Reference management software is software for academics and authors to use to record and use bibliographic citations. This type of software typically uses a database to store the bibliographic references, together with a system for filtering the list in a format needed desirable to scholarly journals and publishers.
This category of software is one of the most useful digital tools for a researcher today. It enables users to import references from sources, manage and edit the references, export the references, format the bibliography, and in accordance with international standards. Researchers and academics appreciate the essential functions offered by reference management tools, minimising the tedious task of collecting, organising and citing their sources.
There are a number of different types of software packages that you can use to manage the bibliographic details of information and the documents you find during your degree or research. All of the software featured in this article is free and open source.
To provide an insight into the quality of software that is available, we have compiled a list of the finest reference management tools that run under Linux. We highlight our favorite 8 reference management tools.
Click the links in the table below to learn more about each tool.
| Reference Management Tools | |
|---|---|
| KBibTeX | Reference management software primarily for BibTeX |
| Zotero | Powerful online/offline research tool for the Firefox web browser |
| JabRef | Graphical frontend to manage BibTeX databases |
| WIKINDX | Bibliography, notes, and article authoring system |
| BibLaTeX | Programmable bibliographies and citations |
| Docear | Academic literature suite |
| I, Librarian | Build an annotated library of scientific PDF articles |
| Citations | Manage your bibliographies using the BibTeX format |
This article has been updated to reflect the changes outlined in our recent announcement.
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