What Do Citation Management Tools Do?
Selected Citation Management Tools
There are a lot of citation management tools out there, and new "AI-powered" ones pop up every day. These are three free tools that the Library supports:
EndNote Online: online only, free for UCSD users, so must use VPN or campus network. Note: the more robust desktop application is not free. [Endnote Online guide]
Mendeley: online and desktop applications are both free. Limited free PDF storage. Best for: excellent PDF annotation tool and attached note-taking. [Mendeley guide]
Zotero: online and desktop applications are both free. Limited free PDF storage. Best for: grabbing screen-captures of websites you want to cite and refer back to the way they looked at the time. Works with Google Docs as well as Word. [Zotero guide]
At all of these you will need to create an account, and you will want to select your own password. Don't use your SSO login for these.
For a detailed comparison of these, see our complete guide on Citation Software
Use "Get it at UC" and the Citation tool that is part of UC Library Search.
Databases and Google Scholar have a tool you can use look for a link or button with Cite
Use one of these tools to create a citation from a DOI, URL, ISBN, or other unique identifier. See list of options below.
If you don't have a lot of citations to deal with, a citation management tool might not be necessary. These tools let you generate formatted citations if you forgot to grab them during your search.
If you have a DOI or URL for what you want to cite, use these:
These tools let you type in all the needed components and then generate a formatted citation. Use these if you don't have a DOI or URL to go from.