Zotero

by

The free, open-source reference manager most researchers already have — and underuse.

At a Glance

PublisherDigital Scholar (a nonprofit; software is open source)
Coveragenot a content database — a tool that collects, organises, cites, and deduplicates references from any source
Accessfree and open source, for Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android; optional paid storage for synced attachments; 9,000+ citation styles
Free alternativeit is the free option
Regionalworks anywhere; the browser connector saves from almost any site or catalogue.

Our Take

The reference manager we recommend by default — free, open source, run by a nonprofit with no interest in your data, and genuinely good at the whole workflow from one-click web capture to in-document citations across Word, LibreOffice, and Google Docs. For literature reviews its quietly powerful feature is the built-in Duplicate Items detector, which most users never open. The limits are mild: deduplication is title/DOI/ISBN-based rather than algorithmic like the dedicated tools, and large synced libraries may need paid storage. Use it as your everyday library and citation engine; reach for ASySD or Deduklick when a systematic review needs audit-grade dedup.

Power Tips

  • Export each database’s results as RIS into one collection per source so PRISMA counts stay auditable, then run Duplicate Items and merge, keeping the richest-metadata master record (Issue 3)
  • maintain a master “Screened” library with decision tags so each quarter’s new imports dedup against already-screened items (Issue 3).

Alternatives & Complements

EndNote · Mendeley · ASySD · Deduklick · Rayyan.