RefWorks, Zotero & Mendeley: Three Way Comparison 2013

Features RefWorks 2.0http://www.refworks.com/

Zotero 4.0http://www.zotero.org/

Mendeley 1.8.4http://www.mendeley.com/

Mission “Online reference management tool”

“See it. Save it. Search it. Cite it.”

“Organize research, collaborate & discover

knowledge…”

Cost Subscription required $$$

Free, open-sourceFree desktop & web interface (owned by

Elsevier)

Ease of use

Average (some users like 1.0 more)

Mostly easy,some software quirks

Mostly easy,social groups

Web accessible

Yes Yes integrates with most browsers

Yes (same as Zotero)

Import/export from databases

Yes, some require text download

Yes list of databases Yes list of databases supported (COinS)

Download pdfs

Yes Yes Yes

Source links

Yes Yes Yes

# of citation styles

~thousands of styles 6400 styles available 6400 styles available

Links to web

Yes Yes Yes

Format references

Write-N-Cite for Word/OpenDocs

try One Line cite view

Cite while you write (CWYW) & rtf-scan feature Cite while you write (CWYW)

Duplicate recorddetection

YES YES YES

Extract metadata

NoYes

Yes

PDF markup/ annotation

NoNo

Yes

Web scraping

Uneven Good scraping feature (some inconsistencies)

Excellent (web page snapshot too)

Sharing Yes Yes YesCompatibility /mobile version

YesView cites on Web;

Android users try Zandy & Zotpad

iPhone & iPad compatible

This handout was developed using this wiki entry: see RefWorks, Mendeley and ZoteroDean Giustini, UBC Biomedical Branch Librarian, June 2013

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Notes100mb but can increase 300mb free storage 2 GB free storage

This handout was developed using this wiki entry: see RefWorks, Mendeley and ZoteroDean Giustini, UBC Biomedical Branch Librarian, June 2013

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RefWorks 2.0 – pros/cons

Pros Refworks 2.0 is fully supported by most academic libraries If an academic library subscribes, support is usually good Use RefWorks to create & share bibliographies; organize folders; attach full text Access anywhere and via mobile devices Try RefGrab-It to capture pdfs and webpages Import citations from RSS feeds

Cons RefWorks does not have social features like some newer tools Its functionality is not the best You cannot extract metadata from pdfs, so it won’t help if you have a library of pdfs

Zotero – pros/cons

Pros Support for Google Docs & Scrivener via RDF/ODF-Scan plugin http://zotero-odf-

scan.github.io/zotero-odf-scan/ Now has a stand-alone program for metadata grabs and IE workaround using plugin

Zotero Bookmarklet (works with iOS devices) Easy to use bibliography feature; PDFs, notes and images can be attached Organize citations of any depth in tree into collections; create bibliographies Zotero integrates with your browser; working in groups; import feature in address bar Integrates OK with word processors such as Pages, NeoOffice, Google Docs RDF , TEI, Wikipedia citation templates; COinS, MARC, RDF, unAPI, Browser Zotero imports directly from a webpage to the library; more convenient than traditional

two-steps of saving citation and importing it into library Try the web-based Zotero Reader https://secure.zoteroreader.com/

Cons Interface: size limitations Some cumbersome notes features Keeping interface open limits webpage visibility Zotero occasionally has difficulty importing citation criteria correctly (but rare)

This handout was developed using this wiki entry: see RefWorks, Mendeley and ZoteroDean Giustini, UBC Biomedical Branch Librarian, June 2013

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Mendeley pros/cons ‘at a glance’ http://mendeley.com

Details Description of Mendeley 1.3.2Cost Free for basic usage (Elsevier purchased Mendeley in 2013 & may monetize it)

Premium model http://support.mendeley.com/Storage & team plans https://www.mendeley.com/upgrade

Desktop and web versions Sync desktop & website applicationSynching of desktop application to web account NOT automatic

Metadata extraction from PDFs

Drag & drop PDFs into Mendeley Desktop

Detects subject keywords in PDF

Cross-checks your research library against external databases: CrossRef,

PubMed, arXiv, or Google Scholar, DOIs & unique identifiers

Vancouver style, APA, MLA stylesheets (more than 6300+)Share References References can be shared by creating “public” or “shared” (restricted) collections

Mobile support iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad

Direct import/export Bookmarklet to import http://www.mendeley.com/import/

Citation styles 6500+ styles (as of May 2013)

DOI Pulls all citation details (e.g., metadata)Duplicate record detection Detects duplicatesPDF markup/annotation Annotate, attach notes in PDFsCite/create bibliographies Generate citations and bibliographies in Word, OpenOffice, Google Docs, LaTeX,

and any other text editorImporting from & sync with other ref managers

Imports your existing BibTex, RIS, and EndNote libraries; Browser bookmarks

Citation style clipboard http://www.mendeley.com/citationstyles/Browsers Works with Firefox and IESocial networking Yes, private groups, followers, etc.Sharing and collaboration features

Groups, embed papers into your website

This handout was developed using this wiki entry: see RefWorks, Mendeley and ZoteroDean Giustini, UBC Biomedical Branch Librarian, June 2013

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RefWorks 2.0: http://hlwiki.slais.ubc.ca/index.php/Bibliographic_citation_software Web-based reference manager, widely-used in Canadian academic libraries Accessible from UBC computers; create your own personal database Import & store citations, format bibliographies & import citations from RSS feeds link to files (e.g., PDFs, word documents, Excel spreadsheets) add new citations by importing or manual entering; share citations for collaborative projects Go to: https://refworks.scholarsportal.info and “Sign up for an individual account”

Interface overview References: add references with pull-down menu Search: search for citations by access point (i.e. author, descriptor, journal name) Bibliographies: create bibliographies Tools: download plugins e.g. RefGrabIt and Write-N-Cite Tutorial: http://www.refworks-cos.com/refworks/tutorials/basic.html

Creating & organizing features: Select Folders and choose Create … Give your folder a name; rename or delete as necessary

This handout was developed using this wiki entry: see RefWorks, Mendeley and ZoteroDean Giustini, UBC Biomedical Branch Librarian, June 2013

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Importing references: Search PubMed and select citations; choose Send to and select File MEDLINE Save file as pubmed_result.txt (use “Send to” “File” option) In Refworks click on References …then Import From Import Filter/Data Source pull-down menu, select “NLM Pubmed” Create Folder you want to add references to import pubmed_result.txt file Use RefGrab-It to capture webpage content. Download plugin within RefWorks under “Tools”

Searching your reference collections: Your references are all searchable. Choose “Search” then, “Advanced. Ignore “Search Name” Change your search field from “Descriptors” to “Anywhere” and choose folder to search Type a keyword into the search box and click on “Search.”

Annotating references, adding PDFs & other files: Click on “Edit” to add comments, keywords, or attachments to a reference Note the “Attachment” option. Note the “User” fields

Creating footnotes & citations in papers: Download Write-N-Cite

Zotero 4.0: http://www.zotero.org Open source, extensible web-based social media tool: "See it. Save it. Sort it. Search it. Cite." download plugin for Chrome, Safari & Firefox: http://www.zotero.org Zotero sits at bottom of browser, far right enhances ability to be social through new Zotero Groups annotate, tag and organize citations; use notetaking with autosave for enhanced descriptions gather, organize and cite sources (papers, fulltext pdfs, web pages, images & other objects) use Collections and Groups to store and share items to start Zotero on your desktop, click the icon in the lower right of browser Preferences allows you to install plugins to search text of PDFs and add metadata

Interface overview: iTunes-like interface “window pane” appears at the bottom of your browser; collections and groups are

listed on the left; titles are in the center; metadata at the right column “My Library” (left column) contains ALL items; click a folder to see citations in that folder Add Notes and Tags to individual items

This handout was developed using this wiki entry: see RefWorks, Mendeley and ZoteroDean Giustini, UBC Biomedical Branch Librarian, June 2013

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Adding items to Zotero: Click icon in browser address field Websites such as library catalogues and book vendors that display a “book” icon are indicating Zotero;

tool will recognize items and add them to your collection Add items manually by clicking on the green “New Item” icon

Searching: Use basic search or advanced via magnifying glass icon; search text, tags, terms, etc. Save searches by clicking magnifying glass icon and clicking on “Save Search”

Adding attachments Example: Highlight an item in the middle column, right click and choose “Add Attachment/Attach

Stored Copy of File.”

Create bibliographies in Zotero download Zotero plug-in to add citations while you write ; create bibliographies: highlight

references; choose Generate Bibliography from Selected Items and select style type needed Choose Copy to Clipboard and paste the bibliography into a document Choose Preferences/Advanced to access fulltext

Synching & sharing your Zotero library Save & back-up items, notes and metadata to Zotero server; access from other desktops. To save attached files, you are limited to 100 mb of space. More space is available for a fee. Use “Group Settings” in your Zotero online account to add members to groups you want to share. Be

sure to register with Zotero to access these options.

Mendeley: http://www.mendeley.com Mendeley is a free social document manager (but not open source like Zotero) Byline: “Organize research, collaborate and discover new knowledge…” Two components: 1) downloadable desktop application & 2) web interface (hosted at Mendeley) Easy import, index, annotation, collaboration and backup for your documents Citations created with metadata in pdf files; imports documents and extracts metadata Create Collections to store documents and citations; share with others Plugins for creating bibliographies and scraping webpages; web snapshot feature A research network of other users to share and discover ideas Share references, and engage in collaborative tagging of documents

This handout was developed using this wiki entry: see RefWorks, Mendeley and ZoteroDean Giustini, UBC Biomedical Branch Librarian, June 2013

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Import to Mendeley

Manage your citations & pdf files in Mendeley using Collections

This handout was developed using this wiki entry: see RefWorks, Mendeley and ZoteroDean Giustini, UBC Biomedical Branch Librarian, June 2013

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