It makes sense to keep track of the information sources you have found, read or intend to read. Having a systematic way of doing this will enable you to spend more of your time on your research and less of your time on the basics of managing your information such as storing and retrieving your sources. It will also make it easier for you to create bibliographies when you need to.
You need to have a system which is:
You may have your own way of doing this already, but you could consider using reference management software.
There are a number of different tools you can use. SHU subscribes to RefWorks and EndNote, but there are also free options that you could consider.
Below are some suggestions for what to consider when choosing your software:
If you are considering using ‘free’ software such as Mendeley, Zotero, Qiqqa, Colwiz, Citavi, etc. we recommend that you also consider:
If you would like to discuss the options with us, please contact the Library Research Support Team : Email: library-research-support@shu.ac.uk Call: (0114) 225 3852
We have produced a comparison of RefWorks and EndNote to help you to choose between these options.
Reference management software comparison for staff and researchers March 2017
For a more detailed comparison of these and a comparison with other tools, see the reference management software comparison from the Technischen Universität München.
If you are using Legacy Refworks there is no problem with you continuing to do so.
Some important points:
Importing references
For many databases you can use the ‘Export to Refworks’ option; this will be available through a ‘Save’ or ‘Download’ option. Be sure to select ‘LegacyRefworks’ when prompted.
Working with Word documents
Creating references
RefWorks can be used to create APA style references. There are several versions of APA available as output styles in RefWorks. To create references as recommended in the referencing guidance from the library, choose the ‘APA 6th – American Psychological Association, 6th Edition’ style.
This should appear in the ‘Favorites’ section when you select a style using the ‘Create Bibliography’ button in RefWorks and in the ‘Popular Styles’ in Write-n-Cite (Proquest for Word).
ALWAYS CHECK YOUR REFERENCES – the software is unlikely to produce perfect results and it is your responsibility to check that your references are accurate and complete.
Transferring to Proquest RefWorks
Please look at the Referencing tools page for information about how to set up an account in Proquest Refworks.
If you change your mind, you can return to using Legacy RefWorks while it continues to be available. Your references and folders will still be there. However, if you imported your references into Proquest RefWorks and then make updates or additions in Proquest RefWorks, the updates and additions will not appear in Legacy RefWorks.
Proquest RefWorks is the university supported reference management tool, and is a good option for most researchers. Please see the guide for more information on creating an account and using the system.
Note: Proquest Refworks does not work well for large scale systematic reviews owing to speed issues and problems with deduplication; if you are doing this please contact us to discuss your options.
A good place to find out more is the SHU guide to getting started with EndNote. This covers getting set up with EndNote and using Cite-While-you-Write. There are also links to tutorials and videos from the producers of EndNote
Reference management software is commonly used to store and organise references and PDFs of articles and to create citations and bibliographies or reference lists.
If you are undertaking a systematic literature review you may also want to consider using reference management software to help you with the following:
The following suggest how you may be able to do this in Legacy RefWorks or Proquest RefWorks
How to: | Legacy RefWorks | Proquest RefWorks |
Maintain separate reference collections for different research projects. | Create separate Legacy RefWorks accounts | Use projects within your account to keep references for different projects separate. |
Work collaboratively on a review or project | Share a RefWorks account login details with other RefWorks users (having created an account that doesn’t use your personal login details). Note that they will be able to do all the same functions that you can – including delete. | Share a project with other Proquest RefWorks users. They will be able to add, delete and modify folders and references. Note that they can also delete the whole project. |
Keep records for reporting purposes | Create a folder structure to store references from particular databases, searches, etc. | Create a folder structure to store references from particular databases, searches, etc. |
De-duplicate references from multiple databases or sources | You can deduplicate your whole database or deduplicate a specific folder. When deduplicating a folder, your can choose to delete the duplicates from your database or just remove them from that folder (keeping them in your database for your records) | Deduplication is possible but only to a maximum of 2000 references |
Export references for screening | Create a bibliography (you will need to edit the output style to include the abstract, RefID or other fields you need). Alternatively export references into Microsoft Excel using ‘Export’ in ‘Tab delimited’ format. | Create a bibliography (you will need to edit the output style to include the abstract, RefID or other fields you need). Alternatively export references into Microsoft Excel using ‘Share’ then ‘Tab delimited’ format. |
Help with how to do this | Legacy RefWorks help | Proquest RefWorks guide: managing references |
Please note that as both versions of RefWorks are web based, you may experience slowness or failure when working with very large numbers of references. If you review is likely to contain many thousands of references, alternative software may be more appropriate. If this applies to you, please contact us to discuss your options.