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Reference management software

  1. Literacy
  2. User Guide

Contents

  1. What is reference management software?
  2. Reference management software available at the University of Tokyo (RefWorks, Mendeley, and EndNote online)
  3. Comparison of reference management software

1. What is reference management software?

Reference management software is a tool that accumulates and manages bibliographic information necessary for writing a paper and automatically creates a bibliography.

a. Reference and document management

You can easily import bibliographic information from databases and manage it.

b. Bibliography creation

 You can easily create a bibliography using the bibliographic information that you import into the reference management software.

c. Creation of in-text citations

By installing an add-in to Word or other word-processing software, you can retrieve bibliographic information from the reference management software and use it for in-text citations in your paper. You can also create a bibliography.

By using the reference management software, you can easily update and reflect the order of in-text citations and the numbering of the bibliography, even if you change them when revising the paper.

 

2. Reference management software available at the University of Tokyo

Some reference management software is available for free to anyone, but the institutional editions of the following reference management software are available for free to those who belong to the University of Tokyo. There are advantages such as greater storage capacity than the standard free versions.

Access User Guide (Registration)
RefWorks How to use RefWorks (Quick guide, manual, and FAQ)
Mendeley How to use Mendeley (Quick guide, manual, and FAQ)
EndNote online How to use Endnote online (Quick guide, manual, and FAQ)

We also offer training sessions on how to use reference management software. Please see the page of the Videos of Training Sessions for videos and texts.

3. Comparison of reference management software

A comparison of reference management software available at the University of Tokyo is summarized (RefWorks, Mendeley, and EndNote online).

Main differences between RefWorks, Mendeley, EndNote online
* Access it by logging in to Google with your ECCS Cloud Email (xxx​@​g.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp) account.

Last updated：March 6, 2026