Reference management

For a research project — be it a thesis or an article for a scientific journal — the bibliography is an organised list of the documents, books, articles, essays and web pages consulted.

The bibliography adds scientific value to a thesis, reflecting the undertaken research process.

Why is citing sources so important?

Three reasons why it’s important:

• To show you have done proper research, by giving credit to other researchers and acknowledging their ideas
• Documenting one's research path
• To allow your reader to track down the sources you used by citing them accurately in your paper
• To avoid plagiarism, according to intellectual property laws and copyright

Where to insert bibliographical references?

Bibliographical references are inserted in the text when the source of a concept is to be indicated, and if part of the quoted text is paraphrased or quoted in inverted commas. These citations are generally concise and state only a few elements. 
At the end of the paper, all bibliographic citations will be presented in the final bibliography in complete form and generally by author in alphabetical order.

The most common ways of including bibliographical references in the text are:

1. the author-date system, this method uses the format (Last Name, Year) (example)
2. the numeric system: this method uses  either superscript numbers or numbers in square brackets (example)
3. footnote or endnote system, this method uses superscript numbers in the text, which correspond to detailed footnotes at the bottom of the page (example).

A bibliography or reference list at the end of the thesis is always required.

What is a citation style?

A citation style is a set of rules that specify the order, syntax and text formatting of information in a reference.

There are many different citation styles across various subject areas. The most commonly used ones are based on international standards (e.g., APA, Chicago, and MLA styles), but some styles may be specific to a single journal.

It's important to use a consistent citation style throughout your paper.

There is no single citation style that fits every situation. For a thesis, your professors can provide guidance on choosing the most appropriate style. Similarly, for journal articles, publishers often have specific style requirements or recommendations.

How to write citations?

Regardless of the chosen style, a bibliographic reference must contain all the elements necessary to uniquely identify the source, including:

• author name(s)
• title (of book, article, and journal)
• date of publication
• page numbers (for articles or book chapters)
• volume and issue numbers (for articles)

Why use reference management software?

Reference management software can help you:

• save citations from catalogues, databases and websites
• create and organise bibliographies for theses, books and articles
• insert and format citations within the text of documents

They offer different tools. The most common are:

1. Application: must be installed on one's computer, is complete with all the functions for collecting and managing bibliographic references and allows one to generate the bibliography
2. Add-on (browser extension or bookmarklet): allows automatic import of bibliographic data from websites, databases, catalogues, etc.
3. Plug-in compatible with word processing programmes: must be installed on your computer, allows you to insert citations and the final bibliography in a text
4. Online version: allows you to access your account from any computer, add bibliographic references and organise them

What are the main reference management software?

There is a wide range of software for bibliography management, some free and some paid. The University of Padua has not subscribed to any software available on the web.
However, we consider it valuable to offer a training and first orientation service to Zotero, which is currently considered the most suitable for the Padua scientific community.

We recommend that you make regular backups to ensure that your data is properly stored.

Zotero

The Padua University Library System doesn’t subscribe to any citation management software but recommends Zotero because it is free, open-source, and very easy to use.

Zotero also manages PDF files and integrates a PDF reader into the desktop application. Zotero's Word, LibreOffice, and Google Docs plugins allow users to insert citations directly from their preferred word processing software.

It is suggested to make regular backups of your Zotero library. Complete documentation about its features and functions is available on the Zotero website.

Get Zotero 7

If you’re already running Zotero, you can upgrade from within Zotero by going to Help → “Check for Updates…”.

Existing Windows users should install 64-bit Zotero for the best performance. You can reinstall over your existing version without affecting your data.

If you run into any problems or have any specific questions, you can look them up in the Zotero forums.

Please note: It is currently not possible to install Zotero Connector from the Chrome Web Store if you are using a browser user profile linked to your institutional account. To fix this problem, you need to use a different profile or install Zotero Connector on Mozilla Firefox.

Training courses

The University Library System organises training courses to learn how to use Zotero effectively.

Click here to sign up

If you need any further information, please contact the Library Helpline.