Citation manager software freely available to U of Zagreb students

The aim of this research is to analyze and compare four different citation managers freely available to the students of Croatian academic and research community (Biblioexpress 3.5, EndNote Web 2.0, Wikindx 3.8, Zotero 1.0). In this study four citation managers were compared in six different parameters: general (open source / license / operating system support), web based or application or hybrid, database connectivity, export / import, citation styles and, finally, word processor integration. These citation managers have a lot in common but each of them is unique in a way. Here are some of their characteristics: Endnote Web is the most complete, but dependable on the licensing. Zotero is free and simple to use but cannot be used with IE browser. Wikindx is not only citation manager but also article authoring system that integrates SUWP but cannot connect to databases. Biblioexpress is very simple, but cannot connect to databases, does not have word process integration and has too few citaion formats offered. The selection of one of those citation managers depends on users’ needs and preferences, but there are some criteria that every student has to follow: number of databases and library catalogs that citation manager is linked to, number of possibilities to import/export, required citation format and the possibility of simple word processor integration.