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| [[GNU General Public License|GPL]]
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| [[ImagineEasy Solutions, LLC]]
| 2001-2<ref>{{cite web|title=ImagineEasy Solutions: A Tiny Company With Big Ideas|url=http://www.imagineeasy.com/|accessdate=10 January 2012}}</ref>
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| {{free/ Pro version $19.99 per year<ref>{{cite web|title=EasyBib MyBib Pro Information|url=http://www.easybib.com/products/mybibpro?utm_campaign=mbp&utm_medium=prod&utm_source=button|accessdate=10 January 2012}}</ref> }}
| {{no}}
| [[Proprietary software|proprietary]]
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Revision as of 18:33, 10 January 2012

The following tables compare reference management software.

General

In the "notes" section, there is a difference between:

  • web-based, referring to applications that may be installed on a web server (usually requiring MySQL or another database and PHP, Perl, Python, or some other language for web applications)
  • centrally-hosted website
Software Developer First public release Latest stable version Cost (USD) Open source License Notes
Aigaion Aigaion developers 2005-01 2009-03-12 (2.1.2) Free Yes GPL web-based
Bebop ALaRI Institute 2007-11-08 2009-11-10 (1.1) Free Yes BSD web-based BibTeX front-end
BibDesk BibDesk developers 2002-04 2011-05 (1.5.4) Free Yes BSD BibTeX front-end + repository
Biblioscape CG Information 1998 2009-05-09 (8.01) US$79-299[1] No proprietary ODBC; web access in Pro ed; optional client/server
BibSonomy University of Kassel 2006-01 ? Free No proprietary centrally-hosted website
Bibus Bibus developers 2004-06-03 2009–10 (1.5.0) Free Yes GPL
Bookends Sonny Software 1988 (Mac) / 1983 (Apple II+) 2009-1-15 (10.4.3) US$99[1] No proprietary integrated web search, pdf download, auto-completion
Citavi Swiss Academic Software 2006-02-13 2011-09-29 (3.0.15) US$111-231 / Free for projects up to 100 references No proprietary
CiteULike Oversity Limited 2004-11 ? Free No proprietary[2] centrally-hosted website
Connotea Nature Publishing Group 2004-12 2006-02-01 (1.7.1) Free Yes GPL centrally-hosted website, web-based
EasyBib ImagineEasy Solutions, LLC 2001-2[3] {{free/ Pro version $19.99 per year[4] }} No proprietary centrally-hosted website, web-based
EndNote Thomson Reuters 1988 2011 (X5) US$299.95[1] No proprietary Includes EndNote Web account
JabRef JabRef developers 2003-11-29 2011-08-09 (2.7) Free Yes GPL Java BibTeX manager
Jumper 2.0 Jumper Networks 2009-3 2009-3-26 (2.0.1.1) Free Yes GPL web-based
KBibTeX KBibTeX developers 2005-08 2011-06-02 (0.3.0) Free Yes GPL BibTeX front-end, using the KDE Software Compilation
Mendeley Mendeley 2008-08 July 28, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-07-28) (1.0) US$4.99-9.99 per month[1] / Free "Earth" account No (proprietary OS API clients exist) Desktop & Web components, iPhone and iPad
Papers Mekentosj 2007 2011-03-08 (2.0.0) US$79[1] No proprietary search repositories from interface; supports plug-ins, Universal iOS app
PDF Stacks PDF Stacks 2010 2010 US$39[1] No proprietary Search PDF's and repositories from interface; supports Windows & MAC
Pybliographer pybliographer developers 0.2 (1998-10-30) 2010-10-14 (1.2.14) Free Yes GPL Python/GTK2
Qiqqa Qiqqa 2010 2011 Free No proprietary Desktop; centrally hosted website
refbase refbase developers 2003-06-03 2008-11-19 (0.9.5) Free Yes GPL web-based for institutional repositories/self-archiving[5]
RefDB refdb developers 2001-04-25 2007-11-05 (0.9.9) Free Yes GPL network-transparent; XML/SGML bibliographies
Reference Manager Thomson Reuters 1984 12.0.3 US$239.95[1] No proprietary network version available; built-in web publishing tool
Referencer Referencer developers ? 2009-08-02 (1.1.6) Free Yes GPL BibTeX front-end
RefWorks RefWorks 2001 2010-05 US$100 per year No proprietary centrally-hosted website
Scholar's Aid Scholar's Aid, Inc. 1998 2008-4-1 (4.1) US$149[1] / Free Lite version No proprietary
Sente Third Street Software, Inc. 2004 2009 (6.0.26) US$129.95[1] No proprietary
Wikindx Mark Grimshaw 2004-02 2008-02-06 (3.8.2) Free Yes GPL web-based
WizFolio WizPatent 2008-06 2010-07-05 (DragonBall) US$25 / Free Basic version No proprietary centrally-hosted website
Zotero Center for History and New Media at GMU 2006-10-05 7.0.11[6] Edit this on Wikidata (6 December 2024; 24 days ago (6 December 2024)) [±] free (100 MB storage) / Additional storage space available ($20/year -> 1 GB) Yes AGPL Firefox extension; v3.01b released August 2011 as stand-alone version with connectors for Chrome and Safari.

Operating system support

In the case of web applications, this describes the server OS. For centrally-hosted websites that are proprietary, this is not applicable. Any client OS can connect to a web service unless stated otherwise in a footnote.

Software Windows Mac OS X Linux BSD Unix
Aigaion Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Bebop Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
BibDesk No Yes No No No
Biblioscape Yes No No No No
BibSonomy — — — — —
Bibus Yes Experimental Yes Yes Yes
Bookends No Yes No No No
Citavi Yes No No No No
CiteULike — — — — —
Connotea Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
EndNote Yes Yes No No No
JabRef Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Jumper 2.0 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
KBibTeX Experimental Experimental Yes Yes Yes
Mendeley Yes Yes Yes No No
Papers No Yes No No No
PDF Stacks Yes Yes No No No
Pybliographer Partial[7] Partial[7] Yes Yes Yes
Qiqqa Yes No No No No
refbase Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
RefDB Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Reference Manager Yes[8] No No No No
Referencer No No Yes No No
RefWorks[9] Yes Yes — — —
Scholar's Aid Yes No No No No
Sente No Yes No No No
Wikindx Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
WizFolio Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Zotero Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Export file formats

This table lists the machine-readable file formats that can be exported from reference managers. These are typically used to share data with other reference managers or with other people who use a reference manager. To exchange data from one program to another, the first program must be able to export to a format that the second program may import. Import file formats are in a table below this one.

Software BibTeX Endnote/Refer/BibIX Medline MODS XML RIS Other
Aigaion Yes No No No Yes none
Bebop Yes No No No No unAPI
BibDesk Yes No Yes Yes Yes Endnote XML, user customizable
Biblioscape Yes Yes Yes No Yes none
BibSonomy Yes Yes No No Yes various [4]
Bibus Yes Yes Yes No Yes SQLite
Bookends Yes Yes Yes No Yes various user-customizable
Citavi Yes Yes No No Yes various
CiteULike Yes No No No Yes COinS, Delicious
Connotea Yes Yes No Yes Yes RDF
EndNote Yes Yes Yes No Yes various [5]
JabRef Yes Yes No Yes Depends[6] BibTeXML, DocBook, OpenDocument for OO.o, SQL database, user-customizable
Jumper 2.0 Yes Yes No Yes Yes various [7], user-customizable
KBibTeX Yes Yes No Depends[10] Yes PDF, PostScript, HTML, XML, RTF
Mendeley Yes Yes No No Yes Endnote XML
Papers Yes Yes No No Yes Bookends, CSV, Endnote XML, PDF
Pybliographer Yes Yes Yes No No Ovid
Qiqqa Yes No No No No none
refbase Yes Yes No Yes Yes COinS, OpenDocument for OO.o, SRW XML via SRU, unAPI, Word XML
RefDB Yes Yes No Yes Yes SRW XML via SRU web service, DocBook, TEI
Reference Manager No No No No Yes MEDLARS, TSV, CSV, Reference Manager XML, user-customizable
Referencer Yes ? ? ? ? ?
RefWorks Yes No No No Yes various [8]
Scholar's Aid No ? No No No user-customizable
Sente Yes Yes No No Yes user-customizable
Wikindx Yes Yes No No Yes COinS
WizFolio No No No No Yes No
Zotero Yes Yes No Yes Yes RDF, TEI, Wikipedia citation templates

Import file formats

This table lists the file formats which may be manually imported into the reference managers without needing to connect to one particular database. Many of these database companies use the same name for their file format as they do for their database (including Copac, CSA, ISI, Medline, Ovid, PubMed, and SciFinder). For the ability to retrieve citations from the particular databases (rather than the file format), please refer to the database connectivity table that is below this table.

Software BibTeX Copac CSA Endnote/Refer/BibIX ISI Medline MODS XML Ovid PubMed RIS SciFinder Other
Aigaion Yes No No No No No No No No Yes No none
Bebop Yes No No No No No No No No No No none
BibDesk Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes MARC, JSTOR, Reference Miner
Biblioscape Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
BibSonomy Yes No No Yes No No No No No No No Firefox bookmarks
Bibus Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No none
Bookends Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes various [9]; user-customizable
Citavi Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes various
CiteULike Yes No No No No No No No No Yes No none
Connotea Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes No Firefox bookmarks
EndNote No[11] No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes various [10]
JabRef Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes BibTexML, Biblioscape, Biomail, Inspec, JSTOR, MSBib, PDF widh XMP annotations, REPEC (NEP), SilverPlatter, SixPack
Jumper 2.0 Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No Firefox bookmarks
KBibTeX Yes No No Yes No No Depends[10] No Yes Yes No none
Mendeley Yes No No Yes No No No No No Yes No Browser bookmarks
Papers Yes No No No No No No No No Yes No Endnote ENW, Endnote XML, CHM eBook, PDF
Pybliographer Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No none
Qiqqa Yes No No Yes No No No No Yes No No none
refbase Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes RefWorks
RefDB Yes Yes[10] No Yes[10] Yes[10] Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes[10] MARC, risx
Reference Manager Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes various [11]; user-customizable
Referencer Yes No No Yes No No Yes No No Yes No none
RefWorks Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes various [12]
Scholar's Aid[12] No No No Yes ? Yes No No Yes ? No ?
Sente Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Dublin Core, Marc21 SUTRS, JSTOR, SilverPlatter
Wikindx Yes Depends[10] No Yes[citation needed] Depends[10] No Depends[10] No Yes[citation needed] Yes[citation needed] No User plug-ins[citation needed]
WizFolio No No No No No No No No No Yes No Internet Browser bookmarks [13]
Zotero Yes No[13] No[13] Yes Yes[14] No Yes Partial[15] Yes Yes No COinS, MARC, RDF, unAPI, Browser bookmarks

Citation styles

Software APA Chicago/Turabian Harvard MLA Other Extension method
Aigaion Yes Yes Yes Yes BMJ, IEEE OSBIB
Bebop No No No No none none
BibDesk Yes No No No various BibDesk export templates
Biblioscape Yes Yes Yes Yes 2000+ styles [citation needed] GUI style editor
BibSonomy Yes No Yes No none none
Bibus Yes No No No user-contributed bibus format (through GUI)
Bookends Yes Yes Yes Yes various[citation needed] ?
Citavi Yes Yes Yes Yes 1000+ styles Citavi format (through GUI)
CiteULike Yes Yes Yes Yes various[citation needed] none
Connotea ? ? ? ? ? ?
EndNote Yes Yes Yes Yes various EndNote format (through GUI)
JabRef Yes Yes Yes Yes any BibTeX style BibTeX
Jumper 2.0 No No No No none none
KBibTeX Yes Yes Yes Yes any BibTeX style BibTeX
Mendeley Yes Yes Yes Yes 1600+ styles CSL
Papers Yes Yes Yes Yes 1600+ styles CSL
Pybliographer Yes No No No none Pybliographer XML
Qiqqa Yes Yes Yes Yes any BibTeX style and 1600+ styles BibTeX and CSL
refbase Yes Yes Yes Yes various polar & marine journals PHP
RefDB Yes Yes Yes Yes Various biomedical & law journals XML (citestylex.dtd), interactive script
Reference Manager Yes Yes Yes Yes various Template:GUI style editor
Referencer ? ? ? ? ? ?
RefWorks Yes Yes Yes Yes various RefWorks format through GUI
Scholar's Aid Yes Yes Yes Yes MHRA SA format through GUI
Sente Yes Yes Yes Yes various[citation needed] Sente format through GUI
Wikindx Yes Yes Yes Yes BMJ, IEEE OSBIB
WizFolio Yes Yes Yes Yes various WizFolio format (through GUI)
Zotero Yes Yes Yes Yes 1600+ styles CSL

Reference list file formats

Software HTML LaTeX[16] RTF Plain text RSS Other
Aigaion Yes No Yes Yes ? No
Bebop Yes No No No Yes unAPI
BibDesk Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Atom, DOC, PDF, XML,
Biblioscape Yes No Yes Yes No No
BibSonomy Yes No Yes Yes Yes OpenOffice-CSV
Bibus Yes No No No No No
Bookends Yes No Yes Yes No clipboard
Citavi Yes Yes Yes Yes No clipboard, DOC, ODT, PDF
CiteULike Yes No Yes Yes Yes PDF
Connotea — — — — Yes —
EndNote Yes No Yes Yes No clipboard, XML
JabRef Yes ? Depends Yes No clipboard
Jumper 2.0 Yes No Yes Yes Yes XML, PDF
KBibTeX Yes No Yes No No PDF, PS
Mendeley Yes No Yes Yes Yes clipboard, embeddable HTML widget, RSS
Papers ? ? ? ? ? ?
Pybliographer Yes ? No Yes No No
refbase Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Markdown, PDF, unAPI
RefDB Yes ? Yes Yes No DocBook, TEI
Reference Manager Yes No Yes Yes No clipboard
Referencer ? ? ? ? ? ?
RefWorks Partial[17] No Yes Yes Yes DOC, ODT
Scholar's Aid No No Yes Yes No clipboard
Sente Yes No Yes Yes No clipboard
Wikindx Yes No Yes No Yes No
WizFolio Yes No Yes Yes No clipboard, DOC
Zotero Yes No Yes No Yes clipboard

Word processor integration

Most reference management software supports copy/paste or drag-and-drop of references into any editor. Some reference management software includes further support for automatic embedding and (re)formatting of references in some programs. This table lists support for the latter for Microsoft Word and OpenOffice.org Writer and the LaTeX editors Kile and LyX. Other programs are able to scan RTF or other textual formats to insert references.

Software Microsoft Word OpenOffice.org Writer Kile/LyX RTF scan[18] Other
Aigaion No No No No none
Bebop No No No No none
BibDesk No No Yes ? ?
Biblioscape Yes No No ? WordPerfect
BibSonomy No No No No none
Bibus Yes Yes No ? none
Bookends Yes No No Yes Mellel, Nisus
Citavi Yes Yes Yes Yes OpenDocument Text scan, LEd, TeXnicCenter, TeXMaker, WinEdt, WinShell, WinTeX
CiteULike No No No No none
Connotea No No No No none
EndNote Yes Yes No Yes Apple Pages '09
JabRef Depends[19] Yes Yes ? Emacs, Vim, WinEdt
Jumper 2.0 Yes Yes No ? WordPerfect
KBibTeX No No Yes ? none
Mendeley Yes Yes No ? NeoOffice
Papers Yes Yes ? ? Pages, Mellel, TextEdit; HTML
Pybliographer No Yes Yes ? none
Qiqqa Yes No Yes No none
refbase No Yes[20] No Yes PIRA, MediaWiki, SPIP
RefDB No No No No none
Reference Manager Yes No No ? none
Referencer ? ? ? ? ?
RefWorks Yes No No Yes none
Scholar's Aid Yes Yes No ? WordPro, WordPerfect, HWP
Sente Yes No No Yes Pages, Mellel, Nisus, TextEdit; HTML and plain text scan
Wikindx No No No Yes Integrated WYSIWYG word processor
WizFolio Yes Yes No ? Google Docs, Zoho Writer
Zotero Yes Yes (with LyZ)[21] Yes NeoOffice, LibreOffice

Database connectivity

This table lists the academic databases and search engines which reference managers can import from. In some cases, a search and retrieval can be conducted directly in the reference manager. In others, a bookmarklet or Firefox extension will allow a site to be scraped.

Software ArXiv CiteSeer IEEE Xplore PubMed Other
Aigaion No No No No none
Bebop No No No No No
BibDesk Yes Yes No Yes ACM portal, Jstor, DBLP, Google Scholar, Web of Science, any Z39.50 or Entrez, and others
Biblioscape No No No Yes Import from integrated web browser
BibSonomy Yes Yes Yes Yes various [14]
Bibus No No No Yes none
Bookends Yes No No Yes Web of Science, Amazon, Google Scholar, Z39.50
Citavi No No Yes Yes WorldCat/OCLC, Ovid, EBSCO, ProQuest, Web of Science, Z39.50 (4000+ online resources)
CiteULike Yes Yes Yes Yes various [15]
Connotea Yes Yes No Yes various [16]
EndNote Yes No Yes Yes various [17] any Z39.50
JabRef Yes Yes Yes Yes ACM portal, Jstor, SPIRES
Jumper 2.0 Yes Yes Yes Yes various [18]
KBibTeX Yes Yes Yes Yes BibSonomy, CiteBase, CSB, DBLP, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, SPIRES, Z MATH, Z39.50
Mendeley Yes Yes Yes Yes various [19]
Papers Yes Yes Yes Yes ACM, ADS, Google Books, Google Scholar, JSTOR, MathSciNet, Project Muse, Scopus, Web of Science
Pybliographer No No No Yes none
Qiqqa Yes No Yes Yes GoogleScholar, JSTOR
refbase Yes No No Yes DOI lookup
RefDB Yes No No Yes any Z39.50
Reference Manager No No No Yes various [20]
Referencer ? ? ? ? ?
RefWorks No No No Yes various
Scholar's Aid No No No Yes Z39.50
Sente No No No Yes Z39.50, SRU, Web of Knowledge
Wikindx No No No Yes none
WizFolio Yes No Yes Yes various [21]
Zotero Yes Yes Yes Yes various [22]

Password "protection" and network versions

Some reference managers provide network functionality. (N/A means the product has no networking, while "no" indicates it does (but lacks an implemented feature).)

Software Passworded Networking
User-specific permissions[22] Simultaneous write access
Aigaion Yes Yes Yes
Bebop No — —
BibDesk Yes No No
Biblioscape Yes Yes Yes
BibSonomy Yes Yes Yes
Bibus ? ? ?
Bookends ? ? ?
Citavi No No No
CiteULike Yes No Yes
Connotea Yes ? Yes
EndNote[23] Yes Yes Yes
JabRef No — —
Jumper 2.0 Yes Yes Yes
KBibTeX No — —
Mendeley Yes[24] Yes Yes
Papers ? ? ?
Pybliographer ? ? ?
Qiqqa Yes Yes Yes
refbase Yes Yes Yes
RefDB Yes Yes Yes
Reference Manager Yes No Yes
Referencer ? ? ?
RefWorks Yes ? Yes
Scholar's Aid No — —
Sente No No No
Wikindx Yes Yes Yes
WizFolio Yes Yes Yes
Zotero Yes[25] Yes Yes

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i MSRP for full version, usually with physical media. Discounted downloads and academic discounts might be available. More expensive workgroup/server/librarian versions may be available.
  2. ^ A developer kit is available. The community is invited to create plugins to access data off databases
  3. ^ "ImagineEasy Solutions: A Tiny Company With Big Ideas". Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  4. ^ "EasyBib MyBib Pro Information". Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  5. ^ A centrally-hosted website is available at refbase.net.
  6. ^ "Release 7.0.11 · zotero/zotero". Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  7. ^ a b The GUI requires gnome-python, which isn't available for Windows or Mac OS X.
  8. ^ Reference Manager is not compatible with word 2010
  9. ^ The Write-N-Cite citation tool requires download & installation.[1]
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Supported through the bibutils plugin
  11. ^ Endnote cannot import directly BibTex files, but there are various methods to transform these into the refer format, which may be imported [2]
  12. ^ The DataRetriever module that imports and exports data is not compatible with Vista.
  13. ^ a b Zotero can import references directly from the database after which this format is named, although it cannot read the format itself.
  14. ^ Ticket for ISI import support
  15. ^ Zotero imports directly from the webpage to the library, so many users find it more convenient than traditional two-step way of saving reference files to the disk and then importing it into the library. Zotero can import references in these formats directly from some databases, but not from files saved on the disk.
  16. ^ This refers to the direct output of raw LaTeX (often in a format similar to the BibTeX-generated .bbl files). Many programs can export BibTeX (see above table), which can then be processed into LaTeX.
  17. ^ URLs aren't active links
  18. ^ Can reformat references in a properly saved RTF document, allowing limited use in OpenOffice.org Writer, StarOffice, FrameMaker, Microsoft Works, WordPad, WordPerfect, and others. Bookends is able to scan files from Pages, Mellel, Nisus Writer Express and Pro Macros.
  19. ^ JabRef can be integrated in Microsoft Word using bibtex4word.dot.
  20. ^ Refbase can create a spreadsheet for import into an OO.o database to use the native OO.o bibliography tool. Refbase's MySQL database can additionally be used directly by OO.o [3].
  21. ^ The LyZ extension integrates Zotero with Lyx/Kile
  22. ^ Most databases allow one to create different user accounts to store records. Some further allow you to specify permissions (granting and denying some users the rights to edit or read some or all of your records. This column describes the latter.
  23. ^ Via EndNote Web
  24. ^ via Mendeley Web
  25. ^ via zotero.org
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