Bibliographic Management Software Options

All bibliographic management products allow you to create personal citation databases by importing references from online databases. They facilitate manuscript preparation, and allow for automatic formatting of your bibliography. All products can incorporate citations downloaded directly from UM-MEDSEARCH, PubMed and other Library databases. Each product has specific strengths and special features.

EndNote is the most popular software in use by biomedical researchers at the University. Each EndNote user must install the software on his or her computer. For more information see Using EndNote.

Strengths of EndNote include:
* a sophisticated set of features for those who often need bibliographic software
* the ability to handle very large citation lists and large documents (such as grants, book chapters, etc.)
* wide use among researchers (significant when collaborating on publications)

The University Library has an institutional subscription to RefWorks, a web-based product. RefWorks differs from EndNote in that personal databases are stored on the RefWorks server rather than your own computer. Access to your personal data is through your University Library institutional account via the World Wide Web. There is no charge for use to University of Michigan current faculty, staff and students.  The Knowledge Navigation Center has prepared a research guide on RefWorks for patrons who would like more information.

Strengths of RefWorks include:
* a relatively short learning curve for those who occasionally need bibliographic software
* the ability to quickly set up a basic bibliography
* web access, for those who do not have a dedicated computer for their work

ProCite and Reference Manager are other sophisticated bibliographic management software packages you may purchase. For more information on these products click on the links provided.

We welcome your comments at thlibrary@umich.edu

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(page reviewed and updated June 8, 2010)