I used Endnote for my PhD thesis and it was very slow in updating using the cite-while-you-write feature. I did not see much progress in Endnote in the last few years. Endnote seems to be solid, but development seems to be slow. I have a copy of Endnote X7 and I may well upgrade it to Endnote X8 if it is worth it. My concern here is that I do not want to start using a reference manager that may be discontinued within the next 5 years because it had poor sales or because the company behind it is facing financial difficulties. I am not considering other reference managers because I think these three are the most popular. My main contenders so far are Endnote, Zotero and Mendeley. I am definitely not using Linux, and probably not using or any other word processor for the task. Sometimes I may use the iPad or even the iPhone to type some text (I know I probably will not be able to insert citations in these devices, but at least I do not want to lose the citations I have already inserted). So, I need a reference manager that keeps being updated over time, and that may fulfill my needs over the years.Īs the book is expected to have more than 1,000 citations, the software must be fast, respond fast, and not be buggy.Īlso, I plan to use Windows (or OS X) and Microsoft Word. This is expected to be some sort of long term engagement, since the book may have to be updated from time to time.

The citations are in footnotes (which is kind of tricky for a reference management software) and very specific (the most common citation styles will not cut it). I am starting a book with academic purposes, and I intend to choose a reference manager to handle the citations.

Endnote vs zotero vs mendeley