The Rensselaer Libraries provide guidance and support to faculty and students who are conducting and disseminating research. The Libraries' staff also includes information professionals who are knowledgeable regarding copyright and citation management and are available to assist you with your project at any stage of the research process. Request a research consultation for assistance.
Citation Management Tools
There are numerous citation management tools from which to choose. While we do not promote the use of one over the other, popular tools include the following:
- Mendeley Reference Manager is an Elsevier product. It is entirely cloud-based, and its free plan includes up to 2GB of personal library space. Customer support is free to the RPI community through our subscription to Scopus. The library maintains an online guide to help you get started.
- Zotero is a free, open-source research tool that allows its users to store their personal library locally with no space limitations. Optionally, up to 300MB of cloud storage is provided for free. While the library does not provide support for using Zotero, there is plenty of information available online, including Zotero's own documentation page.
- EndNote is a Clarivate product, which you can purchase and download from their website; student discounts are available. RPI does not offer a site license or support for using EndNote.
There are pros and cons to all citation management tools. We encourage you to do your own research and ask your professors and fellow researchers for more information before choosing one.
