I’ve been using Zotero for reference management so far. I like that it is open source. However, I have not used it integrated with a word processor (in my case, Libreoffice or even Apple Pages). I’ve copied my references manually, which (as I’m realising now) means a lot of work, especially if I want to change the reference style, but also when just adding or removing references.
Yesterday I attended a session on reference management, and it turned out that the University of Manchester provides Endnote to all students, and that Endnote is really well integrated into Microsoft Word, which is also provided.
The session convinced me to switch from Zotero + Libreoffice to Endnote + Word.
But then I attended another session the very same afternoon, on how to use the Latex editor Overleaf, which is also provided by the university. I’ve always been curious about Latex, it seems so clean and lightweight. It turned out that Overleaf has reference management integrations for Mendeley and Zotero – but not for Endnote!
So now I think my solution will be Zotero + Overleaf!
I can at least try it for my shorter papers that are coming up, and if it’s working well I can use it for my dissertation.
I think it’s a question of attitude and identity. It empowers me not to have to resort to proprietary software giants. Like Zotero, Latex is open source and so is the whole Overleaf platform, I’m just finding out. So the choice is really simple. And fun: These are the paraphernalia that add good energy to your research!
Leave a comment