Due to low use, a rising subscription cost, and the number of freely available citation and reference management tools, the library will cancel RefWorks when our current subscription ends December 31, 2019. Any citations not migrated out of RefWorks will be inaccessible after this date. Information about migrating your data from RefWorks to Mendeley or Zotero can be found on this guide.
Use the Citation Tools and Management library Guide [coming soon] to compare the two citation managers that MSU Mankato's librarians recommend: Mendeley and Zotero. Until our page is developed, please refer to the page created by our friends at ASU.
While certain academic fields may prefer one platform over another, both citation managers are endorsed by Memorial Library as effective, low-cost (or free) tools that offer a variety of benefits to their users.
We decided to cancel based upon rising subscription costs combined with low usage along with the rising prevalence of free citation management tools.
I use RefWorks. What do I need to do before December 31, 2019?
Your plan of action to help migrate your citations to another management tool can include any of the following:
No. You will be unable to access your RefWorks account after December 31, 2019.
How did you communicate this cancellation to users?
The Library made multiple attempts to reach out to RefWorks users in 2019, including publicizing the transition in the library newsletter, informing faculty through liaison letters, and the library website. We will also be sending out email messages to all RefWorks account holders who have used RefWorks in the past year.
How do I migrate my citations?
Please see this handy dandy migration guide.
Where can I find more information on citation management?
For more information on citation management tools and how to organize your references, generate bibliographies, collaborate with others and compare tools, visit our library guide [COMING SOON].
Can I sign up and pay for an individual account with RefWorks?
No, you cannot. RefWorks does not offer individual accounts at this time.
Can I access the other citation managers from any computer?
Both Zotero and Mendeley offer both a desktop version and an online account where you can store references and to which you can sync the data you have saved in the desktop version.
Can I use MavScholar to organize my resources?
Yes! It is not as advanced as either Zotero or Mendeley but it does offer some basic citation management functionality. After you sign in on MavScholar, you can pin your favorite library materials to save them to your account and generate citations for each from MavScholar. You can also export RIS files from MavScholar into any of the above citation managers and add labels to sort your saved resources.
Can I use MavScholar to create citations?
Yes. Click the ellipses (...) in each record you will see an option that says "citation". In this area you can choose from:
Click Copy Citation to Clipboard and paste into your document.
Remember to double check the citations, particularly from MavScholar, as they are not 100% correct.
How can I collaborate with others and share folders?
Other citation managers also provide the possibility of collaborative work, through “groups” on Zotero and Mendeley.
Many thanks to Arizona State University Library for their original library guide that provided much of the information found on this page. Also, thanks to them for providing me with the impetus to learn how to create collapsing text and flex my atrophied coding muscles a bit.
Librarians online 24/7: |
In Person | |
Text: 1-507-203-1697 | |
Appointment | |
Phone: 1-507-389-5958 | |
Search our FAQs |