Reference tools

Student in the library

There are programs available for both Windows and Mac. They can help you collect and sort your sources, and to create citations and reference list in your text. The University Library offers online courses in Zotero only.

Zotero

Zotero is a free software that can be downloaded by anyone. With Zotero you can easily capture your literature and sources both from specialized databases and directly from websites, and use the same sources in Word while writing a paper. The program can help you to create correct references and bibliographies in your paper. Zotero is also a good way to collect and organize your literature in groups, with tags and notes, retrieve metadata from PDF-files and ISBN numbers and save annotations made in texts with Zotfile plugin. Zotero is synced with your online Zotero library as a way of backup. You can export your EndNote library to a Zotero one.  

You can download the program from Zoteros website

To capture bibliographic information on the literature found at websites you need to download an extension for your browser (Firefox, Chrome, Edge or Safari).

See the library's detailed Zotero web page for downloading and how to use it.

EndNote

EndNote is a licensed program for students and employees at USN. The program works as a plug-in in Word, and can insert citations and make a reference list simultaneously. It is possible to export your references to Zotero. 

See the library's EndNote web pages for downloading and how to use it.

Word

Mircrosoft Word has a built-in reference manager tool. This can be used for smaller projects, but does not have the same features as Zotero or EndNote. If you decide to switch once you have started using the Word reference manager you can export your data. The library does not offer support for the use of Words reference manager tool. 

Read more about Words reference manager tool on Microsofts website.

Oria's citation feature

If you want to handle references without tools such as Zotero and EndNote, Oria has a built in citation function.

  • Select Citation (") at the reference or in the search results list. The function is also found under Send to.
  • Copy and paste into a text document. Make sure that you choose the correct style (eg APA) and be sure to check for any errors in the suggested citation. Check bibliographic layout standards in for example The Citation Compass. 

Reference tools