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Black Geographies: Citation Management

Reference Managers

Reference managers such as: Endnote, Refworks, Zotero, and Mendeley allow you to download, collect, and share references, PDFs, data, and documents. Some work with word processing to format citations and footnotes in papers and create bibliographies in a variety of styles. This tab contains commonly used tools and apps in the sciences.

Citational Styles

Which citation style should I use?

The citation style you choose will largely be dictated by the discipline in which you're writing, and for most assignments your instructor will assign a style to you. However, as you progress through your academic career, you may find more flexibility in choosing a style that works for you. It's always best to check with your instructor and colleagues as to what style is appropriate. If you have flexibility, use the guide below to help you decide.

Humanities: English, Art History, Philosophy, Music, Religion, Language, Linguistics, Etc. Social Sciences, Education, Engineering, etc. History or the Humanities Physical, Natural, or Social Sciences

Try: MLA

MLA style uses parenthetical in-text citations and a "Works Cited" list at the end of a paper to link sources

Try: APA

APA style uses parenthetical in-text citations and a "References" list at the end of the paper to link sources

Try: Chicago Notes & Bibliography

Chicago notes utilizes footnotes and endnotes to link text to sources.

Try: Chicago Author-Date

Chicago author-date utilizes parenthetical in-text citations and a references or works cited list at the end, similar to the APA style.
The humanities place emphasis on authorship and interpreting primary sources in a historical context. The author's name is the first piece of information preceding title and publication information on the "Works Cited" list at the end of the work. These disciplines place emphasis on the date of creation or publication, in an effort to track currency and relevancy. The date is listed immediately following the author's name in the "References" list. Typically accompanied by a "Bibliography" page. Typically accompanied by a "References" or "Works Cited" page. 
MLA Formatting and Style Guide APA Formatting and Style Guide CMOS Formatting and Style Guide  

Credit for this chart goes to the University of Washington Libraries.

The Style Guides are located at the Purdue Online Writing Lab.

Citation Management Tools

Citation management software helps you to collect and organize papers, cite sources, and create bibliographies in a variety of citation styles. There are many different reference managers (also called citation managers) to choose from. The Library has guides on four major tools and there are librarians with some expertise in using these tools who can also provide support.

  • Mendeley is a free reference manager (and academic social network) to organize your research, create bibliographies, collaborate with others, and discover current developments. Access it from a UCB IP address to upgrade to an institutional account with premium features. It can be integrated with Overleaf and Word for easily formatting citations while writing.
  • Zotero is a free and easy-to-use tool for collecting, managing, and citing the sources you find during your research. It can be integrated with Google Docs, Overleaf, and Word for easily formatting citations while writing.
  • BibTeX is a tool and format for simply organizing citations in a .bib text file. It can be used in LaTeX to format citations and bibliographies in a variety of styles. 
    • JabRef is a free tool for organizing and viewing your .bib libraries and formatting references and bibliographies.
  • EndNote is bibliographic management software that you install on your computer. It offers sophisticated, flexible tools for organizing references and creating bibliographies. EndNote works with Word to format citations and create bibliographies in a comprehensive variety of styles. Get the student price by purchasing online with proof of student status.
  • RefWorks is a web-based bibliographic management service licensed by the Library for use by current UCB faculty, staff, and students. It can be used to organize references, format citations, and create bibliographies in Google Docs and Word. To start using RefWorks, create an account using your berkeley email.
  • Papers is low-cost software that allows you to search, retrieve, organize, and annotate article PDFs. It can be integrated with Google Docs and Word for easily formatting citations.
  • Paperpile is a low-cost web tool for collecting and organizing papers and formatting citations and bibliographies in Google Docs.

Other Tools

Explore other available tools and apps for reference management.

Software for Science Reference Management: a web-list of many bibliographic management programs for the PC or Mac, some are free.

Reference Management Apps at alternativeTo.