Skip to Main Content

Research essentials

A guide for Higher Degree by Research students and Early Career Researchers

Manage your references

Reference management software allows you to organise your research literature and references efficiently. There are many software options available including EndNote, Mendeley and Zotero.

Which reference management tool is best for me?

Use this table to compare some key features of EndNote Desktop, Mendeley Reference Manager, and Zotero.

Feature EndNote Desktop Mendeley Reference Manager Zotero
Ease of use Harder to learn initially Easy to use Easy to use
Cost Free for ACU staff and students Free Free (up to 300 MB)
Storage capabilities Unlimited

Free account: 2GB

ACU Institutional Edition: 100GB

300 MB (users can pay for extra storage beyond 300 MB)
Software support

ACU Library supports EndNote (guide, webinars and consultations)

EndNote website provides online training materials

ACU Library guide

Mendeley website provides online training materials

ACU Library guide

Zotero website provides online training materials

Word processor compatibility

Microsoft Word

Apache OpenOffice

Apple Pages

LibreOffice

Google Docs

Microsoft Word

OpenOffice

LibreOffice

NeoOffice

Microsoft Word

LibreOffice

OpenOffice

NeoOffice

Google Docs

Number of reference styles Over 6,000 styles Over 10,000 styles via the Citation Style Language (CSL) repository Over 8,000 styles via the Style Repository
Operating system compatibility Windows, Mac Windows, Mac OS X or later, Linux Windows, Mac, Linux
Syncing

Cloud storage and syncing via EndNote Web

Register for an account

Cloud storage and syncing available

Register for an account

Cloud storage and syncing available

Register for an account

Advantages

Premium product

Advanced features

Easily customised

Easy to edit reference styles

Supported by ACU

Easy to use

Collaborative, social networking functionality

Easy to use

Great for importing records from non-traditional sources such as websites

Best suited to Users comfortable with reference management systems

Undergraduates who have never used a reference management system

Researchers sharing papers and networking

Undergraduates who have never used a reference management system

Table last updated September 2023.

EndNote

Available to both staff and students, EndNote makes it easy to manage references for your projects and scholarly publications. 

Find detailed information and instructions in our EndNote library guide. 

Training sessions are also available. Contact us for more information. 

Mendeley

Mendeley is a reference manager and an academic social network. ACU has an institutional account with Mendeley which allows ACU staff and students greater storage space for libraries and usage analytics of content. 

Find out more with our Mendeley library guide or Contact us.

Zotero

Zotero is an easy-to-use free reference management tool. Zotero comes with 300 MB of free storage. Additional storage can be purchased from the Zotero website.  

Find out more with our Zotero library guide or Contact us.