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McNair Scholars: Citation Management Tools

This guide serves as a tool to assist McNair Scholars as they navigate their research.

What are Citation Management Tools?

Citation Management Tools, or Citation Management Software, aim to make your research life easier. Using these tools, you can:

  • track your research
  • download citations and articles from a number of websites or databases
  • store and organize your citations
  • annotate articles
  • format citations to include within your paper
  • easily share your references with other researchers

Citation Management Tools typically have some or all of the following elements:

  • A web-accessible online version
  • A desktop version that is installed on your device
  • A browser extension to capture citations on the fly
  • A plug-in program that integrates with your word processing program (Microsoft Word or Google Docs, for example)
  • A generic file format export function for moving stored citations to another Citation Management Tool
  • Direct exports functions from Databases

Comparison Guides and More

Would you like to learn more about how different Citation Management Tools compare? Check out these links:

Writing Center

The CASA Writing Center can help with any type of writing at all stages of the writing process!

The Writing Center can help:

  • brainstorm ideas
  • outline your paper
  • organize your argument
  • use the clearest language possible
  • check your technical style (APA/MLA/Chicago)
  • identify and correct grammatical errors and look for patterns
  • revise your own paper
  • edit, format, and proofread your own paper

Visit their website for location, hours and contact information.

Citation Management Tools: Zotero

I want to introduce you to citation management software. This software can help you manage your sources like books and articles and all the information you need to create citations for them. The software will automatically scrape this information from the Internet and save it to your computer. You can also install a plugin to integrate Word and other word processor software to create both intext and reference list citations automatically based on a local database synced to a cloud account.

The following video is an introduction to Zotero.

Creating a Bibliography in Zotero

Zotero is able to produce citations and bibliographies in multiple formats; examples include APA, MLA, Chicago, and Council of Science Editors. Some are available as soon as you download the Zotero software. Other formats must be loaded before they are available in Zotero.

To produce a bibliography using Zotero:

  • Open Zotero
    •  First time users will have to download and install the software from zotero.org.
    • To take advantage of the cloud capabilities, create a Zotero user profile and sync your library.
  • Create a collection in your library for the bibliography project
  • Collect citation data
  • Double check citation data
  • Create a bibliography
    • Right click on folder for which you want to create a bibliography
    • Select "Create a Bibliography from this Collection"
    • Select desired citation style
    • Under "Output mode" select "Bibliography"
    • Under "Output method" select "Copy to Clipboard" 
    • Paste in Word