Reference management software helps you collect, organise, and cite your sources.
It keeps your research tidy and saves time by automatically generating references and bibliographies.
🔹You can:
Using reference software can help you:
✅ Keep references in one place – no more losing sources
✅ Create citations and bibliographies instantly in your required style
✅ Work with others on shared research projects or group assignments
✅ Write faster – insert citations directly into Word or Google Docs
✅ Stay organised – tag and group sources by topic, project, or course
🎓 Especially useful for dissertations, long essays, and collaborative projects.
There are two types of tools:
Ideal for: quick citations or short assignments.
No need to sign up or download anything — but not suitable for long-term use.
Ideal for: dissertations, extended projects, and researchers who need to store and organise lots of references.
➡️ [Compare Zotero and Mendeley – see table below]
| Consideration | Zotero | Mendeley |
|---|---|---|
| Do you need to install it? | Yes – Zotero requires a desktop app, but you can sync across devices and access your library via the web too. | Yes – Mendeley also has a desktop app, and a web version. Setup is very similar. |
| How user-friendly is it? | Interface can feel a bit less modern at first. It's completely open-source, so not as slick – but powerful once you get used to it. | Sleek and more polished look. Some users find it more intuitive at first glance. |
| How well does it handle duplicates? | Very good – Zotero makes it easy to review, compare, and merge duplicates. | Also detects duplicates, but merging is slightly less streamlined. |
| Does your subject area matter? | Widely used across Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Law. Good at handling varied sources and complex citation styles. Law users: see note 1 on Juris-M. | Often preferred in STEM and health sciences. Includes tools for managing PDFs of scientific papers and integrates with some scientific databases. |
| Do you need group work features? | Strong collaboration via shared libraries, especially useful for teaching or co-authoring. | Also supports shared libraries; more focus on sharing PDFs within academic networks. |
| Do you like automation? | Focuses on transparency and user control. Fewer behind-the-scenes recommendations. | Owned by Elsevier, offers features like recommended articles and auto-suggestions (some find this helpful, others prefer more control). |
1 Juris-M is a variant of Zotero specifically designed for legal research, offering enhanced support for legal citation styles and multilingual materials. For more information, visit Juris-M Project.
📌 If you're still unsure, try both Zotero and Mendeley – they're free and quick to install.