Choose a citation management software appropriate for you.
Create a single folder to house .pdfs of papers with citations in your citation management software.
| Anticipated Career | Software Package |
| Masters student - no thesis | EndNote |
| Masters student with thesis anticipating going to industry | Endnote |
| Masters student with thesis anticipating PhD | EndNote X7 |
| PhD student anticipating going to industry | Endnote or Bibtex |
| PhD student anticipating going to academia | EndNote X7 or BibTex |
Use CITATION MANAGEMENT software to
The citation managers all use the file format .ris for download.
So....Citation management software is designed to alleviate the most painstaking aspects of developing a bibliography.
| Criteria | Endnote X7 | EndnoteBasic | Mendeley | Zotero |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | $105.45 | Free | Subscription | Open source software |
| Online Storage | 1 GB | max. 5000 citations | 2 GB | 100 MB |
| Organize .pdfs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Word Plugins | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open Office Plugins | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bibtex friendly | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open Groups | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Private Groups | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile App/IPad | No | No | Yes | No |
There is also a citation manager called Bibtex that is designed to work with the typesetting software LaTex. Bibtex is both a citation management tool and a file format. This is frequently used in disciplines that are required to publish advanced mathematics equations in publications. Disciplines such as mathematics, physics, electrical engineering, and statistics frequently use LaTex. If Bibtex presents an undesirable learning curve, all of the packages listed above can output into Bibtex file format.