Guides: Zotero Citation for Art and Design: Other Citation Management Softwares

Full Comparison of Citation Software

Thanks to Mat Willmott at MIT Libraries for creating the template for this chart.

	RefWorks	Zotero	Mendeley	EndNote
Link to web guides	Quick-Start Guides	Documentation	Support	Technical Support & Services
Type	Web-based	Desktop software and browser add-on for Firefox, Chrome, and Safari (newest version includes single sign-on through zotero.org)	Desktop software and web-based. Works with IE, Firefox, Chrome and Safari	Desktop client software; also has web interface, EndNote Web
Cost	Free via Penn license. Sign up for an individual account on the RefWorks website. (Penn only)	Free with 300 MB of back-up storage. Storage upgrades available for a monthly fee. Open source. Download Zotero	Free with 2GB of web space and 100 MB shared library space. Storage upgrades available for a monthly fee. Download Mendeley	Desktop software available at Penn Computer Connection for $119.95. Endnote Web Basic with 2GB storage is free.
Learning curve	Fairly quick to learn; many online user guides and demos	Quick to learn; simple design, many online user guides and demos	Quick to learn. Pretty simple interface	Takes longer to learn, but not difficult with training
Strengths?	Allows users to share citations Good for organizing citations for papers Web-based Since Penn has a site license, there's no cost Available to Penn alumni as long as Penn maintains its subscription	Simple download of records Good for managing a variety of formats, including webpages Offers most functionality in a free, open-source product Downloads records from with several databases that don't work with EndNote and RefWorks, such as Factiva and USPTO	Great for managing PDFs Has a social aspect. Can see what other users are reading and citing. Find other members with common research interests. Does an excellent job of pulling citation metadata from PDFs Can share citations and documents with others	Excellent for organizing citations for papers and theses Best option for major research projects, because it offers the most options for customization and formatting Most output styles for formatting Most customizable Can handle a large amount of references
How does it work?	You export references from compatible databases into RefWorks	Zotero can tell when you are looking at an item and shows an icon for it in the Firefox URL bar. Click the icon to add the item to your Zotero references	You export references from compatible databases. Mendeley will also retrieve metadata for pdfs that are brought in	You export references from compatible databases into EndNote
Does it have many output styles and bibliographic formats?	Yes, many popular styles and formats	Yes, many popular styles and formats	Yes, many popular styles and formats	Yes, many popular styles and formats
How simple is it to import records?	Simple to import records from most research databases	Very simple, as long as the resource is compatible with Zotero, but you will want to verify that the records are complete after import	Very simple using the Mendeley browser plugin. However, the import doesn't work with as many databases as other products.	Simple to import records from most research databases
What kinds of records can you import and organize (PDFs, images, etc.)?	Records for articles and books	Books, articles, patents, and webpages; Can also store PDFs, web screenshots, files, and images in records. You can make PDFs searchable by choosing to index them in the preferences menu.	You can import bibliographic citations and PDFs. Can also manually add citations	Can organize records for articles and books; PDFs and other file types can also be stored in the records. Can download PDFs in batches. PDFs aren't searchable.
Are records in your library viewable by others?	Yes; Users can share references in library with other RefWorks users	Yes. Users can set up individual and group profiles and share records	Yes. Users can set up groups to share references. Users can decide whether or not to make their library viewable by others	No.
Can you export records to other citation software?	Yes	Yes	Yes. Export to EndNote XML, RIS and BibTeX	Yes
Is managing and maintaining a big library (1000 records) complicated?	Not complex, but it can be cumbersome to manage large libraries	More difficult; takes time to sort out duplicates and verify that records are complete	No known problems. May need to purchase extra space.	Not complex; EndNote is best option for maintaining large libraries
Does it work with word processing software?	Works with Word through "Write-N-Cite" feature and LaTex through BibTex	Works with Word and Open Office; also works with LaTex through BibTex. You can create a list of Works Cited for Google Docs	Works with Word and OpenOffice.	Clean integration with Word and powerful formatting and customization features; also works with Open Office and LaTex through BibTex
Does it back up your records?	Yes	Yes, if you choose to back up or sync your Zotero library. A small amount of storage is free.	Yes	No
Other important features	Since it's web-based, you're not limited to a single machine	If you back up records, you can sync multiple computers Integrated with work on web that you do Fastest download of records Saves snapshot of web pages Allows users to highlight text and take notes on page Allows users to tag records	Very good for collaborative work Has a good PDF reader that enables highlighting and comments	PDF file management and organization features