19 Free Citation and Reference Manager for Windows, Linux and macOS
In the world of academia and research, keeping track of numerous sources, citations, and references can be a daunting task. This is where free citation and reference managers come into play.
These tools are designed to help scholars, researchers, and students organize their bibliographic data efficiently, ensuring that their work remains accurate and credible.
What is a citation and reference manager?
A free citation and reference manager is a software application that allows users to collect, organize, and cite their research sources. These tools can handle a variety of formats, including books, journal articles, websites, and more. Examples include Zotero, Mendeley, and JabRef.
Citation and reference managers are crucial because they:
- Ensure Accuracy: Prevent errors in citations, which can affect the credibility of research.
- Enhance Productivity: Allow researchers to focus on their work rather than the tedious task of citation formatting.
- Support Collaboration: Make it easier for teams to work together by sharing and managing references collectively.
- Maintain Consistency: Provide uniform citation styles across different projects, ensuring professional and polished work.
Benefits
- Streamlined Organization: Keep all your references in one place, neatly categorized and easy to retrieve.
- Automated Citations: Generate citations and bibliographies automatically in various styles like APA, MLA, and Chicago.
- Collaboration: Share references with colleagues, making group projects and co-authored papers more manageable.
- Integration: Seamlessly integrate with word processors and academic writing tools for smooth workflow.
- Time-Saving: Reduce the time spent on formatting citations and focus more on research and writing.
Who Uses Them?
- Researchers: Manage large volumes of references for papers, theses, and dissertations.
- Students: Keep track of sources for essays and assignments.
- Academics: Organize bibliographic data for scholarly articles and books.
- Librarians: Assist patrons with citation management and research organization.
In the following list, we collected the best open-source free reference managers that are active in 2024. For the older list, you can check here.
1. Papis
Papis is an open-source document and reference management system designed to help researchers and academics organize their files efficiently. It offers a command-line interface for managing bibliographic data and integrates with various tools to streamline the workflow of managing, searching, and citing documents.
papis2. JabRef
JabRef is an open-source reference management software designed to streamline the organization and use of bibliographic data. Ideal for researchers, students, and academics, JabRef offers extensive features for managing references and citations efficiently. It supports a variety of bibliographic formats and integrates well with LaTeX, making it a valuable tool for academic writing and research.
Hazem Abbas
3. coBib
CoBib is an open-source bibliography management tool designed for simplicity and extensibility. It provides a command-line interface for efficiently managing bibliographic data, making it a perfect fit for researchers and academics who prefer a lightweight and customizable solution for their reference management needs.
mrossinek4. Obsidian Citation Plugin
This Obsidian plugin which integrates your academic reference manager with the Obsidian editor. Search your references from within Obsidian and automatically create and reference literature notes for papers and books.
hans5. BibDesk (macOS)
BibDesk streamlines the process of managing bibliographic data, offering a user-friendly interface and a range of features tailored to the needs of researchers and academics. It integrates seamlessly with macOS, providing an efficient way to organize, search, and use references in academic writing.
Whether you are compiling a bibliography for a research paper or managing a large database of references, BibDesk offers the tools you need to stay organized and productive.
Features
- User-Friendly Interface: Intuitive and easy-to-use interface designed for macOS.
- Comprehensive Reference Management: Organize, search, and manage bibliographic data efficiently.
- Integration with LaTeX: Seamless integration with LaTeX, supporting BibTeX for easy citation management in LaTeX documents.
- Import and Export: Supports importing and exporting references in multiple formats, including BibTeX and RIS.
- Automatic Metadata Retrieval: Automatically fetch metadata for your references from online databases.
- Customizable Templates: Create and use customizable templates for consistent and accurate citations.
- Group References: Organize references into groups for easy access and management.
- Advanced Search: Powerful search capabilities to quickly find and organize references.
- Link to PDF Files: Easily link references to PDF files and other documents.
6. RefMan
RefMan - A Simple python-based reference manager.
adriancaruana7. Hayagriva
Hayagriva is a tool that can help you or your apps deal with literature and other media.
Features
- Data structures for literature collections
- Reading and writing said collections from YAML files
- Formatting literature into reference list entries and in-text citations as defined by popular style guides
- Interoperability with BibTeX
- Querying your literature items by type and available metadata
typst9. Citationista (RemNote)
Citationista is an open-source citation management tool for RemNote designed to assist researchers and academics in organizing and managing their references efficiently. Developed by Coldenate, this tool provides a straightforward and user-friendly interface for handling bibliographic data.
Citationista supports a wide range of citation formats and integrates seamlessly with popular writing and research tools, making it an invaluable resource for anyone involved in academic writing and research.
Note, that the app is in active development and there is more features to be added.
coldenate10. PaperMemory
PaperMemor is a free and open-source An automated, web-based and minimalist reference manager that also finds code repositories and published versions of preprints. It works for Google Chrome, Brave, Opera, Edge and Mozilla Firefox.
It comes with automatic paper detection, and dozens of useful features.
vict0rsch11. Citation Manager for JupyterLab
JupyterLab Citation Manager is an open-source extension designed to integrate citation and reference management directly within JupyterLab.
Developed by krassowski, this tool aims to enhance the productivity of researchers and data scientists by providing an easy and efficient way to manage citations without leaving the JupyterLab environment. It simplifies the process of citing sources, organizing references, and ensuring proper attribution in research projects.
Key Features
- Seamless Integration: Directly integrates with JupyterLab, providing citation management within the notebook environment.
- Multiple Citation Formats: Supports various citation styles, including APA, MLA, Chicago, and more.
- User-Friendly Interface: Offers an intuitive interface for adding, managing, and citing references.
- BibTeX Compatibility: Easily imports and exports BibTeX files for efficient reference management.
- Search and Filter: Quickly search and filter references to find the necessary sources.
- Automatic Citation Insertion: Insert citations directly into your JupyterLab notebooks with ease.
- Cross-Platform Support: Available on multiple platforms, ensuring compatibility and ease of use across different systems.
- Open Source: Free to use and modify, encouraging community contributions and improvements.
krassowski12. Ref
Ref is a simple reference and citation manager.
Features
- Collect references (books, articles, etc.)
- Store page notes
- Export the reference list to BibTeX or Word - or copy it directly from the app
polsys13. Scholar: a CLI Reference Manager
Scholar is a terminal based reference manager written in Go, that helps you keep track of your resources. It uses YAML files to save the metadata. Entry types and fields are taken from the BibLaTex format. It was inspired by papis, a CLI reference manager written in Python.
cgxeiji14. WIKINDX
WIKINDX is a robust, open-source bibliographic and research management system designed to support academic researchers and scholars.
It provides a collaborative platform for managing references, notes, and research materials, facilitating seamless organization and retrieval of scholarly resources.
WIKINDX supports multi-user access, making it an ideal tool for research groups and academic institutions. Its flexible, web-based interface allows users to access their research database from anywhere, ensuring that their work is always within reach.
suobset15. Notion Scholar
Notion Scholar is an innovative tool designed to seamlessly integrate academic paper management with Notion, a popular productivity and note-taking app. This open-source tool simplifies the process of organizing, citing, and managing academic resources directly within Notion.
Developed by Thomas Hirtz, Notion Scholar leverages the power of Notion's versatile database features to help researchers, students, and academics streamline their research workflow. With Notion Scholar, managing scholarly articles and references becomes more intuitive and efficient, all within the familiar Notion environment.
thomashirtz16. Papis Nvim for Neovim
Papis.nvim is a powerful plugin for Neovim that integrates seamlessly with the Papis document management system. It enhances the efficiency of managing and accessing documents directly within the Neovim editor.
This plugin is ideal for researchers, writers, and developers who rely on Neovim for their workflow and need a robust tool to handle their document organization and retrieval needs.
Features
- Seamless Integration: Integrates Papis document management capabilities directly into Neovim.
- Metadata Access: Easily view and manage document metadata within Neovim.
- Quick Searches: Perform fast and efficient searches for documents and their metadata.
- Document Retrieval: Quickly access and open documents from within Neovim.
- Customizable Workflows: Tailor document management workflows to fit individual needs and preferences.
- Efficiency Boost: Enhance productivity by managing documents without switching between applications.
- Open Source: Free to use and modify, with contributions welcomed from the community.
jghauser17. Jurism
Juris-M is an advanced citation management tool designed to address the unique needs of legal and multilingual researchers. Built on the popular Zotero platform, Juris-M extends its capabilities to provide robust support for legal citations and multi-language bibliographies.
This powerful tool helps researchers manage and organize their references with precision and ease, making it indispensable for academic, legal, and multilingual research projects.
18. Pubs
Pubs is a free versatile and user-friendly tool that helps manage research publications effectively. It supports various import and export formats, offers advanced search capabilities, and allows for customization and localization.
With features such as dynamic RSS feeds, automated email alerts, and a command-line client, Pubs ensures that managing and accessing publication records is both straightforward and efficient.
Features
- Clean and Standardized Interface: Easily integrates into existing websites.
- Desktop Client Compatibility: Excellent integration with Zotero and EndNote.
- Import and Export: Supports multiple formats including MODS XML, RIS, and BibTeX.
- Localization: Customizes language and design preferences for users and institutions.
- Advanced Search Options: Offers quick, simple, advanced, and SQL search capabilities.
- Flexible Display Options: Displays lists in compact, detailed, citation, and print formats.
- Search Refinement: Allows users to search within results for precise filtering.
- User-Specific Fields: Supports personal keywords, notes, and custom fields.
- Saved Search Queries: Enables saving of search queries along with display settings.
- Automated Email Alerts: Sends notifications for newly added records.
- Dynamic RSS Feeds: Provides RSS feeds for recent additions and edits based on custom queries.
- Linked Records: Allows linking of records within the database using static or dynamic links.
- Command Line Client: Offers a client for interacting with the open API without a browser.
- Additional Functionalities: Includes more features to enhance the management of publication records.
pubs19. Refbase
refbase is a web-based bibliographic manager which can import and export references in various formats (including BibTeX, Endnote, MODS XML, and OpenOffice). It can make formatted lists of citations and offers powerful searching, rich metadata, and RSS.
Features
- Clean and Standardized Interface: Seamlessly integrates into your existing website.
- Desktop Client Compatibility: Works excellently with Zotero and EndNote.
- Import and Export: Supports MODS XML, RIS, BibTeX, and more.
- Localization: Customizes language and design preferences per user and institution.
- Robust Search Options: Includes quick, simple, advanced, and SQL searches.
- Flexible Display Options: View lists in compact, detailed, citation, and print formats.
- Search Refinement: Allows searching within results for better accuracy.
- User-Specific Fields: Add personal keywords, notes, and other custom fields.
- Save Search Queries: Save any search along with current display settings.
- Automated Email Alerts: Receive notifications for newly added records.
- Dynamic RSS Feeds: Get feeds for recently added/edited records based on custom queries.
- Linked Records: Link records to other database entries using static or dynamic links.
- Command Line Client: Interact with the open API for browserless operations.
- Additional Features: Offers more functionalities to enhance user experience.
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