1. Citavi Alternative: Zotero - the entry-level program for literature management
The literature-Software Zotero is extremely intuitive to operate and therefore particularly suitable for beginners - no matter which is the subject of this research.
- Especially if you are working with a relatively small collection of literature, is to recommend Zotero to.
- You can work on all major operating systems with Zotero. Even for mobile use there are solutions - for example,"PaperShip".
- The use of Zotero is free.
- A Browser Extension literature data directly from the Internet into the program. This is not particularly practical, since a database search is made the program possible.
- Disadvantage: you Have stored in the program PDFs, you can not edit this. Your notes you must do so in a separate program.
2. Mendeley, the cloud-based quote-all-rounder
- With the free Mendeleypackage you will receive 2 GB of storage space in the Cloud. It's supposed to be something more, offers the Mendeley Ltd. storage packages that you can purchase.
- Also Mendeley supports all major operating systems. In addition, you can click on a iOS-App on the go on your literature access.
- Mendeley not only synchronizes the meta-data on the Cloud, but whole documents. Please note, however, that you have in the free Version with only 2 GB of storage space.
- Disadvantage: Different works of literature via Mendeley not link together. Also, searches cannot be saved.
3. Colwiz - literature-Software for all types of users
The literature management Software, Colwiz is an Oxford spin-off offered. It is the same for all user groups of interest:
- Colwiz is available on all platforms, wherein the operation on Mac Users is focused. The user guide is very intuitive. In addition, there are Apps for iOS and Android
- Within the program you will be offered Tools for collaboration. For example, you can maintain a calendar, common storage, in groups, to discuss or a private profile.
- Colwiz is free, however, you can set a maximum of 5000 references behind. On the Web more than 2 GB of your data will be stored. It is not possible to extend your quota in the framework of a subscription.
- The system performance of Colwiz appears as a relatively unstable. The Software tends to crash and it comes back and back to Service overload.
- Colwiz is not checked also, whether you have duplicates in your bibliography database. It may happen sometimes that you have saved the same document multiple times in your database, and possibly different annotated.
4. Endnote powerful literature management of Thomson-Reuters
Endnote is a commercial reference management of the information service provider Thomson Reuters. You opt for this, you need quite a lot of training time. The application, thanking you for this, however, with features such as an automatic PDF Import.
- The free Endnote Version is limited to 50 000 records and 2 GB of Cloud storage limited. In addition, only 20 Citation styles to choose from and it can be searched out of the program only on 6 databases.
- The Thomson-Reuters-Software is not for Linux-systems available. An iOS App is there, however.
- The user guide of Endnote is not very intuitive. First-time users need a lot of time in to the many functionalities of the program incorporate.
- Disadvantage: With Endnote, you can share bibliographic data with other users, and not the documents. More communication options with other users, you are looking for in the Software to no avail.
5. JabRef LaTeX specialist in the bibliography applications
JabRef is a free Open-Source literature management. It is especially useful for LaTeX enthusiasts. Also this Software has a free Web service.
- JabRef is platform-independent, so on all major Computer operating systems. However, the literature management is not optimized for use on mobile devices. Only with Windows 8 Tablets you can be used.
- The open source code has the advantage that many developers can work on the Software. This is reflected not least in the diversity of languages, the JabRef supports.
- With JabRef you can edit your documents do not share with others, together. Also, it is provided that they communicate within the Software with other researchers.
- The search function scours only the stored reference data, but not the texts of the uploaded PDFs. A full-text search is not possible.
In a further practical tip we can tell you whether you Google Books quote is allowed.
