Using reference management software is highly recommended any time you are conducting deep or ongoing library research. You should consider using reference management software if you are beginning a capstone project or working on a graduate thesis. You may also wish to keep track of resources you find throughout your career for later use -- many research professionals maintain detailed documentation of the works they've previously read or referenced for later use.
For a quick comparison of the two options listed below, take a look at this guide from York University Libraries.
MendeleyMendeley is a free reference manager and academic social network that can help you organize your research, collaborate with others online, and discover the latest research.
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ZoteroZotero is a free, open-source research tool that helps you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources. Here are some useful links for information on using Zotero: |
Mendeley and Zotero provide similar services, allowing you to track and format citations for all your research.
Another option, TurnItIn Draft Coach, could help you double-check the formatting of your citations (in APA, MLA, or Chicago Turabian style) as well as ensuring that all of your citations and references match.
To use Draft Coach, access Microsoft Word online through https://www.office.com/ . Open a Word document with citations. You should see TurnItIn as a menu item on top of the page. Click TurnItIn, then Draft Coach, and Draft Coach will appear on the right side of the screen.