The library provides support for EndNote 20 (desktop version available to all staff and students for free) and EndNote Online. However, there are many more products and tools that are available for free or purchase.
While we don't offer any support for these tools, they may be useful to you.
What are Citation or Reference Managers?
Citation management software, also known as reference management software or citation managers, can help you manage and organize your citations and format bibliographies.
Many different citation management tools are available - some are available for free while others are not.
Examples include EndNote, Mendeley and Zotero. All citation managers carry out the same basic functions but specific features may vary from program to program.
Most citation management tools can help you to:
Comparison Chart
This is not a list of all citation management solutions. Please see the Other Comparison Charts below to view more.
| Tool/Criteria | EndNote 20 | EndNote Basic |
Mendeley |
Zotero |
| Cost | EndNote 20 is available to all students and staff. If you have a college PC/laptop EndNote should already be installed on it. If not please contact Computer Services, COMPUTERSERVICES.WD@SETU.IE. If you wish to have EndNote software installed on a personal PC/laptop please contact Geraldine Molloy (Geraldine.Molloy@SETU.ie) | Free basic account | Free basic account (fee to upgrade) | Free basic account (fee to upgrade) |
| Storage | Unlimited references and file attachment storage. Sync EndNote 20 account with EndNote online for unlimited storage online also |
50,000 in reference storage and 2GB file attachment storage
|
Free account = 2 GB of Web storage Upgrade Plans starting at €4.99 per month - see https://www.mendeley.com/upgrade/storage/ |
Free account = 300 MB of Web storage Upgrade Plans available to view: https://www.zotero.org/support/storage Free option if setting up with free cloud computing services. |
| Mobile Apps for iPad, iPhone, Android, smart phones | Yes, iPad App that allows PDF annotation. Sync with EndNote online to access EndNote via web browser. |
Yes, sync library with iPad App | Yes, official iPad/iPhone and Android; 3rd party Android apps also available | Yes, created by 3rd parties. See https://www.zotero.org/support/mobile for info |
| Citation/bibliography - Compatibility with word processing program | Yes – for MS Word, OpenOffice (Windows), Apple Pages; LaTex through BibTeX | Yes – for MS Word, OpenOffice (Windows), Apple Pages; LaTex through BibTeX | Yes – for MS Word, LibreOffice; LaTex through BibTeX | Yes – for MS Word, OpenOffice; LaTex through BibTeX |
| Types of items that can be saved/ attached | Book/article citations, PDFs, webpages (URLs only) | Book/article citations, PDFs, webpages (URLs only) | Book/article citations, PDFs, webpages (URLs + snapshots), video, images | Book/article citations, PDFs, webpages (URLs + snapshots), video, images |
| Tools to help capture online items | Capture button available to download with synced online account | Yes, download the Capture button | Yes, download the Web Importer bookmarklet | Yes, with Chrome, Safari, Firefox extensions – icons shown in browser bar |
| Accessible from more than one computer | Yes, EndNote can now sync across EndNote online and all computers where you have installed EndNote desktop 20. | Yes, access EndNote Basic from any computer with an internet connection | Yes – Web-based and can download Mendeley Desktop on multiple computers | Yes – Web-based and can download Zotero Standalone on multiple computer |
| Share your library with others |
Yes, can share your library with up to 100 other EndNote users. |
Share citation groups with other EndNote users. Share tailored bibliographies with with others. |
Yes | Yes |
| Pros |
Reliable software to use for a large library of files Many research databases offer Export options specifically for EndNote. Good technical online support |
User-friendly Good if you're new to research and writing |
User-friendly. Free searchable online library of papers & citations. Good tools for adding annotations to PDFs. |
Can auto-detect item types to save in Firefox or Standalone. Unlimited # of private or public groups. |
| Cons |
Not able to save webpage snapshots. |
Not able to save webpage snapshots. |
Only 1 private group (3 members) w/free acct. Still mainly popular in scientific communities. |
Very limited storage space w/free account. |
Other Comparison Charts