Bibliographic management software (also called reference or citation management) allows students and researchers to keep a database of references to research sources like books, articles, dissertations, web pages, and much more. Advanced software also allows keeping the full-text of these sources as part of the database.
Once you add a reference to the database, you can search these references, insert the citations in documents like research papers or theses, and format bibliographies using various citation styles like APA, MLA, or Chicago/Turabian.
There are many bibliographic management packages available, including Zotero and Mendely.
| Criteria | Zotero | Mendeley |
|---|---|---|
| Download Link | free download | free download |
| Recommended Use | Short tem assignments like research papers | Collaborative research by graduate students and faculty |
| Cost | free | free |
| Storage Capacity | 300 MB free, can purchase more storage | 2 GB |
| Web-based version | yes | yes |
| Citation Styles | 6751 | 6781 |
| Attach documents to citations | yes | yes |
| Search across documents | yes | yes |
Table adapted from Virginia Tech, http://www.lib.vt.edu/help/biblio-mgmt/index.html, retrieved July 2017.