Citation managers help you to easily manage your research. Finding a great research article is one thing, but quickly finding it in the labyrinth of your computer is a completely different beast. Citation managers not only allow you to organize your resources so you can quickly find articles for the project you are working on, but they help you create citations for your paper.
The OCOM Library highly suggests using a citation manager in order to keep track and easily cite resources. Zotero is great because it is FREE and integrates with Microsoft Word / LibreOffice, allowing you to quickly insert citations into your paper as you write it. It will even create a reference page for you! Mendeley is another great tool, as well.
Even if you are not using a citation manager like Zotero, you can still use an online citation generator to create citations in AMA format. Below are a few that we recommend.
A word of caution: these are machine generated, and mistakes happen! Make sure to double-check any computer-generated citations before turning in your assignment to check for errors.
ZoteroBib helps you build a bibliography instantly from any computer or device, without creating an account or installing any software. It’s brought to you by the team behind Zotero, the powerful open-source research tool recommended by thousands of universities worldwide, so you can trust it to help you seamlessly add sources and produce perfect bibliographies. If you need to reuse sources across multiple projects or build a shared research library, we recommend using Zotero instead. If you like writing things out by hand or do not want to learn a new program, then you will need to create your citations manually; ZoteroBib will let you add citations by searching for the PMID or DOI number.
Zotero [zoh-TAIR-oh] is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research resources.
This video, put together by Kyle Denlinger at Wake Forrest University, is a great place to learn about some of Zotero's major functions.
Go to the Zotero Download page
There are two parts to download to use Zotero:
1. There are several ways to set up an account in Zotero. If you have not already set up an account, one way to do this is by going to the Zotero website, and clicking Register in the upper right-hand corner of the page.
2. This link takes you to a Zotero account registration page. Choose whatever username and email address you want to start an account.
3. You will receive a confirmation email once your account is set up.
4. Click on the link in the email to confirm your account set up.
Many databases automatically import full-text PDFs into your Zotero library. If you are logged in with your Zotero account, you will be able access the full-text from multiple devices. This is handy if you are collecting research on a desktop computer, but want to read articles on your iPad.
If you do not have a PDF copy of the article in your Zotero library, but you found the article in another database or ordered it via Interlibrary Loan, you can add the PDF to your citation by simply dragging and dropping the PDF from your file browser on to the citation in your Zotero library.
If you do not have a citation already saved in your library but you have a PDF, you can drag and drop the file directly in to your Zotero library. Then right-click on the PDF and select "Retrieve Metadata for PDF." If this works correctly, Zotero will automatically find the citation information for your PDF and create a record for the item in your Zotero library.
The easiest way to add citations to your Zotero library is by using the Zotero Connector.
When you are looking at a record in a database, you will see an icon in your browser toolbar. Depending on what type of resource you are looking at (article, book, magazine, video, etc.), the icon will look different. For example, if we are looking at a journal article, the icon looks like a piece of paper. Click on the icon, and the article citation will be automatically saved to your library.
If you are looking at a list of articles, you will see a folder icon; clicking on this will allow you to batch select multiple resources to add to your Zotero library.
Most databases work with just a simple click, but some (including Gale) have problems linking to your Zotero library. For trouble sites, you can right click in the webpage, and under the Zotero Connector menu, select "Save to Zotero (Embedded Metadata).
1. If the "add to Zotero" icons are not available on the URL address bar or if you just want to add the citation information for something that is sitting on your desk, click the green circle on the Zotero toolbar to manually add items to your Zotero library.
2. Choose what type of item it is from the drop down menu (notice the "more" option).
3. You will be given blank fields in which to enter the information about your item (in the right-hand panel).
4. Click on the fields and/or use the tab key to navigate through the fields.
5. View your completed entry in the center and right-hand panels.
1. Go to Zotero.org. Log in, or create an account if you are a new user.
2. Click on the "My Library" tab.
3. If you would like to export a collection, view the collection then click the Cite button. Select the style you would like to use, then copy the resulting citations to paste into Google Docs or another writing program.
4. For individual citation, you can export from your online Zotero library by clicking into the article record, and clicking on the Cite button:
5. You will be given the option to select which citation style you would like to use. The web version of Zotero does not support AMA format, but National Library of Medicine (NLM) style is very similar.
Select NLM style, and copy the citation that is formatted for you. Paste this citation in to your document, and modify it so that it meets the AMA style guidelines. Note that in the app, you can import AMA as a style.
You do not have to download and install Zotero in order to use it. You can access your library at Zotero.org, add citations, and read saved articles. You can also export citations, though this option is much more limited than the Standalone version, which allows for pretty much every citation style under the sun.
Contact a librarian to set up a one-on-one consultation about your citation management needs. We can talk about what you need, your workflow, and help you get set up with a system that works for you.
The OCOM Library offers Zotero assistance, but for those of you who like to learn things independently, here are some additional help guides.
This guide includes content modified from Oregon State University's Zotero guide.