What is the right
reference
manager for you?
Martin Fenner

Reference managers
essential for reading
and writing scholarly

But which one?

features to look for
when evaluating a
reference manager

Search
search online bibliographic
databases

Direct search
Search
from reference
Database Bookmarklet Import
PubMed databases RIS
Google Scholar journal pages Endnote
Web of Science other web pages BibTex
Scopus
Direct import
from web page

Share
share references between
different computers and/
or users

Share essential to
write paper as
WWW Sync Share
full online version of with online version private groups
reference manager? between computers public groups
Is there an API? PDF files
for
intergration
with other

Store
store scholarly references
on your computer

Store
Platform Format Organisation
Windows journal articles in groups
Linux book chapters by date
Macintosh meeting abstracts by author
iPhone blog posts, etc. by keyword

Read
import, read and search
fulltext PDF files of
references

should be
automated to
allow import of
many PDF files
Read
Import Search Read
extract metadata fulltext search integrated viewer
match with online of all references annotation
database follow discussion
Link to
citing papers,
Researchbloggin
g.org,

Write
insert citations into
manuscript and create
bibliography

Write
Platform Architecture Citation style
Windows plugin or copy/paste? available styles
Linux document shareable? user-editable?
Macintosh
Do coauthors
have to use the
same reference

Use
use regularly to read and
write scholarly papers

most important:
Use
which reference
manager do your
Cost User interface Support
free to use easy to learn and use handbook / help pages
personal license fast routine tasks support forums
institutional license pleasant user direct customer support
experience bug fixes and updates

Questions you should
ask after your evaluation
Is there one best reference manager
for everybody?
Is there one best reference manager
for your particular requirements?
Do you need more than one
reference manager to satisfy all your