includes conditions and programmable components; BibTeX |
| CiteULike | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various[citation needed] | none |
| colwiz | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9464 styles | CSL |
| EndNote | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 6926 styles | EndNote format (through GUI) |
| F1000Workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9464 styles | CSL |
| JabRef | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | any BibTeX style | BibTeX |
| KBibTeX | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | any BibTeX style | BibTeX |
| Mendeley | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9464 styles | CSL |
| Paperpile | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9464 styles | CSL |
| Pybliographer | Yes | No | No | No | none | Pybliographer XML |
| Qiqqa | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9464 styles | BibTeX and CSL |
| ReadCube (now Papers) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9464 styles | BibTeX and CSL |
| refbase | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various polar & marine journals | PHP |
| RefDB | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 21 biomedical & law journals | XML (citestylex.dtd), interactive script |
| Reference Manager | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various | Reference Manager format (through GUI) |
| Referencer | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| RefWorks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 4256, plus CSL styles | RefWorks format (through GUI); CSL |
| SciRef | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various | SciRef format (through GUI) |
| Sente | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various | Sente format (through GUI) |
| Wikindx | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ABNT, APA, BMJ, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE, MLA, Turabian | Wikindx format (through GUI) |
| WizFolio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1000+ styles | WizFolio format (through GUI) |
| Zotero | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9464 styles | CSL |
Reference list file formats[edit]
Zotero and Endnote are incompatible with LaTeX. Among other things, both programs do not provide for robust citation keys. Zotero also does not offer automatic generation and updating of bibliography files in select directories.
| Software | HTML | LaTeX[25] | RTF | Plain text | RSS | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bebop | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | unAPI |
| BibBase | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| BibDesk | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Atom, DOC, PDF, XML, |
| Biblioscape | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| BibSonomy | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | OpenOffice-CSV |
| Bibus | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Bookends | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | clipboard |
| Citavi | Yes | Yes[26] | Yes | Yes | No | clipboard, DOC, ODT, PDF, HTML |
| CiteULike | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| colwiz | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| EndNote | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | clipboard, XML |
| F1000Workspace | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | |
| JabRef | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | clipboard |
| KBibTeX | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | PDF, PS |
| Mendeley | Yes | Yes[27] | Yes | Yes | Yes | clipboard, embeddable HTML widget, RSS |
| Paperpile | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Pybliographer | Yes | ? | No | Yes | No | No |
| ReadCube (now Papers) | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
| refbase | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Markdown, PDF, unAPI |
| RefDB | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | DocBook, TEI |
| Reference Manager | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | clipboard |
| Referencer | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| RefWorks | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | DOC, ODT |
| SciRef | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Doc, others |
| Sente | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | clipboard |
| Wikindx | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Multiple via BibUtils plug-in |
| WizFolio | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | clipboard, DOC |
| Zotero | Yes | Possible via plugin[28] | Yes | Possible via plugins[29] | Yes | clipboard |
Word processor integration[edit]
Some reference management software include support for automatic embedding and (re)formatting of references in word processing programs. This table lists this type of support for Microsoft Word, Pages, Apache OpenOffice / LibreOffice Writer, the LaTeX editors Kile and LyX, and Google Docs. Other programs are able to scan RTF or other textual formats for inserted placeholders which are subsequently formatted. Most reference management programs support copy/paste or drag-and-drop of references into any editor, but this is not meant here.
| Software | Word for Windows | Word for Mac | Pages | Apache OpenOffice / LibreOffice | Kile/LyX | Google Docs | RTF scan[30] | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bebop | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | none |
| BibBase | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | none |
| BibDesk | No | No | No | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| Biblioscape | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | ? | WordPerfect |
| BibSonomy | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | none |
| Bibus | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | No | No | ? | none |
| Bookends | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Mellel, Nisus |
| Citavi | Yes | No | No | Only versions prior to 6.0 | Yes[31] | No | Only versions prior to 6.0 | LaTeX editors LEd, Texmaker, TeXnicCenter, TeXstudio, TeXworks, WinEdt, WinShell |
| CiteULike | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | none |
| colwiz | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | No | No | ? | NeoOffice, Star Office |
| EndNote | Yes | Yes | Yes | No[32] | No | No | Yes | No |
| F1000Workspace | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | Manuscripts App |
| JabRef | Yes[33] | ? | ? | Yes[34] | Yes | No | ? | Emacs, Texmaker, TeXstudio, Vim, WinEdt |
| KBibTeX | No | ? | ? | No | Yes | No | ? | none |
| Mendeley | Yes | Partial[35] | No | Yes | No | No | ? | NeoOffice |
| Paperpile | in beta | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Pybliographer | No | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | No | ? | none |
| Qiqqa | Yes | ? | ? | No | Yes | No | No | none |
| ReadCube (now Papers) | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No | Yes | No | none |
| refbase | No | ? | ? | Yes[36] | No | No | Yes | PIRA, MediaWiki, SPIP |
| RefDB | No | ? | ? | No | No | No | No | none |
| Reference Manager | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | none |
| Referencer | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| RefWorks | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | none |
| SciRef | Yes | ? | ? | No | No | No | No | none |
| Sente | Yes | ? | Only versions prior to 5.0 | No | No | No | Yes | Mellel, Nisus, TextEdit; HTML and plain text scan |
| Wikindx | No | ? | ? | No | No | No | Yes | Integrated WYSIWYG word processor (RTF output for Word/OpenOffice) |
| WizFolio | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | No | Yes | ? | Zoho Writer |
| Zotero | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | (with LyZ)[37] | Yes | Yes | NeoOffice |
Reference Manager software, free download
Database connectivity[edit]
This table lists the academic databases and search engines which reference managers can import from. In some cases, a search and retrieval can be conducted directly in the reference manager. In others, a bookmarklet or Firefox extension will allow a site to be scraped.
| Software | ArXiv | CiteSeer | IEEE Xplore | PubMed | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bebop | No | No | No | No | No |
| BibBase | No | No | No | No | DBLP, Zotero, BibSonomy, Mendeley |
| BibDesk | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ACM portal, Jstor, DBLP, Google Scholar, Web of Science, any Z39.50 or Entrez, and others |
| Biblioscape | No | No | No | Yes | Import from integrated web browser |
| BibSonomy | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various[38] |
| Bibus | No | No | No | Yes | none |
| Bookends | Yes | No | No | Yes | Web of Science, Amazon, Google Scholar, Z39.50 |
| Citavi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | WorldCat/OCLC, Ovid, EBSCO, ProQuest, Web of Science, Z39.50 (4500+ online resources), SRU. Further catalogs are added upon request. Browser plugins (Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer) support DOI lookup, ISBN lookup, PubMed ID lookup, PMCID lookup, arXiv ID lookup, COinS and import from Wikipedia. |
| CiteULike | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various [4] |
| colwiz | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Over 30 repositories, Import from integrated web browser |
| EndNote | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | various[39] any Z39.50 |
| F1000Workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Google scholar, Google Books, Amazon, Web of Science/Web of Knowledge, WorldCat/OCLC, Science Direct, JSTOR, Highwire, PMC Europe, ACMDigitalLibrary, Scopus, Wiley, NIHLibrary, voyager, PrimoLibweb, PubMedID/DOI/ISBN lookup and the majority of journal websites. |
| JabRef | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ACM Portal, CrossRef, DBLP, DOAJ, DOI, GVK, Google Scholar, INSPIRE-HEP, Medline, MathSciNet, SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System, Springer, and zbMATH |
| KBibTeX | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | BibSonomy, CiteBase, CSB, DBLP, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, INSPIRE-HEP, Z MATH, Z39.50 |
| Mendeley | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various [5] |
| Paperpile | Yes | No | No | Yes | Google Scholar |
| Pybliographer | No | No | No | Yes | none |
| Qiqqa | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | GoogleScholar, JSTOR |
| ReadCube (now Papers) | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Microsoft Academic, Google Scholar |
| refbase | Yes | No | No | Yes | DOI lookup |
| RefDB | Yes | No | No | Yes | any Z39.50 |
| Reference Manager | No | No | No | Yes | various[40] |
| Referencer | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| RefWorks | No | No | No | Yes | various |
| SciRef | No | No | No | No | No |
| Sente | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Z39.50, SRU, Web of Knowledge |
| Wikindx | No | No | No | Yes | via plug-ins |
| WizFolio | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | various[41] |
| Zotero | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | various[42] |
Password 'protection' and network versions[edit]
Reference Manager software, free download
Some reference managers provide network functionality. (N/A means the product has no networking, while 'no' indicates it does (but lacks an implemented feature).)
Reference Manager
| Software | Passworded | Networking | |
|---|---|---|---|
| User-specific permissions[43] | Simultaneous write access | ||
| Bebop | No | N/A | N/A |
| BibBase | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| BibDesk | Yes | No | No |
| Biblioscape | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| BibSonomy | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bibus | ? | ? | ? |
| Bookends | ? | ? | ? |
| Citavi | Yes[44] | Yes | Yes |
| CiteULike | Yes | No | Yes |
| colwiz | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| EndNote | Yes | No[45] | No[45] |
| F1000Workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| JabRef | No | No | Partial |
| KBibTeX | No | N/A | N/A |
| Mendeley | Yes[46] | Yes | Yes |
| Paperpile | Yes[47] | Yes | Yes |
| Pybliographer | ? | ? | ? |
| Qiqqa | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ReadCube (now Papers) | Yes | Yes | No |
| refbase | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| RefDB | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reference Manager | Yes | No | Yes |
| Referencer | ? | ? | ? |
| RefWorks | Yes | ? | Yes |
| Sente | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Wikindx | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| WizFolio | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Zotero | Yes[48] | Yes | Yes |
References[edit]
- ^ abcdMSRP for full version, usually with physical media. Discounted downloads and academic discounts might be available. More expensive workgroup/server/librarian versions may be available.
- ^'dev.bibsonomy'. BibSonomy.org. 2016-02-15. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
- ^'Sonny Software – Bookends update history'. Sonny Software. 2016-11-10. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
- ^Price depends on affiliation (discounted price for students and members of academic, governmental, and nonprofit organizations), edition (Citavi for Windows for single users and teams with cloud storage, Citavi for DBServer for teams with intranet storage), and, in the case of DBServer, on the license type (per seat license vs. concurrent license), http://www.citavi.com/en/products.htmlArchived 2015-04-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^'Collaborating in a Team with Citavi for DBServer'. Swiss Academic Software. 2018-02-20. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
- ^'Citavi – Organize your knowledge'. Swiss Academic Software. 2018-02-20. Archived from the original on 2015-04-24. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
- ^'CiteULike is closing down'. CiteULike. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
- ^A developer kit is available. The community is invited to create plugins to access data off databases
- ^A centrally-hosted website is available at refbase.net.
- ^'Zotero Changelog'. Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. Retrieved 2019-06-17.
- ^ abThe GUI requires gnome-python, which isn't available for Windows or macOS.
- ^Reference Manager is not compatible with word 2010
- ^'Write-N-Cite Download Page'. www.refworks.com. 2018-04-10. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
- ^'Support iOS versions'. Archived from the original on 2015-02-06. Retrieved 2015-02-06.
- ^'Yohan Farouz.net'. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
- ^'Output Styles'. EndNote. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
- ^ abcdefghiSupported through the bibutils plugin
- ^'Journal Abbreviations'. Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
- ^'Import Filters'. EndNote. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
- ^'Thomson ResearchSoft Reference Manager Filters: Terms of Use'. Refman.com. Archived from the original on 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
- ^'Products'. RefWorks. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
- ^'WizAdd'. Archived from the original on December 25, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2009.
- ^'Zotero supported data formats'. Zotero.org. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
- ^ abZotero can import references directly from the database after which this format is named, although it cannot read the format itself.
- ^This refers to the direct output of raw LaTeX (often in a format similar to the BibTeX-generated .bbl files). Many programs can export BibTeX (see above table), which can then be processed into LaTeX.'Creating a Publication with TeX'. Swiss Academic Software. 2015-10-27. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
- ^Database can be exported as a whole in BibTeX format. Text (i.e. thoughts, comments, and quotations) can be fed into a number of TeX editors in LaTeX code or UTF-8,
- ^Database can be exported as a whole in BibTeX format.Insert citations via citation key generated by Mendeley ,
- ^'Better BibTeX'. Github. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
- ^'Plugins for Zotero'. Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
- ^Can reformat references in a properly saved RTF document, allowing limited use in OpenOffice.org Writer, StarOffice, FrameMaker, Microsoft Works, WordPad, WordPerfect, Google Docs and others.
- ^Detailed setup guide 'Citavi + LyX'. Citavi. Retrieved 2014-07-10.
- ^'EndNote X8 with LibreOffice – Clarivate Community'. 2017-10-24. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
- ^See JabRef FAQ: Field Mapping between MS-Office and JabRef.
- ^See JabRef FAQ: OpenOffice/LibreOffice integration.
- ^Requires the Desktop App open to choose references.
- ^Refbase can create a spreadsheet for import into an OO.o database to use the native OO.o bibliography tool. Refbase's MySQL database can additionally be used directly by OO.o [1].
- ^The LyZ extension integrates Zotero with Lyx/Kile
- ^'scraper info'. BibSonomy. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
- ^'Connection Files'. EndNote. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
- ^'Reference Manager Z39.50 Hosts'. Refman.com. 2003-03-11. Archived from the original on 2012-02-06. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
- ^'WizAdd (Web Importer) - WizFolio'. Help.wizfolio.com. 2012-06-22. Archived from the original on 2012-07-23. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
- ^'translators [Zotero Documentation]'. Zotero.org. 2012-03-15. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
- ^Most databases allow one to create different user accounts to store records. Some further allow you to specify permissions (granting and denying some users the rights to edit or read some or all of your records. This column describes the latter.
- ^Storage in Citavi cloud or, with special license, in Microsoft SQL Server in intranet.
- ^ abvia EndNote basic (cloud based)
- ^via Mendeley Web
- ^uses Google Account
- ^via zotero.org
Bibliography[edit]
Reference Manager Software For Word
- Gilmour, Ron; Cobus-Kuo, Laura (2011). 'Reference Management Software: a Comparative Analysis of Four Products'. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship. Summer 2011. doi:10.5062/F4Z60KZF.
- Perkel, Jeffrey M. (2015-11-02). 'Eight ways to clean a digital library'. Nature. 527 (7576): 123–124. Bibcode:2015Natur.527..123P. doi:10.1038/527123a. ISSN0028-0836. PMID26536960.
- Technische Universität München Library (2016-08-04). 'Reference Management Software Comparison — 6th Update'(PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-09.
- Tramullas, Jesús; Sánchez-Casabón, Ana I.; Garrido-Picazo, Piedad (2015). 'Studies and analysis of reference management software: a literature review'. El Profesional de la Información. 25 (4): 680–688. arXiv:1508.07480. Bibcode:2015arXiv150807480T. doi:10.3145/epi.2015.sep.17. ISSN1699-2407.