EndNote or Zotero – which one should you use?

EndNote and Zotero are two reference management sofwares available to University of Geneva members.

Which one use during bachelor studies?

During your bachelor studies, and without further indication from your teachers, we advise that you use Zotero ; it is easier to grasp and its functionalities are sufficient for the works you will have to submit.

And next?

You can definitely continue using Zotero after you complete your bachelor's degree. Since it is open source software, you can keep using it regardless of the institution where you pursue your studies.

However, you might want to consider switching to EndNote, particularly if:

  • you need functionalities not available in Zotero (the main differences are listed below)
  • your research group use EndNote to share bibliographic references

Main differences between EndNote and Zotero

  Endnote Zotero
Price Commercial software, but free for UNIGE members Free
Operating systems Windows, Mac Windows, Mac, Linux
Online storage Unlimited Paid service over 300 Mo
Mobile or tablet app iOS (iPad or iPhone) Android and iOS (iPad or iPhone)
PDF importation Automatic May be automatic
PDF annotations within the software oui oui
Compatible text processing softwares Word, OpenOffice, Pages Word, LibreOffice, OpenOffice, GoogleDoc, LaTeX
Bibliographies by sections or categories oui croixrouge
Public sharing of references croixrouge oui

 

If you have questions about these softwares, feel free to contact your librarians.