With so many different types of citation managers, how do you decide which one is right for you?  Below you will find a comparison between several citation management tools. If you would like more information on which one to use for your project, contact us via the Ask Us service.

• Freely available to all; can take with you if you leave UVA 
• Good option for collecting many types of literature, including web resources, through direct import or browser plug-in
• Can easily import PDFs automatically
• Easy to share citations with other users

•  Limited free storage space (300MB)
•  Limited number of bibliographic styles, and difficult to edit styles
•  Limited functionality for removing duplicates
•  No dedicated tech support (help is through online forums)

Read more about Zotero

 

Cost: EndNote 20, a $249.95 one-time purchase price for faculty and staff. There is a discounted price for students of $115 - see http://www.cavaliercomputers.com/endnote to purchase a licensed copy.

Platform: Windows, Mac

Weaknesses:  

 

Cost: Free, and, while you are at UVA, EndNote Basic accounts have additional features due to our Web of Science subscription. See this comparison chart.

Platform: Web-based

 

• Web-based, so very portable
• Additional features like article recommendations
• Tech support

• Subscription-based; so access could be lost if UVA cancels subscription

Cost: Freely available to all, with upgrades available (additional storage space)

Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux; has a Web syncing option

Strengths:

 

Guidance for UVA Health faculty, staff, and students is available by appointment:

• Help with choosing the right citation manager for you
• Basic guidance on citation management features and getting started (for Zotero and Sciwheel only)

Just Ask Us via the link at left - we are happy to provide help via email, phone, or in-person.

RefWorks

 

How to export your citations/bibliographies from RefWorks to Zotero
​(see the U of Minnesota's guide with screen captures, or follow the instructions below)

• After logging in to RefWorks, locate the Quick Access Toolbar on the bottom of the right-hand menu
• Click Export
• You can choose to export your whole database of references by choosing All in List, or, you can export folder by folder by clicking on a folder from the folder area at right. 
• Under Select an Export Format, choose Bibliographic Software (EndNote, Reference Manager, ProCite)
• Click on the Export References button. A browser window will appear with your references.
• Right-click in the browser window and choose Save as…. Save the export on your desktop as a .txt file and name it to match your RefWorks folder.
• Open your Zotero desktop app and select File, then Import.
• Leave the choice "A file (BibTeX, RIS, Zotero RDF, etc.)" selected and click Next.
• Find your downloaded file and click Open. Leave the next screen with Options as is, then click Next.
• The citations will be imported into Zotero with the name you used to save it as its Zotero folder name.

• File attachments will not transfer from RefWorks to Zotero. You can save the attachments on your computer and add them to Zotero manually by dragging the PDF to the appropriate citation or adding it as an attachment to the citation.   
• The Personal Notes and User fields in RefWorks will not transfer to Zotero. You can copy and paste this information into another field manually.
• You cannot use the Zotero Word plugin in a document that contains RefWorks Write-N-Cite formatted citations or bibliographies.