What is a reference manager?
A reference manager is a computer application that allows you to manage bibliographic references obtained from various sources of information, by creating a personal database.
It helps us in the research and publication process, and allows us to:
- Import references from different sources of information.
- Organize and manage references saved in a personal database.
- Insert citations in the process of writing a paper.
- Create bibliographies in different styles and standardized formats.
- Share bibliography and collaborate with other users/researchers.
There are many reference managers. Most share the same basic functionalities. Before making an assessment, we will have to consider:
- Compatibility with the most important commercial electronic resources, allowing a direct import of references.
- Incorporation of references from PDFs, through their metadata.
- Import from other bibliographic reference software.
- Ability to store, organize and process the bibliographic references obtained, through the creation of collections and folders, as well as the detection of duplicates.
- Ability to generate bibliographies and bibliographic citations in various standardized formats (ISO, APA, Vancouver, etc.), with the possibility to also create custom styles.
- Integration tools with the most well-known text processors (Word, Google Docs), which facilitate the direct insertion of quotations while we write.
- Ability to integrate full text documents.
- Possibility of sharing resources.
- Availability of APPS applications with synchronization of all our devices.
- Storage capacity.
- Social network functions.
The library currently offers its university community institutional subscription to two bibliographic managers: Mendeley and Refworks. There are also other free software options like Zotero
To learn mor about reference managers, consult the guides made by Servei de Biblioteques i Documentació:
