EndNote is software that allows you to keep track of your citations, organize them into folders, and create references and bibliographies in your papers.

You can:

• Create your own searchable library of citations, often with links to full text or pdfs of articles
• Search library databases (including the library catalog) from within EndNote, and import citations
• Or search directly within the databases and export the citations you want
• Use EndNote to easily format references and bibliographies in your papers to conform to styles used by hundreds of different journals

EndNote is similar to Mendeley and Zotero, but has some unique functionality such as pulling in PDFs en masse, and searching databases from within the EndNote platform.

Unlike these web-based applications, EndNote is not free, though it is available through the University at a subsidized rate and requires download and installation. You can download a 30-day trial version from the Endnote website, or purchase it in the following ways:

• One year access for $55 from the University of Illinois WebStore.  
• One time purchase for a student license from EndNote for 149.95.
• Upgrade purchase for non-student license from EndNote for 124.95.
• One time purchase for non-student license from EndNote for 274.95.

Click here for a graphic that provides a quick comparison of these citation management systems.