What are reference managers?

As the name suggests reference managers help you manage your references. There are plenty of them out there – some free, some paid for – and they can be a valuable tool when you are researching a topic.  

Reference managers allow you to organise your references and access them online. Some of them will also allow you to keep your articles online in the cloud as well, so that they don’t take up space on your own device. It is often possible to share your collection of references with other people, which is really useful for group projects or other collaborative work. 

One of the best-known features of reference managers is the ability to create a reference list, formatted in Harvard, MLA, Vancouver or whatever other style you need. However, a reference manager has its limits. If the information put into it is incomplete or incorrect, then any reference list it creates will also have errors. It is important to be familiar with the referencing style you need to use, so that you can spot any error or missing information.