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Dissertation Preparation

Software Options

There are several tools that exist that all do essentially the same thing: keep track of the sources you find, your notes about those sources, and easily create a bibliography from your selected sources.  Some things you consider when choosing your software are the cost, whether you are using a personal device for all your work, what you will be creating in the end, and your note-taking needs. 

No personal device?

If you are unable to download the software to your personal device, you still have options available to you. You can add an item on the web version using a unique identifier such as the URL, DOI, or ISBN (in both Zotero and Mendeley) or you can import the .ris file (Mendeley only).

Browser Plugins

Browser plugins/add-ons/extensions provide additional functionality to the default web-browsing software. The extensions for Zotero & Mendeley work in conjunction with their respective software and are not standalone products. However, the extensions do make it really easy to pull citation information from a page on the web. As always, you will need to review the information being imported for accuracy. 

To install a browser plugin, see the directions for the browser you are using under the appropriate heading. 

Chrome

Edge

Firefox

Safari

Zotero extension unavailable for Safari.