Mount A Libraries: Citation Management Service Comparison: Citation Management Service Comparison Table

Citation Management Service Comparison

This table compares three of the most popular citation management systems that have good free versions. The linked names will take you to Quick Start guides developed by Western University Libraries, which created this table.

	Zotero	Mendeley	Endnote Basic
Ease of Use	User-friendly Website, Firefox browser extension, and desktop application	User-friendly Website and desktop application	User-friendly Website only MTA subscription through Web of Science database has some added functionality
Can it create my reference list for me? Can I create in-text citations and footnotes?	MS Word plugin (Win/Mac) Open/Libre Office plugin (Win/Mac/Linux) Google docs (when using Firefox plugin)	MS Word plugin (Win/Mac) Open/Libre Office plugin (Win/Mac/Linux)	MS Word plugin (Win/Mac)
Does it support sharing articles and collaborative writing?	Unlimited groups, each with unlimited members private groups can share articles public groups share citations only group discussions available	One private group with up to three members (including group owner) unlimited public groups private groups can share articles public groups share citations only group discussions available	up to 5,000 groups, each with up to 1,000 users no public groups sharing citations only
Can I save PDFs to my account?	Yes: 300Mb of storage	Yes: 5Gb of storage	Yes: 2Gb of storage
Can I add web pages to my account?	Save citations from a web page, or save the current web page itself	Save citations from a web page, or save the current web page itself	Save citations from a web page, or save the current web page itself
Can I add notes to entries in my account?	Write notes and add tags	Write notes and add tags	Write notes
Browser Compatibility	Firefox Google Chrome Safari	Firefox Google Chrome Safari Internet Explorer 7-9	Firefox Chrome Safari Internet Explorer 8-
Cost	Free Charges for adding storage space	Free Charges for adding storage space Charges for collaborating with larger groups	Free Charge for buying desktop application
Will I have access after I leave MTA?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Does it work on my phone or tablet?	3rd party Android & iOS apps available Zotero website is mobile-friendly	iPhone/iPad app available 3rd party Android apps available	iPad app available
Security	Cloud storage is optional (mandatory for collaboration) Cloud data stored on US servers	Cloud storage is mandatory data stored on US servers	Cloud storage is mandatory data stored on US servers

This table is adapted from Western Libraries Citation Management Working Group. The original work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.