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Citing Sources

This guide provides information and resources to assist with citing your sources and avoiding plagiarism

What is a Citation Manager?

A Citation Manager is a tool that enable users to:

  • Collect and cite research from different types of sources 
  • Import citations from databases you research
  • Store, search and organize your research
  • Add your own notes and attach PDF's to your references
  • Insert footnotes and citations as you write
  • Automatically generate bibliographies in a variety of citation styles.
  • Collaborate with others by sharing your research with classmates and colleagues

Citation Managers can also help you to avoid plagiarism by keeping track of your resources so you can cite them properly. Also by generating in-text citations you can easily give credit to the sources used in your research papers. Tip: Keep in mind that citation managers can not determine if something needs to be cited,  and always double-check your citations.. They sometimes make errors in formatting citations, and you may have to manually edit them to ensure accuracy.

What are my Options?

When choosing a citation manager, consider what your colleagues, classmates, faculty research advisors are using and  whether there is a preferred citation manager in your program, department or field of study.  Check out the following tools:

 

Endnote Online:  Through the library's subscription to the Web of Science database, ACPHS students, faculty and staff  can create a free account.  This will allow you to take advantage of some of the basic functionality of Endnote without buying the desktop version. (Endnote Online gives you access to more citation styles and increased storage space compared to Endnote Basic that is free to everyone)  Check out the Endnote Online page to see how to get started. 

Mendeley: free citation manager tool available via web browser or as a desktop application.  More popular in the sciences. Click here to download Mendeley.

Zotero:  free and open-source citation manager tool available via web browser or as a desktop application.  More popular in the humanities and social sciences. Click here to download Zotero.