Comparing Citation Managers
| Feature |  RefWorks |
 EndNote Basic* |
 Zotero |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Paid by UA Libraries | Paid by UA Libraries | Free to all; extra storage paid by you |
| Platform | web-based; Mac or PC | web-based; Mac or PC | Browser plugin installed locally; works with Mac or PC and Firefox, Chrome, or Safari browsers |
| Word Processor Integration | Write-N-Cite (Microsoft Word) |
Cite While You Write (Microsoft Word) |
Word Processor Plugins (Microsoft Word and Open Office/Libre Office) |
| What gets installed | Just Write-N-Cite and RefGrab-It plugin | Just Cite While you Write | Program is installed as an add-on or standalone; must be installed on each device that you use |
| Database Export Instructions | https://uark.libguides.com/refworksexporting | https://libraries.uark.edu/eresources/endnote.asp#import | n/a |
| External Databases Supporting Direct Export/Import | RefWorks Direct Export Databases | EndNote Export Notes | Zotero Translators |
| Web-Browser Plug-in to Capture Information from Web pages | RefGrab-It | EndNote Web Capture | Add an item icon |
| Boolean Searching | AND; OR; NOT | + for AND () for grouping terms with OR - for NOT "" for grouping words in a phrase |
AND is assumed; Use Advanced Search for more options |
| Collaboration Features | RefWorks account: Multi-user access, Simultaneous editing of an account, Offers read-only access of the same data. RefShare: Share their database (or folders) with members of their own institution and globally with any researcher having Internet access. |
Collaborate with other EndNote Web users; read-only | Share entire library or specific collection with other Zotero users by creating Groups. |
| Maximum Records | Unllimited | 10,000 | Unlimited |
| Citation Style Formats | 3000+ predefined; customizable via Output Style Editor | 3,700+ predefined; no customizable styles | 2800+ predefined; users can create custom styles |
| Predefined Resource Types (Book, Journal, etc.) | 31 | 45 | 41 |
| Customizable Fields (Author, Title, Notes, etc.) | 15 | 8 (under Generic reference type) | Unlimited notes |
| Taking Notes | use 15 user-defined fields | use "Research Notes" field | Unlimited notes |
| Attachments / Storage | Unlimited; maximum size of any individual attachment is 20 MB. Default user storage is 250 MB but that can be raised to 1GB on request | 2GB | Unlimited. Up to 300MB storage is free additional storage can be paid for starting at $20 per year for up to 2GB |
| Generate citations from PDFs? | No | No | Yes |
| Generate citations from ISBNs or DOIs? | No | No | Yes |
| Record Size Limit | Notes and Abstract fields limited to 1 gigabyte | All fields can contain 64KB | Unlimited |
| Duplicate Management | Exact record detection; Similar record detection; Deletion functionality | Exact record detection; Deletion functionality |
Title, DOI, and ISBN fieldsare compared; can delete or merge duplicates |
| Internally Search External Databases | Yes | Yes | No |
| ResearcherID Synchronization | No | Yes | No |
| RSS Feed Integration | Integrated RSS feed reader | No | No |
| Export Formats | 7 | 7 | 13 |
| Database Backup/Restore Options | Full database backup: Revert to a previous library that even maintains folder organization. Can also be used to share references with another user. | Backup: Export all references to a file in EndNote format. Restore: Import with EndNote filter. NOTE: Not a true backup. Grouping information is lost. |
Automatic sync with Zotero cloud |
| Mobile Device Application | RefMobile - for mobile and smart phones, PDAs | No | Third-party apps only |
| Alumni Access? | Yes | No | Yes, not tied to the UofA |
*For a comparison chart of different EndNote versions see: http://endnote.com/support/faqs/endnote-compare
Modified from the University of Wisconsin, Madison Citation Managers Comparison: http://www.library.wisc.edu/citation-managers/comparison.html