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Scholarly Communication
and the Publish or Perish
Pressures of Academia
Achala Munigal
Osmania University, India
A volume in the Advances

in Knowledge Acquisition,
Transfer, and Management
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Title: Scholarly communication and the publish or perish pressures of
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Description: Hershey PA : Information Science Reference, 2017. | Series:
Advances in Knowledge Acquisition, Transfer, and Management | Includes
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118
Chapter 7
Usage of References
and Its Management
in Research
M. R. Murali Prasad
Centre for Economic and Social Studies, India
ABSTRACT
Now-a-days, information gathering and use have become more complex process for
researchers due to the tremendous growth and heterogeneous collections of digital
information. A researcher requires complete information whenever they want to
fulfil their research objectives. For this, the researcher requires different types of
information management tools to preserve organize and access information needed
to carry out their research tasks. In this chapter, the author has described about
reference or citations and its management in research. The author has explained
the different reference styles both in manual and through software.
INTRODUCTION
Now-a-days, information gathering and use have become more complex process for
researchers due to the tremendous growth and heterogeneous collections of digital
information. A researcher requires complete information whenever they want to
fulfil their research objectives. For this, the researcher requires different types of
information management tools to preserve organize and access information needed
to carry out their research tasks (Prasad, 2014).
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-1697-2.ch007
Copyright ©2017, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.
A research output depends on more than just the methodologies, findings and
experience of one researcher. It also depends on the other researcher’s ideas and
other primary and secondary sources of information like books, articles, abstracts,
theses, reports, monographs, e-publications, web sources, etc. These other’s sources
give strength and support to the present researcher’s objectives and arguments. All
these types’ of used words, quotes, ideas, objectives, methodologies, theories, or
Interpretations and other information sources which are used and supported for
present research work are called ‘references’. These references must be referred to
produce a scholarly communication and also to avoid plagiarism.
CITATION VS. REFERENCE VS. BIBLIOGRAPHY
The words Citation, Reference, and Bibliography are used as synonyms in practical
life and also in managing references through software. But, there is a slight differ-
ence among them in research methodology.
• Citation: A citation is the specific mention of a source in the main body of

manuscript. It usually includes the name of the author and year of publication
or citation number. Sometimes people may call it ‘in-text citation’. The fol-
lowing are few examples for in-text citation (“what is citation”, 2016):
◦◦ APA format example: The sky is blue (Cottrell, 2013).
◦◦ ACS format example: The sky is blue.1
◦◦ IEEE format example: The sky is blue [1].
• Reference: A Reference usually mentions at the end of a manuscript (essay
or research report) and it should contain only the works cited within the run-
ning text of that manuscript. The ‘References’ in a research are, only the cited
sources in that particular research.
• Bibliography: A bibliography is any list of references at the end of a manu-
script (essay or research report), whether cited or not. It includes both the
sources used by a researcher that cited at work and also additional list of
sources, he/she consulted for that work (“References Vs Bibliography”,
2016).
IMPORTANT OF REFERENCES IN RESEARCH
• References clearly distinguish a researcher ideas and arguments from existing

research.
119
• References give the list of consulted sources by a researcher and it enable the
reader to refer the original source of information.
• References give validation, support and strength to the ideas of present
research.
• References shows the scope and depth of a research work.
• References acknowledge the works of original contributors.
• References avoid the plagiarism.
SOURCES OF REFERENCES
Basically, there are three different kinds of information sources like primary, sec-
ondary and tertiary which have to be referred. But, a researcher has to decide that
the usefulness, appropriateness to their work and authentication of that source. It is
very important characteristic before refer a source in research.
There are some information sources to be referred in a research and also some
sources are no need to be referred in research.
The following are some of the sources to be referred in a research, when a re-
searcher:
• Using or referring works from a published information sources like a jour-

nals, books, reports, government publications, gazetteers, Newspapers, AV
materials, web pages, e-publications, etc.
• Using or referring works from unpublished information sources like thesis,
dissertations, monographs, project reports, interviews, etc.
• Copying or quoting the exact words or phrases of other’s works.
• Using figures, tables, diagrams and pictures as it is from other sources.
• Paraphrasing or summarizing other’s ideas, facts or works.
The following are some of the sources need not to refer in a research, when a
researcher:
• Referring their own experiences, observations, experimental results, insights,

thoughts and own conclusions about a subject.
• Referring “common knowledge.”
The following Figure 1, explains more about Common Knowledge (“Common

Knowledge,” 2016).
120
Figure 1. Common knowledge
TYPES OF REFERENCES
The researchers depend on lots of information sources to write a manuscript. The

information sources may be primary or secondary or tertiary like journal articles,
books, abstracts, reports, web pages, e-publications, or other sources. The researchers
have to list out all the used references in their research output (manuscript) as follows:
• Directly Used References: Sometimes the researchers may copy or quote the
words directly from an information sources.
• Indirectly Used References: Sometimes the researcher may paraphrase and
summarize the ideas or facts of other researcher’s works. That means, the
researchers used the ideas or facts of others work to complete their research.
Before going to learn about how to refer information sources in a manuscript,

it is very important and dire need to know about the different kinds of information
resources, which are available in the world. The following are the different sources
of information:
Sources of Information
There are great many sources of information available to the researchers. Below
given table illustrates the entire range of information sources. But problem faced
by the user today is to know how to select the desired information that is of most
121
relevant to his or her need. Thus knowledge of information sources, their scope and
limitations, their inherent characteristics and the ease or difficulty of consulting
them is most essential.
Traditionally two kinds of sources of information (Prasad, 2009) have been
identified:
• Documentary Sources: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary sources and

• Non-Documentary Sources: Formal and Informal sources.
Documentary Sources
• Primary Sources: This is original material which has not been filtered
through interpretation, condensation or evaluation. This material has not
been abstracted or indexed. They are the first and often the only published
records of original research and development. A research producing new
information can make it available to the particular community through the
primary sources.
Other form of primary source material may include new data or new understanding
on previously known facts or ideas. These unorganized contributions appear almost
exclusively in periodical literature, separate research reports, conference proceed-
ings, standards, patents, dissertations, government bulletins, and manufacturers,
Table 1. Sources of information
Documentary Sources Non-Documentary Sources

Primary Secondary Tertiary Informal Formal
Channels Channels
• Periodicals • Periodicals • Guides to the • Invisible • Internet,
• Research • Indexes literature colleges Data centers,
monographs • Indexing periodicals • Directories and e.g. conversation information
• Research reports • Bibliographies years books with colleagues, centers, learned
• Patents • Abstracting periodicals • Textbooks participation and professional
• Standards and • Reviews • Bibliography of in conferences, societies,
specifications • Treatises bibliographies seminars, consultants, etc.
• Theses and • Monographs symposium etc.
Dissertations • Dictionaries and
• Proceedings and encyclopedias
symposia • Handbooks and
• Unpublished manuals
literature • Translations
• Library catalogues
122
technical bulletins containing specific information about particular products or

some other developments.
Primary sources are unorganized sources which are rather sometimes difficult
to locate and use by them. The secondary sources help us to use them.
• Secondary Sources: All kinds of secondary publications depend on primary

sources which are either compiled from or refer to primary sources of infor-
mation. These contain information regarding primary or original information.
Secondary source is basically a material which has been selected, modified,
arranged and organized according to some definite plan. They deal with the
results of the analytical processing of information contained in the primary
documents. They not only provide digested information but also serve as bib-
liographical key to primary sources of information. The primary sources are
always followed by secondary sources.
Secondary sources include: periodicals, bibliographies, indexing and abstracting

journals, dictionaries and encyclopedias, handbooks, tables, formularies, reviews
of progress, treatises, monographs, and textbooks, etc.
There are some other secondary information sources. The catalogues of libraries,
state-of-the art fall under this category.
• Tertiary Sources: Tertiary sources of information contain information thrice

removed from the primary sources. The primary function of tertiary sources
of information is to aid the searcher of information in the use of primary and
secondary sources of information. Most of these sources do not contain sub-
ject knowledge. Due to increase in literature, tertiary sources are becoming
increasingly important. Out of various kinds of sources, tertiary sources are
the last to appear.
Tertiary sources may include: bibliography of bibliographies, guides to the

literature, list of research in progress, guides to libraries and sources of informa-
tion, guide to organizations etc. Thus the oldest form being the bibliographies of
bibliographies and the newest form directories of abstracting journals and on-line
data bases.
Non-Documentary Sources
Information is not always obtained from documentary sources. In some circumstances

it is more helpful to put the user directly in touch with expert or specialist who can
provide an immediate answer than to furnish documents or written summaries of
123
information from which the user must extract what he wants to know. Sometimes it
is helpful to refer to the inquirer to a forthcoming meeting, symposium or exhibition
from which he is likely to gain knowledge that has a bearing on his problem. For
these reasons, the knowledge about the interests and activities of experts working
in related fields in various organizations is useful, not forgetting the people with
specialized knowledge who are within the organization served by the library. These
non-documentary sources can be categorized into formal and informal.
• Formal Sources:
◦◦ Research establishments in government, industry and private
organizations.
◦◦ Learned and professional societies.
◦◦ Universities, colleges or technological institutions.
◦◦ Industrial concerns.
◦◦ Specialized information centers.
◦◦ Data centers.
◦◦ Trade associations and export promotion councils.
◦◦ Public undertakings.
◦◦ Consultants.
◦◦ Information centers and referral centers.
◦◦ Internet.
• Informal Sources:
◦◦ Conversation with colleagues, visitors, participation in conferences,
seminars, symposia, etc.
◦◦ International organizations such as WHO, UNISIST, UNIDO, OECD.
Corridor meetings at conferences, etc.
In searching for information a researcher usually starts with secondary sources

and tertiary sources and ends the search with primary sources. With increasing
amount of literature being produced, it is becoming almost impossible to use pri-
mary sources directly for searching of information. This shows the importance of
secondary and tertiary sources.
INFORMATION NEEDS OF RESEARCHERS OR ACADEMICIANS
There may be researchers or academicians engaged in teaching and research activities

or they may be involved in research and development activities in an industrial setting.
Voigt says that (Atherton, 1977) “… scientists refers to information sources
mainly in three circumstances.”
124
• While getting current awareness of results both in their particular narrow

field and the related disciplines,
• In their day-to-day work, when they need some factual information figures,
methods and designs, and
• When embarking on a new problem or a project, as well as when completing
it and writing about it – a retrospective search to identify as many published
and unpublished sources on the subject as possible.
And also, Shcherban (Atherton, 1977a) has identified seven stages when infor-
mation is supplied for scientific and technical work. They are:
• Over all familiarization with the problem, and problem statement. Drawing
up a plan and the provisional terms for the solution of the problems of a pri-
mary and secondary importance. This stage requires a general acquaintance
with information available on the subject.
• Gathering scientific knowledge about the subject of study. Retrospective
searching of the broadest possible scope of literature without any pronounced
critical approach.
• Co-ordination and interpretation of scientific data. A critical evaluation of the
ideas and hypotheses of different authors. The relevance criteria for the infor-
mation needed are specified and the amount of documents used is reduced.
• Statement of hypotheses and choice of a working hypothesis, which is the
most important stage of research in technical sciences.
• Proving the working hypothesis; the most important stage in basic research.
The information used depends on the specifics of research; for instance, the
proving of an assumption may require gathering factual data scattered in the
literature.
• Statement of conclusions and recommendations, predictions and as well as
generalizations are frequently made at this stage. Information is often used to
shed light on precedence and priority aspects.
• Description of the research results. The information gathered and processed
is, as a rule minutely documented.
In terms of information types, researchers and scientists would require:
• Scientific and technical information enabling learning, research, technical de-

cisions and actions.
• Experimental information.
• Know-why information.
125
• Know-how information.
• Know-who information.
REQUIRED ELEMENTS (DATA FIELDS)

TO WRITE REFERENCES
There are certain elements to be required for citing and referring a source of infor-
mation in any research work. These elements called Bibliographical details for print
sources and Meta data for e-sources. The following are some general elements used
to write in reference list.
• Name of the author (s).

• Name of the editor (s).
• Title of the book, book chapter, article, journal, etc.
• Volume no. and Issue no.
• Place of publication.
• Name of the publisher.
• Date of publication.
• Page numbers.
• URL or DOI of web page and its accessed date.
FUNDAMENTALS IN REFERENCING
There are two basic fundamentals should be remembered while referencing an

information source in a manuscript. They are:
• A reference source should be cited in the running text of a manuscript, is also

called ‘in-text citation.’
• All the cited sources in running text should be listed out at the end of that
manuscript, is also called ‘reference list.’
The following figures, which are taken from Google images clearly depict the
above two fundamentals.
In the above Figure 2 the researcher has used the information source [(Bergin,
1991)] written by Bergin, which was published in 1991 (in-text citation). And, the
pointed arrow shows that the same citation has been listed out in the list of references.
The Figure 3 also shows the in-text citations and the same cited information
sources listed out in the reference list at end of that manuscript.
126
Figure 2. Citation and reference
Figure 3. Citations and References
127
WRITING PATTERNS AND STYLES OF REFERENCES
The writing pattern of references can broadly divide into three categories. They are:
• Numbering Pattern: In this pattern, sources have to cite in running text (in-
text) with Arabic numbers within in brackets or superscript, and all the used
references have to be listed out at end of the manuscript in a sequence.
• Author-Date Pattern: In this pattern, the in text-citations (i.e. author name
and year of the work) have to give in within brackets of the sentence contain-
ing that reference, then all the used references have to be listed out at end of
the manuscript in alphabetical order by author name.
• Footnote Pattern: In this, the in text-citation has to give in Arabic numbers
and all the used reference have to give at the bottom of the page.
The writing styles of references are sometimes varies from subject to subject,
publication to publication, profession to profession, and also its depends on the or-
ganizational priorities. There are rules and standards to follow while preparing the
reference lists with the respective reference style. But, all the reference styles give
same information to the reader; only thing is that the writing pattern is different.
These reference styles are developed by professional associations, institutions,
peer groups of different subjects, etc. to address the specific needs of respective
fields. The following are some popular reference styles (“Citing sources,” “Refer-
ence styles,” “Citing guides,” 2016) using by research and academic community
in different fields.
There are dozens of Reference Styles available in the market. The style guides
(writing rules) are publishing and updating in both print and online by their respec-
tive authorities from time to time. The researcher has to choose the required style
according to their need. It is very tedious process and it requires patience to learn
and imbibe, also it takes time to write manually.
Table 2. Some popular reference styles
Subject Some Popular Reference Styles

Arts and Humanities American Psychological Association (APA), Harvard Style, Chicago Manual of
Style / Turabian, Modern Language Association (MLA),
Social Sciences APA
Science and APA, Harvard, Chicago, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE),
Engineering Scientific Style and Format of Council of Science Editors (CSE)
Medical and Health Vancouver Style, APA, American Medical Association manual of style (AMA)
Sciences
128
The following table shows the writing pattern for few reference sources in APA,
Harvard and Vancouver Reference Style.
In view of the above all description, examples and comparison table; the refer-
ence styles consist of two parts. The first part is the in-text citation, which give
Table 3. Comparison of writing pattern of references in different styles
Reference In-Text Citation Writing Pattern

Style
Book
APA (Naidoo & Patel, Naidoo, K., & Patel, F. (2009). Working women: Stories of struggle, strife and
2009) success. New Delhi, India: Sage.
Harvard (Naidoo & Patel Naidoo, K & Patel, F 2009, Working women: stories of struggle, strife and success,
2009) Sage, New Delhi.
Vancouver Reference No. Naidoo K, Patel F. Working women: stories of struggle, strife and success. New
within brackets or Delhi: Sage; 2009. 245 p
superscript
Book Chapter
APA (McGowan, 2008) McGowan, U. (2008). International students: A conceptual framework for dealing
with unintentional plagiarism. In T. S. Roberts (Ed.), Student plagiarism in an
online world: Problems and solutions (pp. 92-107). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Harvard (McGowan 2008) McGowan, U 2008, ‘International students: a conceptual framework for dealing
with unintentional plagiarism’, in TS Roberts (ed.), Student plagiarism in an online
world: problems and solutions, IGI Global, Hershey, PA, pp. 92-107.
Vancouver Reference No. McGowan U. International students: a conceptual framework for dealing with
within brackets or unintentional plagiarism. In: Roberts TS, editor. Student plagiarism in an online
superscript world: problems and solutions. Hershey (PA): IGI Global; 2008. p. 92-107.
Journal Article
APA (Maier, Baron, & Maier, H., Baron, J., & McLaughlan, R. (2007). Using online role play simulations
McLaughlan, 2007) for teaching sustainability principles to engineering students. International Journal
of Engineering Education, 23(6), 1162-1171.
Harvard (Maier, Baron & Maier, H, Baron, J & McLaughlan, R 2007, ‘Using online role play simulations for
McLaughlan 2007) teaching sustainability principles to engineering students’, International Journal of
Engineering Education, vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 1162-1171.
Vancouver Reference No. Maier H, Baron, J, McLaughlan R. Using online role play simulations for teaching
within brackets or sustainability principles to engineering students. IJEE 2007;23(6):1162-1171
superscript
Website
APA (The English Project, The English Project. (2010). Location lingo. In The English project. Retrieved from
2010) http://www.englishproject.org/
Harvard (The English Project The English Project 2010, ‘Location lingo’, The English project, viewed 12 October
2010) 2010, http://www.englishproject.org/
Vancouver Reference No. The English Project [Internet]. Winchester (UK): The English Project; 2010.
within brackets or Location lingo; c2011 [cited 2010 Oct 12]; [about 1 screen]. Available from: http://
superscript www.englishproject.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=87&I
temid=126
Note: The full reference details appear in alphabetical order at the end of the paper with the heading References
Source: www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/
129
minimum information to find out the source of reference in the second part, the list
of references at the end of the manuscript.
The following are the few examples for reference styles, how a journal article,
book, book chapter, and a conference paper in two patterns that author – date pat-
tern and number pattern (“Managing your references, 2016).
Author – Date Pattern
Part I: In-text citation:
(Running text and writing style of in-text citation) This is how a book (Carroll, 2009),
book chapter (Shishkin et al., 2000), journal article (Nakajima & Schoch, 2011)
and conference paper (Zajic, 2006) look in the Harvard author name - date style.
Part II: List of References at the end of the manuscript
References
Carroll, R.L., 2009. The rise of amphibians: 365 million years of evolution, Balti-
more: The John Hopkins University Press.
Nakajima, Y. & Schoch, R.R., 2011. The first temnospondyl amphibian from Japan.
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 31(5), pp.1154-1157.
Shishkin, M.A., Novikov, I.V. & Gubin, Y.M., 2000. Permian and Triassic temno-
spondyls from Russia. In M. J. Benton et al., eds. The Age of Dinosaurs in
Russia and Mongolia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 35-59.
Zajic, J., 2006. The main fish communities of the limnic Permian and Carbonifer-
ous basins of the Czech Republic. In 7th Paleontological Conference. Brno,
Czech Republic: Scripta. Facultatis Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis
Masarykianae Brunensis. Geology. pp. 99-101.
Number Pattern
Part I: In-text citation:
(Running text and writing style of in-text citation) This is how a book1, book chap-
ter2, journal article3 and conference paper4 look in the citation style of the journal
Nature, a recurrent numbering style.
130
Part II: List of References at the end of the manuscript
References
1. Carroll, R.L. The rise of amphibians: 365 million years of evolution. 360 (The
John Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, 2009).
2. Shishkin, M.A., Novikov, I.V. & Gubin, Y.M. Permian and Triassic temno-
spondyls from Russia. The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia 35-59
(2000).
3. Nakajima, Y. & Schoch, R.R. The first temnospondyl amphibian from Japan.
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology31, 1154-1157 (2011).
4. Zajic, J. The main fish communities of the limnic Permian and Carboniferous
basins of the Czech Republic. 7th Paleontological Conference33-34, 99-101
(2006).
PROBLEMS IN REFERENCE MANAGEMENT
In view of all the above examples, the major problem in referencing with the dif-
ferent kinds of reference (information) sources, different data fields, and different
formats of reference styles. As mentioned in the sources of information section,
the large list of reference or information sources like, journal articles, books, book
chapters, conference papers or proceedings, theses and dissertations, project reports,
government published reports, grey or unpublished literature, electronic publica-
tions like e-books, e-journals, etc.; online sources and non-documentary sources
requires appropriate format to cite. The each and every of these reference source
is having different data fields like name of the author, title of the article or book or
book chapter, name of the publisher, place of publication, name of journal, year of
publication, volume number, issue number, number of pages, etc. are need to use for
appropriate citing. While incorporating these data fields into a respective reference
style format the researcher needs to concentrate both on data fields and punctuation
marks. The same thing has been point out by Kali (2016) as the large number of
different data fields for each of these citable materials often results in erroneous
or incomplete referencing. The punctuations, text formatting (italics, boldface, and
sentence cases), standard abbreviations of author’s and journal names, reference list-
ing order (alphabetical or numbered in the order of appearance in-text), and in-text
citation formats are substantially different in various citation styles. Furthermore,
the in-text citation numbers are liable to change radically in case of addition or
deletion of any cited material. Given the above reasons, it is often challenging to
131
ensure correct referencing and appropriate format. The following sections address
these issues both in manual and online methods.
MANAGING OF REFERENCES
Managing references is one of the most important aspects in research as research

build on research only. Managing references is a multifaceted task that starts with
selection, then collection, store, reading and it ends with integration of the used
references into a manuscript.
There are two different ways to manage references, they are:
• Manual Method: This is the first and foremost method (“Literature

Searching”, 2016) used to manage reference in research. This method may
still work well for small research works like writing a paper, article, short es-
says, etc. Some researchers use card to record individual references and store
these in a card index to track all the references. And, some researchers just
create a word document or excel spreadsheet with details of the references
to track. But, the researcher need to be able to transcribe the used reference
details accurately into the final reference list as per selected reference style is
very important task.
• Reference Managers: A reference manager (Fenner, Scheelinga & Barling,
2010) is a software package that allows scientific authors to collect, organizes,
and uses bibliographic references or citations. The term citation manager or
bibliographic management software are used interchangeably. The software
package usually consists of a database that store references and citations.
Once a citation is inserted into the database, it can be reused to create bibli-
ographies which are typically found at the end of a scientific text.
Generally, the terms Reference Management Software or Citation Management

Software or Bibliographic Management Software or Reference Management Systems
are used as synonyms sometimes. These software or managers are tools to manage
references in a research.
Reference Management Software
Today, the information sources or references are available in multi formats. They can
include books, journal articles, e-publications, websites, data bases, audio-videos
and more as primary, secondary and tertiary sources. The reference management
132
software facilitates researchers easily to collect, store, organize, use, manage and
share all these types’ references, as well as to generate reference lists.
The reference management tools designed specially to help researchers to import
references directly from online resources while searching, then to store and organize,
or a researcher can add references manually into their databases.
The advancement of ICTs, now-a-days reference management tools are available
on all platforms like web based, mobile based and some tools can be embedded with
word processors in addition to desk-top based versions. Whatever the platform may
be, the reference management software performs three basic functions, as mentioned
by Fenner, M. H (2010).
• Searching: Find relevant scientific literature from different databases, as well

as from printed literature.
• Storing: Store the results of that searched in different sources for later re-
trieval in multi formats, and
• Writing: Insert references when writing a manuscript in in-text citation as
well as create a bibliography in the desired citation style.
To support to the above basic functions, Gilmour and Cobus-Kuo (2011) are
expected the following functionalities in a reference manager in 2011:
• Import citations from bibliographic databases and websites.

• Gather metadata from PDF files.
• Allow organization of citations within the reference manager database.
• Allow annotation of citations.
• Allow sharing of the reference manager database or portions thereof with
colleagues.
• Allow data interchange with other reference manager products through stan-
dard metadata formats (e.g. RIS, BibTex).
• Produce formatted citations in a variety of styles.
• Work with word processing software to facilitate in-text citation.
Several web-based and non-web-based referencing tools have been developed

to address these issues. These tools discretely identify and store the component
data fields of a reference, so that different formatting rules can be applied to indi-
vidual components to comply with various referencing styles. The ideal referenc-
ing software should support all popular operating systems, allow organization of
references in groups/folders, file attachment and preview, exporting and importing
of file formats, integration with popular word processors, database connectivity to
facilitate literature search, and customization of reference styles. They incorporate
133
all references and attached files into offline libraries stored in the computer. The
entire library or selected references can be exported, imported, and organized ef-
fectively. (Agrawal, 2007)
The earliest programs to manage the basic task of storing references and adding
them to manuscripts have been around for over 25 years (including Endnote and
bibTeX / LaTeX - based programme still popular today), but each individual entry
had to be typed in by hand. In the last 15 years the research community has seen a
number of significant developments that have made reference management much
easier for the researchers.
Some referencing systems have both desktop and web components and have
special features such as spell check, finding duplicate references, browser integra-
tion, capturing references directly from the webpage or PDF files, and customizing
output styles.
At present especially last 5 years, majority of the reference managers are perform-
ing all the above functions for supporting variety of reference formats interoper-
ability among different Operations Systems with the application web 2.0 techniques,
literature searching, save searches, attach files to their databases, in addition to
supporting the Mobile Communication Technology.
Some of the Popular Reference Management Software
Librarians and research community have been using reference management software
as research tools to facilitate research scholars to manage their reference, improve
workflow, and to save their time. The primary aim of the reference management
tools to remove the drudgery from the task of citing references; effectively and ef-
fortlessly from a variety of information sources in a desired reference style. These
are available in commercial, as well as in open access.
The following are some popular reference management tools using by the re-
searchers worldwide:
• Mendeley(https://www.mendeley.com/): Mendeley is a free reference man-

ager and academic social network that can help researcher organize their re-
search, collaborate with others online, and discover the latest research. Some
features are automatically generate bibliographies, collaborate easily with
other researchers online, easily import papers from other research software,
find relevant papers based on what you’re reading, access your papers from
anywhere online, read papers on the go, with our new iPhone app.
• Zotero(https://www.zotero.org/): Zotero is an easy-to-use tool to help to
collect, organizes, cite, and share research sources. Zotero is a Firefox add-
on. Easy to use and it is active in researcher’s web browser where they do
134
their work. It’s free. Some features include create and manage citations of
books, articles, videos, etc from the web, databases and the Rhodes Library
Catalogue, add searchable notes and tags to citations, annotate and organize
research results, save information about a reference, including author, title
and publication details. Attach files, links, notes and PDFs to records, tag and
sort records, create bibliographies in preferred output style, manage in-text
citations in Microsoft Word, view records in My Library when offline, easily
share references with others.
• Endnote(https://www.myendnoteweb.com/EndNoteWeb.html): EndNote
gives the tools for searching, organizing and sharing the references of a
research. It allows researcher to easily create bibliographies while writing
paper with features like Cite While You Write. Maximize researcher’s time
with features like finding full text references and automatically updating re-
cords. Whether researcher are on desktop, online, or iPad, EndNote’s syncing
capabilities let access all of their references, attachments, and groups from
anywhere.
• RefWorks (https://www.refworks.com ): RefWorks is a web-based online
research management, writing and collaboration tool. It is designed to help
researchers easily gather, manage, store and share all types of information,
as well as generate citations and bibliographies. With RefWorks you cancre-
ate your own database of references, import references from text files, and
RSS feeds, export references from article databases and from the Web, share
research with others. Generate citations and bibliographies as you write,
web-based means you can access RefWorks from any computer with internet
access.
• EasyBib ( http://www.easybib.com/ ): Create accurate MLA, APA, and
Chicago style citations in seconds by scanning a book bar code or by typing
the name of a book. Build and manage your works cited. Once done, email
your citations and then export your citations to EasyBib.com’s popular bibli-
ography management service.
• BibMe (http://www.bibme.org/): BibMe is a lot like Easy Bib in that both
are web-based citation management tools and are both easy to use. BibMe
is great for generating a quick bibliography and/or citation. Since it is web-
based, the researcher doesn’t have to worry about downloading any special
software onto their computer and they can easily login to their optional ac-
count in order to save their work. Using the Auto-fill input mode, BibMe
searches WorldCat and automatically populates necessary citation metadata
for you.
• Citation Machine (http://www.citationmachine.net/): Citation Machine
helps students and professional researchers to properly credit the information
135
that they use. Its primary goal is to make it so easy for student researchers to
cite their information sources.
• Citavi (https://www.citavi.com/): Citavi is a free service that helps you with
all research tasks, from searching for sources, to knowledge organization and
task planning, to creating a final publication.
• CiteULike(http://www.citeulike.org/): CiteULike is a free service to help
academics to share, store, and organize the academic papers they are read-
ing. With CiteULike you can easy add texts that you find on Internet to your
CiteULike account. You can also share your library with others, and find out
who is reading the same papers as you.
• RefMe ( https://www.refme.com/ ): RefMe is a free web-based reference
management tool and it’s available as an app for iOS and android. A research-
er can use it to create and access references on all other devices and they are
all saved and synced on the RefMe site.
The following table shows the comparison of some reference management soft-
ware, which has taken from the Wikipedia. And, also the same source has given the
exhaustive comparison about reference management software.
The more details about these software are available in the following website.
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_reference_management_soft-
ware
• https://digitalresearchtools.pbworks.com/w/page/17801648/Citation%20
Management%20Tools
• https://mediatum.ub.tum.de/doc/1274008/1274008.pdf
ONLINE REFERENCE / BIBLIOGRAPHY GENERATORS
Scholarly Communication or Scientific writing is an essential component of research.

In a research report (manuscript), Citing and referencing are critical elements. As
discussed earlier, referencing is a scientific approach to describe an information source
by providing a standard set of data fields that allows reader to easy identification,
searchability, and retrieval of that source. Citing and referencing is a daunting for
researchers as lots of writing styles of references and its data fields. It is very difficult
process to understand without knowing the basic principles of reference style. The
errors of referencing may be occurred in manual entry of data fields. The initiation
of reference management tools has minimized the difficulty of manual effort and
complexity in managing references in various formats and styles.
136
Table 4. Comparison of reference management software
Free
Software Developer Cost (USD) License Notes
Software
Aigaion
Aigaion Free Yes GNU GPL web-based
developers
web-based BibTeX front-

Bebop ALaRI Institute Free Yes BSD
end
centrally hosted website,

BibBase Christian Fritz Free No Proprietary intended for publication
pages
BibDesk BibTeX front-end +

BibDesk Free Yes BSD
developers repository
University of AGPL,
BibSonomy Free Yes centrally hosted website
Kassel GPL, LGPL
Bibus Bibus developers Free Yes GNU GPL
data can be saved locally,

or, for team access, in an
US$70-949 Free for
Swiss Academic intranet Microsoft SQL
Citavi projects up to 100 No Proprietary
Software Server, or on Windows
references
Azure; search databases
from interface
CiteULike Oversity Limited Free No proprietary centrally hosted website
Free / Online storage

Desktop (Win, Mac, Linux)
free up to 3 GB /
colwiz colwiz Ltd No Proprietary & Web components, iOS
Additional storage
and Android
space available
Otto-von-
Guericke
University Java BibTeX manager that
Docear Magdeburg Free Yes GNU GPL integrates Mind mapping
and University software
of California,
Berkeley
The web version EndNote

EndNote Thomson Reuters US$299.95 No Proprietary basic (formerly, EndNote
Web) is free of charge
JabRef JabRef developers Free Yes GNU GPL Java BibTeX manager
KBibTeX BibTeX front-end, using the

KBibTeX Free Yes GNU GPL
developers KDE Software Compilation
Free / Online storage Desktop & Web

proprietary
free up to 2 GB / components, Windows,
Mendeley Elsevier No (OS API
Additional storage Linux, OS X, iPhone &
clients exist)
space available iPad
search repositories from

Papers Labtiva US$79 No Proprietary interface; supports plug-ins,
Universal iOS app
pybliographer
Pybliographer Free Yes GNU GPL Python/GTK2
developers
Free and Premium Desktop; Tablet; Web;

Qiqqa Qiqqa No Proprietary
versions Intranet
continued on following page
137
Table 4. Continued
Free
Software Developer Cost (USD) License Notes
Software
Desktop (Mac/PC) & Web

Free desktop & components, personalized
mobile app / Cloud recommendations, private
ReadCube Labtiva No Proprietary
Storage $5/month, group sharing, integrated
$55/year web search, enhanced PDF
reader, iOS App, Android
web-based for institutional

refbase refbase developers Free Yes GNU GPL
repositories/self-archiving
network-transparent; XML/
RefDB refdb developers Free Yes GNU GPL
SGML bibliographies
Web, iOS and Android;

RefME RefME Free No Proprietary Chrome and Safari
Extensions available
network version available;

Reference built-in web publishing
Thomson Reuters US$239.95 No Proprietary
Manager tool; discontinued, support
ends 2016-12-31
Referencer
Referencer Free Yes GNU GPL BibTeX front-end
developers
web-based, browser-
RefWorks /
RefWorks US$100 per year No Proprietary accessed, centrally hosted
ProQuest
program
Wikindx Mark Grimshaw Free Yes GNU GPL web-based
Firefox extension or stand-

Roy Rosenzweig Free / Online storage
alone with connectors for
Center for History free up to 300 MB
Zotero Yes AGPL Chrome and Safari. Web-
and New Media at / Additional storage
based access to reference
GMU space available
library also available.
In addition to the above mentioned reference management software, there are

tools available online to generate references or bibliographies in various referencing
styles. Which are available both at free of cost and commercial.
The researcher or users of that online generator has to select the required refer-
ence style (APA, MLA, Vancouver, etc.) and choose the source of reference like
book, journal article, website, e-publication, etc.; then submit the data fields into
the given boxes to generate the reference. To create awareness among researchers,
the following are some of the online reference generator websites for their useful-
ness (Fenswick, 2016):
• (Son of) Citation Machine (http://www.citationmachine.net/): This online

citation generator is compatible with MLA, APA, and Chicago, in addition to
10 other popular academic citation styles. It is available at free of cost. The
subscription plan is also available with more features like unlimited space,
138
plagiarism check for a manuscript and English grammar correction, creat-

ing parenthetical citations, etc. But, registration is required to download a
citation in word or switch format. This tool is also having a search option for
sources with different keywords like by title; author, ISBN and these should
be entered in manual.
• BibMe (http://www.bibme.org/): This citation tool has very similar to Son of
Citation Machine in its functionality and features. The two tools have simi-
lar forms and even pop-up windows. It is also available at free of cost. But
subscription plan is having extra features like bibliography and parenthetical
citations, grammar and plagiarism check. This generator supports search by
title, author and ISBN for reference sources.
• Easy Bib (http://www.easybib.com/): This citation tool has only limited free
access. One can make free citations only in MLA style. The advantage of this
citation generator is that it fills in more details than other tools (including the
year of publication and publishing company). It’s give access at free of cost
and without registration one can create citations only in MLS style. It is also
having search option by title, author and ISBN. But, it gives access to create
100 other citation styles like APA, Chicago, etc on subscription basis.
• Cite fast (http://www.citefast.com/): This tool creates citations in the latest
editions of APA, MLA, and Chicago. It gives access at free of cost and regis-
tration needed to download previous citations or see previous history of cita-
tions of researchers. The extra features of this tool are that a researcher easily
copy and paste citations, export them in word, and even keep them for four
days in a researcher account. Even a researcher does not have an account, the
site will show the previous searches when a researcher gets back to it.
• Cite this for Me (http://www.citethisforme.com/): This tool has been made
user friendly as similar to Microsoft word document. It creates citations for
all citation styles imaginable. The access of basic version is free for all and
the premium account is having some extra features like checking for plagia-
rism, downloading the tool as an add-on, and creating several bibliographies
at the same time, etc. at USD 15 per month. This tool is compatible with dif-
ferent resources types. This is also having search options like by title, author,
ISBN.
• Ref Dot (readdot.com): The Ref Dot is a free extension for Google Chrome
browser that can be used for quick online research. A researcher to get a refer-
ence for a book, he or she can simply search for the book on Amazon. In the
upper right-hand corner of the tool, the researcher can see a button that will
automatically cite a resource. Otherwise, a researcher can manually input the
139
source details to create a citation. It creates citation in Chicago style only. It

is having free export and storage of reference facility and also indexes citation
in alphabetical order.
• ETurabian (http://www.eturabian.com/turabian/index.html): This tool
makes citations in Turabian, MLA, and APA and it requires manual entry
of data fields, but it’s a great way to create bibliography and footnotes in a
manuscript. It gives access at free of cost. This tool is having extra features
like auto format of references, using online dissertation catalogues, exporting
and sharing bibliographies.
• RefMe (https://www.refme.com/): This online tool supports to create citations
in more than 7, 500 reference styles like APA, MLA, Chicago, Vancouver,
Turabian, etc. Its access is at free of cost and one can to sign up with social
networking site Facebook is required. It is also giving search option through
title, author, ISBN and URL. Some advanced features like import and export
of citations to the researcher’s work.
• Noodle Tools (https://www.noodletools.com/): The Noodle Tools citation
generator is very helpful software for academic writing, including note-
taking and citation tools. Citation maker is applicable for APA, MLA, and
Chicago. Its access is free and one creates citations freely. Through payment
a researcher can get some extra features like note taking tools called note
cards, collaboration and sharing notes with other, getting experts help, etc.
But its functionality is manual entry only.
• Cite Maker (http://www.citemaker.com/): the Cite Maker generates citations
in MLA, APA, Harvard, and Oxford styles. Its access is free and required
registration for saving references or bibliography for 30 days on site. It is hav-
ing some advanced features like in-text citations and bibliography entries. Its
functions through manual entry.
• Class tools (http://www.classtools.net/citation-generator/): The main advan-
tage of this tool is that it not only helps a researcher to make citations but also
helps for their research. There’s no need to input all the resource details. All
a researcher is need to do a search by keywords, title, or author or search by
URL. Then the researcher gets formatted citations with links to resources. It
is available at free of cost. It functionality is auto search by giving keywords.
Its special feature is online research.
• Zotero (https://www.zotero.org/): The well-known, Zotero is a free browser
extension or a Word add-on tool that allows a researcher to create citations
without leaving the browser or a Word document. It is also a free tool and
it automatically generates a citation. It helps to save and share the resources
what a researcher find for his or her work.
140
CONCLUSION
The reference management software creates a personal digital library of references

of a researcher. The references in a digital library can be easily searched, sorted, and
inserted in a manuscript to create accurate bibliographies (Perkel, 2001).
To conclude, the choice of the reference management tool depends on research-
er’s personal workflow preferences and needs. Another thing is to select a tool is
that the comparison with other tools, how they different from other. But, each and
every reference management tool has its own strengths and weaknesses. The tools
comparison chart helps in finding a right tool to get start work. It is also a good
idea to use a tool which has been using by a colleague. That enables them to share
their reference sources and manuscripts together. At last, always it is better to cross
verification of software generated reference list and in-text citations to avoid the
errors in references.
REFERENCES
Agrawal, A. (2007). EndNote 1-2-3: Reference Management for the Professionals

(2nd ed.). New York: Springer Science and Business Media.
Atherton, P. (1977). Hand book for Information systems and services. Paris: UNESCO.
Citation guides. (n.d.). Retrieved May 6, 2016, from https://www.citethisforme.
com/guides
Citing sources: Citation style guides. (2016). Retrieved from http://libguides.mit.
edu/citing/citestyle
Common Knowledge. (n.d.). Retrieved May 13, 2016, from http://owll.massey.ac.nz/
referencing/common-knowledge.php
Fenner, M. (2010). Reference Management meets web 2.0. Cellular Therapy and
Transplantation, 2(6), 1–3.
Fenner, M., Scheeliga, K., & Bartling, S. (n.d.). Reference Management. Retrieved
May 24, 2010, from http://book.openingscience.org/tools/reference_management.
html
Fenswick, I. (2016, June 14). 25 Best free online citation generators. Retrieved from
http://smart.study/blog/25-best-free-online-citation-generators/
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Gilmour, R., & Kuo-Cobus, L. (2011, May 25). Reference Management Software:
A comparative analysis of four products. Retrieved from http://www.istl.org/11-
summer/refereed2.html
Kali, A. (2016). Reference management: A critical element of scientific writing.
Journal of Advanced Pharmaceutical Technology and Research, 7(1), 27-29. Re-
trieved from http://www.japtr.org/text.asp?2016/7/1/27/169875
Literature Searching: Managing Your References. (2016, May 24). Retrieved from
https://www.reading.ac.uk/library/finding-info/guides/literature-searching/lib-
searching-references.aspx
Managing Your References: Reference Styles. (2016, May 10). Retrieved from http://
libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/reference-management/referencing-styles
Murali Prasad, M. R. (2009). Contribution of faculty members to the flow of informa-
tion: A study at selected universities in Andhra Pradesh, India. Lambert Academic
Publishers.
Murali Prasad, M. R. (2014). Tools to manage personal digital information for re-
searchers. In Digital Libraries of the future: Conference proceedings (pp. 223-227).
Hyderabad: BS Publications.
Perkel, J. M. (2001). The essential software toolbox. Scientist (Philadelphia, Pa.),
14(14), 19.
References vs Bibliography. (2016, May 12). Retrieved from http://www4.caes.hku.
hk/acadgrammar/general/argue/citation/subtopics/sec7RefsVsBibl.htm
Referencing styles used at the University of Auckland. (2016, May 6). Retrieved
from http://www.cite.auckland.ac.nz/index.php?p=faculty_styles
What is citation ? (2016, May 12). Retrieved from https://www.refme.com/us/
bibliography-basics/what-is-a-citation/
142
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Usage of References and Its Management in Research

Chapter · January 2017

bibliometric studies View project

Information Literacy View project

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

A volume in the Advances

Names: Munigal, Achala, 1973-

British Cataloguing in Publication Data

CITATION VS. REFERENCE VS. BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Citation: A citation is the specific mention of a source in the main body of

IMPORTANT OF REFERENCES IN RESEARCH

• References clearly distinguish a researcher ideas and arguments from existing

• Using or referring works from a published information sources like a jour-

• Referring their own experiences, observations, experimental results, insights,

The following Figure 1, explains more about Common Knowledge (“Common

Figure 1. Common knowledge

The researchers depend on lots of information sources to write a manuscript. The

Before going to learn about how to refer information sources in a manuscript,

• Documentary Sources: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary sources and

Table 1. Sources of information

Documentary Sources Non-Documentary Sources

technical bulletins containing specific information about particular products or

• Secondary Sources: All kinds of secondary publications depend on primary

Secondary sources include: periodicals, bibliographies, indexing and abstracting

• Tertiary Sources: Tertiary sources of information contain information thrice

Tertiary sources may include: bibliography of bibliographies, guides to the

Information is not always obtained from documentary sources. In some circumstances

In searching for information a researcher usually starts with secondary sources

INFORMATION NEEDS OF RESEARCHERS OR ACADEMICIANS

There may be researchers or academicians engaged in teaching and research activities

• While getting current awareness of results both in their particular narrow

In terms of information types, researchers and scientists would require:

• Scientific and technical information enabling learning, research, technical de-

REQUIRED ELEMENTS (DATA FIELDS)

• Name of the author (s).

There are two basic fundamentals should be remembered while referencing an

• A reference source should be cited in the running text of a manuscript, is also

Figure 2. Citation and reference

Figure 3. Citations and References

WRITING PATTERNS AND STYLES OF REFERENCES

Table 2. Some popular reference styles

Subject Some Popular Reference Styles

Table 3. Comparison of writing pattern of references in different styles

Reference In-Text Citation Writing Pattern

Author – Date Pattern

Part I: In-text citation:

Part II: List of References at the end of the manuscript

Part I: In-text citation:

Part II: List of References at the end of the manuscript

PROBLEMS IN REFERENCE MANAGEMENT

Managing references is one of the most important aspects in research as research

• Manual Method: This is the first and foremost method (“Literature

Generally, the terms Reference Management Software or Citation Management

Reference Management Software

• Searching: Find relevant scientific literature from different databases, as well

• Import citations from bibliographic databases and websites.

Several web-based and non-web-based referencing tools have been developed

Some of the Popular Reference Management Software

• Mendeley(https://www.mendeley.com/): Mendeley is a free reference man-