Popular tools include RefWorks, EndNote, Zotero, Mendeley, and F1000 Workspace. There are now many bibliographic management packages available and many factors to consider when choosing the product that best meets the needs of the individual user or institution.
Over the years, users’ needs have changed, technology has advanced, and many new features have been added, including options for social networking and portable document format file (PDF) management. Citation management software was introduced in the 1980s and used primarily to organize references, search databases for articles on a particular topic, and generate bibliographies. Years ago, references were manually organized on index cards, an awkward and time-consuming process. Citation management has not always been as easy as it is today.
