Academic Reference Managers

Medical historians can benefit from the use of academic reference managers. The more advanced reference managers provide article indexing and search capabilities, cloud-based services, biographic and footnote managers, as well as tight integration with leading word processors, such as Microsoft Word and OpenOffice.

The advantages of using a reference manager are considerable. It can help the busy historian quickly locate and identify sources and manage citations without having to retype them. In essence, it serves as a centralized storage receptacle for the sources (both primary and secondary) associated with your project.

The following reference managers offer the widest array of features:

	Mendeley Developed by: Mendeley Ltd. Cost: Free “Earth” account / $4.99 – 9.99 /mn. Features: Mendeley Desktop, which is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. Web Site: http://www.mendeley.com/
	Zotero Developed by: Center for History and New Media at George Mason University Cost: free (100 MB storage) / Additional storage space $20/year -> 1 GB Features: Firefox extension and stand-alone version with connectors. Web Site: http://www.zotero.com/
	EndNote Developed by: Thomson Reuters Cost: $299.95 (most universities already have a subscription) Features: Client with EndNote Web account Web Site: http://www.endnote.com/