Do you struggle with referencing? Have you been marked down for incomplete or inconsistent references? There are some online tools that can help!
Why use online referencing tools?
- You can use them to store accurate details of publications to use in your assignments.
- They can save you time compiling, checking and correcting references – just insert the citation and a bibliography is created automatically. You can also reformat your citations in a different style at the click of a button.
- You can add notes to your references, to remind yourself of specific parts you might want to use.
- Some allow you to store PDFs of the sources with your references, so that everything is together and in most cases available on any computer.
If you use an online tool you still need to know when to include a citation, and understand the principles of referencing. You can find help on this in Study Advice’s referencing guide or referencing video tutorials. You also need to be aware of which style your department requires you to use – consult your course handbook for details.
Which one should I use?
If you are an undergraduate or masters student…
… we recommend using EndNote online. This is free to use and you can use it both on campus PCs and your own PC or laptop.
You can get accurate reference details into it from Library catalogues such as Enterprise and Summon, databases such as Web of Science, or you can manually create your own references for web pages. If you’re not sure whether your preferred database supports EndNote, check our database A-Z list for details of the individual resource.
EndNote online also works with Microsoft Word – you can install a free toolbar which helps you automatically create both in-text citations and your full bibliography. You can choose from a list of common referencing styles (including the University’s own ‘Harvard for Reading’ style) to format your bibliography.
EndNote online is fully supported by the Library and we can provide 1-1 help.
To get started, come along to a workshop, try our step-by-step guide to using EndNote online, or watch an introductory video.
If you are a research postgraduate or member of staff…
… we recommend using Desktop EndNote. This is available on any campus PC through Apps Anywhere. A personal copy can be purchased at the discounted price of around £98.
References can be easily captured from many databases, and you can use the ‘Find full-text’ feature to automatically attach article PDFs to those references. A very large number of referencing styles are provided, including those for specific journals. You can download other ones from the EndNote website, or create your own by editing existing styles. It is also possible to share your EndNote library by synchronising with an EndNote online account – useful for collaboration.
Find out more by coming along to a workshop, trying our step-by-step guides, or watching a brief introductory video.
Other options
There are a number of other referencing tools available, including Mendeley, Zotero and Word’s own referencing facility. Although we do not provide support for these, we have provided links to online guidance and videos via our managing references guide.
Help
If you need help with using EndNote, or with any aspect of citing references, contact your subject liaison librarian who will be happy to help.
This is one of a series of tips to help you save time and effort finding or using information.
This tip was written by Jackie Skinner, Library Web Manager & Liaison Librarian, and Caitlin McCulloch, Trainee Liaison Librarian.
Are you starting your dissertation? Do you lack confidence citing references in your work? Have you been marked down for inconsistencies in your bibliography?
