Best referencing software?

[Bigeggsinapackoften]

I started with mendeley but now I’m struggling with it. Is it me or can anyone recommend anything else?

The main thing ime is to remember rubbish in = rubbish out.

It's always worth going through your reference library checking that all the relevant fields are correctly populated before you start writing n citing.

Databases vary considerably in the quality of the citations that they export in terms of format and completeness.

The referencing software is all much of a muchness in terms of how it works. I hate Refworks the least because I'm used to it but it's not great for making notes.

Sciwheel has a free version and is v easy to use and particularly good for collaborative working.

I do go through and tidy up my references so they come out right - got caught with that once or twice

Have a go at Sciwheel and see how you get on.

You should be able to export your existing references out of whatever you're using as an RIS file and import it in to another product - they'll all recognise that file type.

Zotero is excellent. I also second the recommendation above to use Overleaf for the writing. Word is not a good tool for a PhD thesis!

Thanks everyone. I really do appreciate this

Zotero here too. I have the app on my phone, it syncs with my laptop so I can add things where and when ever!

Refworks. I’m awful at IT stuff but I “get” Refworks.

The uni I study at doesn’t support it but I have it through work. If I didn’t have it through work I’d probably have used my study Unis preferred software though.

It’s online so is accessible. I’ve managed to get it linked to Word documents so I cam do in text citations and have refs at the end. It’s not perfect, changing anything in a Word document was a nightmare the first time I did it but I know its quirks now.

I couldn't get Endnote to work for love nor money on my Mac. Mendeley I couldn't get to grips with. So I'm going with Zotero, I like it so far- the references it makes are slightly different formats to my uni one so will need a little bit of editing but I can handle that!

I really, really need to sign up to one of the referencing courses provided by my institution. Can’t understand why I’m dragging my feet over it.