Zotero

is a free, web-based citation manager that allows you to:

Directly import references from article databases, the library catalogue, e-book collections, etc.
Manage and organize your references.
Create a bibliography.
Share your references with others
Add in-text citation and a bibliography directly into your assignment

Connect to Zotero

Getting started with Zotero:

Follow this Guide specially prepared for Laurentian Users by Ashley Thomson (Sept. 2020)
Contact the librarian supporting your faculty.
Sign up for library workshops when available.
View Quick Start Guide (video) or Tutorials (videos)
Consult one of Zotero's own User Guides or McMaster University's Quick Start Guide or the Zotero Guide by Ontario Tech University

Other Citation Managers

Some Citation Managers:

Zotero

EndNote Basic

Comparison of Citation Managers (LU)

Comparison of References Management Software (Wikipedia)

Citation Generators:

EasyBib

Citation Machine

Bibme

KnightCite

Étudier.com : générateur de bibliographies (interface in French)

Compare Citation Managers

Comparison of citation managers

	Zotero	EndNote	Refworks
Website	www.zotero.org	X7 — endnote.com Web — myendnoteweb.com	www.refworks.com
Video Tutorials	Quick Start Guide	Get Started	Introduction
Cost	Free	EndNote X7 : 250 – 300$ US EndNote Web : Free[1]	100$ US/year
Language(s)	English, French, etc…	English	English, French, etc…
Compatible with PC and/or Mac?	PC and Mac	PC and Mac	PC and Mac
Compatible with cell phones and/or tablets?	Yes – free third-party apps available	Yes – iOS app available (3.99$ US)	Yes – free RefMobile website
Space	300 MB online; unlimited through local installation	2 GB via EndNote Web; unlimited through local installation	5 GB
Install/Usage Options	Online (via Firefox[2]) and local installation (Standalone version)	Online (Web version) or local installation (X7 version)	Online
Importing References	You can import references by installing a plug-in in Firefox. References may also be imported manually using RIS or other files	Direct export available from several databases. Databases. References may also be imported manually using RIS or other files	Direct export available from several databases. Databases. References may also be imported manually using RIS, text or other files
Uploading PDF Files	PDFs added automatically, when possible	PDFs must be added manually or using the Find Full Text option	PDFs must be added manually
Annotating PDFs	No, unless additional plug-ins are installed	Yes	Yes
Ability to Search the Text of PDF Documents	Yes (must be enabled)	Yes	No
Ability to Extract Bibliographic Information from PDF Documents	Yes	Yes	No
Ability to Extract Bibliographic Information from Webpages	Yes	Yes	Yes, if the RefGrab-It plug-in is installed
Compatible with Word-processing Software?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Reference Sharing	Yes – with private or public groups	Yes – with EndNote Web	Yes – with private or public groups
Citation Styles	Style modification options not very user-friendly – requires knowledge of HTML	Style modifications simple to input. Limited number of citation styles available in EndNote Web.	Style modifications simple to input.

[1] Endnote Web (also called EndNote Basic) is accessible online (including through the database Web of Science). See the following link for a comparison of EndNote X7 and Endnote Web.

[2] The online version of Zotero must be updated alongside any Firefox browser updates.

PDF Version

We would like to thank the Service des bibliothèques et archives of the Université de Sherbrooke for permitting us to adapt their model and content created by their librarians for this document.