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The following tables compare notable reference management software. The comparison includes older applications that may no longer be supported, as well as actively-maintained software.

General

In the "notes" section, there is a difference between:

• web-based, referring to applications that may be installed on a web server (usually requiring MySQL or another database and PHP, Perl, Python, or some other language for web applications), and;
• a centrally hosted website.

Operating system support

In the case of web applications, this describes the server OS. For centrally hosted websites that are proprietary, this is not applicable. Any client OS can connect to a web service unless stated otherwise in a footnote.

Export file formats

This table lists the machine-readable file formats that can be exported from reference managers. These are typically used to share data with other reference managers or with other people who use a reference manager. To exchange data from one program to another, the first program must be able to export to a format that the second program may import. Import file formats are in a table below this one.

Import file formats

This table lists the file formats which may be manually imported into the reference managers without needing to connect to one particular database. Many of these database companies use the same name for their file format as they do for their database (including Copac, CSA, ISI, Medline, Ovid, PubMed, and SciFinder). For the ability to retrieve citations from the particular databases (rather than the file format), please refer to the database connectivity table that is below this table.

As of January 2021, CSL YAML is not supported by any reference management system.

Citation styles

Reference list file formats

Endnote is incompatible with LaTeX. Among other things, it does not provide for robust citation keys.

Word processor integration

Some reference management software include support for automatic embedding and (re)formatting of references in Word processor programs. This table lists this type of support for Microsoft Word, Pages, Apache OpenOffice / LibreOffice Writer, the LaTeX editors Kile and LyX, and Google Docs. Other programs are able to scan RTF or other textual formats for inserted placeholders which are subsequently formatted. Most reference management programs support copy/paste or drag-and-drop of references into any editor, but this is not meant here.

Database connectivity

This table lists the academic databases and search engines which reference managers can import from. In some cases, a search and retrieval can be conducted directly in the reference manager. In others, a bookmarklet or Firefox extension will allow a site to be scraped.

Password "protection" and network versions

Some reference managers provide network functionality (N/A, not available, means the product has no networking, while "No" indicates it does but lacks an implemented feature). The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is an open, vendor-neutral, industry standard application protocol for accessing and maintaining distributed directory services over an Internet Protocol (IP) network.

Discontinued software

Notes

1. ^ MSRP for full version, usually with physical media. Discounted downloads and academic discounts might be available. More expensive workgroup/server/librarian versions may be available.
2. Price depends on affiliation (discounted price for students and members of academic, governmental, and nonprofit organizations), edition (Citavi for Windows for single users and teams with cloud storage, Citavi for DBServer for teams with intranet storage, Citavi Web with cloud storage), and, in the case of DBServer, on the license type (per seat license vs. concurrent license): "Products". www.citavi.com. Archived from the original on 2015-04-27.
3. ^ The GUI requires gnome-python, which isn't available for Windows or macOS.
4. ^ Supported through the bibutils plugin.
5. ^ Zotero can import references directly from the database after which this format is named, although it cannot read the format itself.
6. This refers to the direct output of raw LaTeX (often in a format similar to the BibTeX-generated .bbl files). Many programs can export BibTeX (see above table), which can then be processed into LaTeX.
7. Database can be exported as a whole in BibTeX format. Text (i.e. thoughts, comments, and quotations) can be fed into a number of TeX editors in LaTeX code or UTF-8.
8. Database can be exported as a whole in BibTeX format.Insert citations via citation key generated by Mendeley.
9. Can reformat references in a properly saved RTF document, allowing limited use in OpenOffice.org Writer, StarOffice, FrameMaker, Microsoft Works, WordPad, WordPerfect, Google Docs and others.
10. Requires the Mendeley Reference Manager desktop app for Mac open to choose references.
11. Includes all the other databases and open access repositories.
12. Most databases allow one to create different user accounts to store records. Some further allow you to specify permissions (granting and denying some users the rights to edit or read some or all of your records). This column describes the latter.
13. Storage in Citavi cloud or, with special license, in Microsoft SQL Server in intranet.
14. ^ via EndNote basic (cloud based)
15. via Mendeley Web.
16. Uses Google Account.
17. via zotero.org.
18. A developer kit is available. The community is invited to create plugins to access data off databases.

References

1. "dev.bibsonomy". BibSonomy.org. 2016-02-15. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
2. "Update History | Sonny Software". Sonny Software. 2023-05-06. Archived from the original on 2017-11-12. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
3. "Collaborating in a Team with Citavi for DBServer". Swiss Academic Software. 2018-02-20. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
4. "Citavi – Organize your knowledge". Swiss Academic Software. 2018-02-20. Archived from the original on 2015-04-24. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
5. A centrally-hosted website is available at refbase.net.
6. "Zotero Changelog". Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
7. ^ "Mendeley Refocusing Announcement". 11 March 2021.
8. "Paperpile on the App Store". apps.apple.com. 9 June 2023.
9. "Paperpile on Android". play.google.com.
10. "Write-N-Cite Download Page". www.refworks.com. 2018-04-10. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
11. "Zotero for mobile". www.zotero.org. Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
12. "BibSonomy: Export". www.bibsonomy.org. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
13. ^ "Output Styles". EndNote. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
14. "Journal Abbreviations". Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
15. Fenner, Martin (30 July 2013). "Citeproc YAML for bibliographies". Gobbledygook. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
16. "Import Filters". EndNote. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
17. "Products". RefWorks. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
18. "Zotero supported data formats". www.zotero.org. Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
19. ^ "BibDesk Export Templates". sourceforge.net. Or: "Using BibDesk Citations in Editors and Word Processors". sourceforge.net. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
20. ^ "pandoc 2.11 (2020-10-11)". pandoc.org. Retrieved 2023-04-04. Added bibtex, biblatex as input formats. This allows pandoc to convert between BibLaTeX and BibTeX and other bibliography formats, and to generate formatted versions of BibTeX/BibLaTeX bibliographies (e.g., pandoc -f biblatex --citeproc pl.bib -o pl.pdf).
21. ^ "Citavi". www.citavi.com. Retrieved 2023-04-04. Citavi offers over 10,000 citation styles. Other styles can be requested and are centrally corrected; and any BibTeX style can be used with LaTeX.
22. ^ Over 10,000 CSL style files are available at: "Zotero Style Repository". www.zotero.org. Or: "citation-style-language/styles: Official repository for Citation Style Language (CSL) citation styles". GitHub. Retrieved 2023-04-04. CSL styles can be edited or requested.
23. "What citation styles are available in SmartCite?". support.papersapp.com. And: "Citekey management". support.papersapp.com. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
24. "RefDB Examples: Style Gallery". refdb.sourceforge.net. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
25. "Managing Citation Styles – Ex Libris Knowledge Center". knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com. 31 July 2018. Retrieved 2023-04-04. See also: "Output Style List". www.refworks.com. Archived from the original on 2019-11-21. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
26. "LaTeX and BibTeX – Citation Management and Writing Tools – LibGuides at MIT Libraries". libguides.mit.edu. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
27. "Creating a Publication with TeX". Swiss Academic Software. 2015-10-27. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
28. "Better BibTeX". GitHub. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
29. "Plugins for Zotero". www.zotero.org. Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
30. Detailed setup guide "Citavi + LyX". Citavi. Retrieved 2014-07-10.
31. "EndNote: Word Online CWYW". 2024-05-15. Retrieved 2024-09-30.
32. "EndNote: Install the OpenOffice / OpenOffice.org Writer Tools (Windows)". 2024-07-25. Retrieved 2024-09-30.
33. "EndNote: Google Docs CWYW". 2024-03-18. Retrieved 2024-09-30.
34. See JabRef FAQ: Field Mapping between MS-Office and JabRef.
35. See JabRef FAQ: OpenOffice/LibreOffice integration.
36. Requires the Mendeley Cite Add-in
37. Requires the SmartCite for Papers Add-in
38. Can be used with SmartCite for Citekeys
39. Refbase can create a spreadsheet for import into an OO.o database to use the native OO.o bibliography tool. Refbase's MySQL database can additionally be used directly by OO.o .
40. The LyZ extension integrates Zotero with Lyx/Kile
41. "Word Processor and Writing Integration". www.zotero.org. Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
42. "Scraper info". BibSonomy. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
43. "Connection files". EndNote. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
44. "Unpaywall". docs.jabref.org. Retrieved Jun 3, 2022.
45. "Get started with Mendeley Web Importer". www.mendeley.com. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
46. "Improved PDF retrieval with Unpaywall integration". Zotero Blog. 2018-10-08. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
47. "Zotero Translators (documentation)". Zotero.org. 2012-03-15. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
48. "Network Working Group RFC 4511". IETF.org. 2006-06-01. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
49. via Shared library
50. "CiteULike is closing down". CiteULike. Archived from the original on 10 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.

Further reading

• Gilmour, Ron; Cobus-Kuo, Laura (2011). "Reference management software: A comparative analysis of four products". Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship. Summer 2011 (66). doi:10.5062/F4Z60KZF.
• Perkel, Jeffrey M. (2015-11-02). "Eight ways to clean a digital library". Nature. 527 (7576): 123–124. Bibcode:2015Natur.527..123P. doi:10.1038/527123a. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 26536960.
• Technische Universität München Library (2020-06-30). "Reference management software comparison — 8th update" (PDF). Retrieved 2022-02-03.
• Tramullas, Jesús; Sánchez-Casabón, Ana I.; Garrido-Picazo, Piedad (2015). "Studies and analysis of reference management software: A literature review". El Profesional de la Información. 25 (4): 680–688. arXiv:1508.07480. Bibcode:2015arXiv150807480T. doi:10.3145/epi.2015.sep.17. ISSN 1699-2407. S2CID 11780810.

• Reference management software
• Software comparisons
• Online services comparisons