A citation manager provides valuable assistance as you research and as you write. This tool is for:
Also, you may use the citation manager to:
A citation manager helps you get organized and stay organized, and saves time with formatting final papers.
Any citation manager is better than no citation manager. Here we discuss the basics of the products most popular at UT.
EndNote | Mendeley** | Zotero | |
Desktop app? | Yes | Yes - only Mendeley Reference Manager after 9/1/2022 | Yes |
Operating systems supported | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux |
Web-version? | Yes | Yes |
Yes |
Cost |
Desktop app: Search for "EndNote" at the Campus Computer Store $146 (students) $250 (fac/staff) $125 (EndNote 21 upgrade - must have existing product key) Online version "with Web of Science" is free to UT affiliates Online Basic is free to everyone |
App: free Up to 2GB of cloud storage* free, $4.99/mo+ for more |
App: free Up to 300MB of cloud storage* free, extra storage from $20/year |
Allows shared library creation? | Yes | Yes | |
Allows PDF sync? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Word processor plugin? | Microsoft Word, LibreOffice (4.x, 5.x, 6.x only), Apple Pages, Google Docs with EndNote 21 | Microsoft Word, LibreOffice (7.x (latest version)) | Microsoft Word, LibreOffice (all versions), Google Docs |
Support structure | Videos and self-guided resources, email, phone | Guides, forums, email, chat | Self-guided documentation and forums |
UT Libraries provides workshops? | Yes, see workshops | Not currently, see Mendeley page for more detail | Yes, see workshops |
After you leave UT, will you still have access to this tool? |
Desktop app: Yes Online version "with Web of Science": No, but it will convert to an Online Basic account. Online Basic: Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
* For more information on storage options, see the Mendeley and Zotero pages.
**The UT Libraries Citation Management Support Group will end support for Mendeley as of June 1, 2024.
Last updated: July 6, 2022 / reviewed Feb. 22, 2024
Zotero is a free and easy to learn tool that helps collect, organize, cite, and share information. However, Zotero does more than this: it helps the researcher manage their data––primarily journal articles, books/ebooks, videos, webpages, and all of the associated metadata––in order to preserve and sustain their project. The ideal data management scenario is long-term: resources that one can return to time and again, asking the same question in different ways, or new questions. Being pro-active in the management and maintenance of items and the connections between them is a best practice for supporting long-term use and survival of humanities research data and the products of research.
Zotero is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources.
Create and manage citations of books, articles, videos, etc.
Import citations from databases, the Web, and the UT Libraries Catalog
Add searchable notes and tags to citations; attach and annotate pdf's
Quickly create a bibliography in multiple formats (MLA, Chicago, APA, etc.)
Automatically manage in-text citations
Easily share references with others
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