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Citation Guides & Style Manuals

Zotero

Zotero logo

Zotero ("zoh-TAIR-oh") is a free research tool that allows you to:

  • Collect & organize citations.
  • Attach PDFs, notes, and images to your citations.
  • Cite sources within your paper/thesis.
  • Create a bibliography in any citation style. 
  • Share Zotero libraries (folders).

It's easy to use, and best of all, it's open source, free to download. Zotero works with Chrome, Firefox and Safari, which allows you to work directly from your web browser. Visit our Zotero guide or learn more at Zotero.org.

BibTeX

BibTex is the citation management tool that works with LaTex, which is a typesetting program. LaTex can make beautiful papers, reports, and presentations with precise and set formatting. You can find the BibTex homepage here. BibTex can: 

  • Store and organize citations
  • Cite sources within your paper inside any LaTeX environment (Overleaf or the downloaded version of LaTeX)
  • Create a bibliography for most citations styles
  • Share and Collaborate (on Overleaf only)

 

BibTeX is open-source and free to download. BibDesk is the desktop version of the program that is downloaded with the main LaTeX editor (see the LaTeX Home Page for more details). You can export any of your search results to BibTeX automatically. While there is a learning curve, it is worth learning LaTeX and BibTex, especially in the natural and quantitative social sciences.