Literature Review
Comparing Zotero Vs Endnote (Which One Is Better?)
Compare Zotero vs Endnote to determine which reference management tool better suits your research needs. Discover their features, pros, and cons.
Aug 14, 2024
Think about you're knee-deep in writing a thesis or research paper. You have all your notes organized, and your outline is flowing nicely. Then it happens. You search for a reference on your computer, and suddenly, a sea of documents appears, featuring no rhyme or reason. You might have opened Pandora's box who knows what you'll find there? All those files are a huge distraction, and you can't even recall what you're looking for.
Your literature search just got derailed, and it will take forever to get back on track. Now, imagine instead that you performed the exact search, and all those references were neatly organized in folders within a program like Endnote or Zotero. Not only could you find exactly what you were looking for in seconds, but you could also read and cite the reference right from that folder. That's the power of reference management software.
This guide will compare Zotero vs Endnote, two of the most popular tools on the market. We'll explore their features, advantages, and disadvantages so you can pick the best option for your writing goals. In no time, you'll be speeding through your literature search and writing efficient research papers with help from AI. One AI tool that can assist with your writing tasks is Oito's AI research and writing partner. This assistant can help you organize your research, craft outlines, generate content, and suggest citations to streamline your writing process.
Table of Contents
What Is Zotero?
Zotero (pronounced "zoh-TAIR-oh") is a free, user-friendly tool that helps collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources. This open-access reference management software serves as your research assistant. Zotero can help you save references from library catalogs, research databases, and the Web. You can also add PDFs, images, audio and video files, snapshots of web pages, and more. With Zotero, you can write annotations and attach them to citations. This tool also allows you to create bibliographies using most major citation styles.
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What Is Endnote?
EndNote is a reference management software application that allows you to create your library of references. You can download references from catalogs and databases, generate references from PDF files, and organize your references into groups. You can also add keywords, labels, and notes, search and sort your references, and find, attach, and annotate full-text PDF files.
Insert Citations or Footnotes and Generate Bibliographies with EndNote
EndNote makes it easy to insert citations or footnotes into your documents and generate bibliographies. You can insert in-text citations or footnotes into your documents and create bibliographies to organize your references. EndNote offers thousands of citation styles, such as APA, Chicago, or MLA, and lets you easily reformat your references to a different citation style.
Collaborate with Others Using EndNote
You can use EndNote Online to share selected groups of references with others. You can also share your whole EndNote library. EndNote and an online version are available for both Mac and Windows.
Features Of Zotero Vs Endnote
Zotero's Features: An In-Depth Look at Key Offerings
Zotero features some impressive tools to help researchers manage their references. Here are some of the most essential features:
1. Web Browser Integration
Zotero's web browser integration allows you to collect references as you research online. The tool offers Chrome, Firefox, and Safari browser extensions, enabling you to save citations and PDFs directly from web pages with a single click.
2. Organizing References
Like other reference managers, Zotero allows you to organize your references into collections and subcollections. It also supports tagging so you can add tags to references for better categorization and retrieval. In addition, Zotero enables you to attach notes to references, allowing for detailed annotations and comments.
3. Automatic Citation Generation
Zotero can automatically generate citations and bibliographies in various styles (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) and formats (Word, Google Docs). Users can drag and drop references to create bibliographies quickly.
4. PDF and File Management
Zotero allows users to save PDFs, images, and other files directly to their library. Users can annotate PDFs within Zotero using highlights and notes.
5. Syncing and Cloud Storage
Zotero offers syncing capabilities, allowing users to access their library from multiple devices. Zotero provides cloud storage for references and attachments, with options for additional storage space if needed.
6. Collaboration and Sharing
Users can create group libraries to collaborate with colleagues and share references and files. Public and private groups can be created, facilitating collaborative research efforts.
7. Advanced Search and Filters
Zotero includes advanced search functions and filters, making it easy to find specific references based on various criteria. Saved searches allow users to create dynamic collections based on specific search parameters.
8. Metadata Retrieval
Zotero can automatically retrieve metadata for PDFs, adding complete bibliographic information to the library. Users can also manually add or edit metadata for greater accuracy.
9. Integration with Other Tools
Zotero integrates with word processors (Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, Google Docs) for seamless citation and bibliography creation. API access allows integration with other tools and services.
10. Open Source and Community Support
Zotero is an open-source project with a community of users and developers. Regular updates and an active support forum help users troubleshoot issues and learn new features.
Endnote's Features: What You Need to Know
EndNote also offers powerful tools for managing references. Here are some of the most important features of EndNote:
1. Organizing References
Like other reference managers, EndNote allows you to manually or automatically organize your papers into specific groups.
2. Cite While You Write
For many of us, EndNote is mainly used to insert citations into documents and create perfectly formatted bibliographies. Like Mendeley and Zotero, EndNote also offers a plugin that allows you to use the Cite While You Write feature in Microsoft® Word. This feature allows you to insert hyperlinked in-text citations and bibliographies while you write seamlessly just remember to have the EndNote library you use open in the background. With this feature, you do not need to switch between programs or documents.
This is useful because it allows you to write without losing your train of thought or that ever-important momentum! Another useful aspect of the Cite While You Write feature is the ability to switch between and customize citation styles. This is useful if you submit your manuscript to different journals, which often have different referencing style guidelines just to make life easy for us.
3. Stay Organized With Smart Groups
EndNote makes adding new references and PDFs simple by searching databases such as PubMed and Web of Science directly from the reference manager program. Alternatively, EndNote also lets you import PDFs you have downloaded onto your computer directly. You can do this by selecting the folders you wish to import or dragging and dropping directly into EndNote.
Moreover, you can automatically organize your papers into subgroups using the Smart Group tool. Using your chosen criteria, you can easily create rules to categorize your papers into specific groups and subgroups. For example, you can organize papers by a particular author or topic; Smart Groups lets you do this. These Smart Groups are automatically updated when you add PDFs matching the criteria. If you decide to remove a reference from a group, the reference will remain in your library, so you won’t need to find it again at a later date.
4. Avoid Duplicate References
If you’ve ever accidentally duplicated references, you know how much of a mess it can make of your in-text citations and bibliography. EndNote now helps to prevent this by using DOIs and/or PMCIDs to remove duplicate references, leaving you with one less thing to worry about. Always a bonus!
5. Make More Informed Journal Submission Decisions with Manuscript Matcher
You’ve done the science and written it all up. Now comes the task of finding the ideal journal to publish your hard work. EndNote X9, EndNote 20, and EndNote Online now utilize Web of Science to suggest top candidates for your manuscript using the journal Manuscript Matcher feature.
Using sophisticated clustering algorithms, Manuscript Matcher analyzes millions of citation connections to find relevant links to your work. You can then use this tool to decide which journals to submit your manuscript.
6. Sync with EndNote Online
If you have EndNote X8 and above, you can use the free cloud synchronizing features offered with EndNote Online. This feature gives you access to your reference library across desktop, web, and iPad. In addition, EndNote Online also offers unlimited storage space for full texts and file attachments, and you can have an unlimited number of references.
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What Is Better, Zotero or EndNote?
Zotero is an open-source research tool that helps users collect, organize, cite, and share research literature. Some reasons to choose Zotero: It gathers citation records for non-PDF and PDF content.
Zotero's single-click capture works with many databases and websites and works well with many catalogs, including WU Classic, MOBIUS, and WorldCat (FirstSearch interface) You can also enable the retrieval of PDF metadata, which allows you to create citation records just by dragging a PDF into Zotero. Zotero has built-in PDF reading and annotation tools. (newly added feature 3/2022) Zotero is open-source and cannot be acquired by a company. Pricing structure: Zotero follows the "freemium" model: 300 MG for the free version with additional storage available for purchase
Endnote
The Feature-Rich Legacy Tool for Collecting and Organizing Research Literature
EndNote is another tool used to collect and organize research literature, but it is a proprietary software owned by Clarivate Analytics. Some reasons to choose
Zotero and Mendeley are relatively young tools when compared to EndNote. EndNote X9 offers additional features that might be necessary for your discipline and workflow. There are two versions of Endnote -- a stand-alone desktop program and EndNote Online, a cloud-based version. If you want to use both, they can be synced to have the same references (from a single desktop library) in both places.
However, EndNote X9 is not free; it can be purchased with a significant educational discount through the Washington University STS. Currently, EndNote for WUSTL students costs $24. For information on purchasing, go here: EndNote For Students
Storage limit
EndNote online via the Web of Science provides 2GB of storage with upgrade packages available.
What Are The Disadvantages of Zotero and EndNote?
Zotero is free and open-source citation management software. Its user-friendly interface allows you to collect, organize, cite, and share research materials. Zotero is especially popular among academics in the humanities and social sciences.
Pros of Zotero
1. More customization features
Zotero offers more options to customize your bibliographies, references, and citation styles. This will help you produce the precise format your research project requires.
2. Third-party plugins and frequent updates
Because it's open-source, Zotero has many third-party plugins to extend its features and capabilities. Frequent updates also mean that the software is consistently improving.
3. Significantly more support for users with screen readers
Zotero has made a concerted effort to improve its accessibility for users with disabilities. For example, its screen reader support has significantly improved over the last few years.
4. Plugins for more major word processors
Zotero offers plugins for more word processors than EndNote (including Microsoft Word, Google Docs, OpenOffice, and NeoOffice).
5. More highlighting and annotation features
Zotero has more robust PDF highlighting and annotation features, allowing researchers to make notes directly on PDF files.
6. More organization features
Zotero has more options for nesting folders to help you organize your research. You can also create unlimited private groups for no added cost.
7. Unlimited groups
With Zotero, you can create unlimited public and private groups to share your research and collaborate with other researchers.
Cons of Zotero
1. Less free cloud storage
Zotero only comes with 300 MB of free cloud storage. This is enough for 100 research articles.
2. Clunkier user interface
Even though Zotero has a user-friendly interface, several users find it clunkier than EndNote’s interface.
3. Lacks support for Internet Explorer
Zotero does not support Internet Explorer.
EndNote Paves the Way for Research Collaboration
EndNote is a powerful reference management tool that has been around for over 30 years. It allows researchers to collect, organize, and format their research and citations and strongly emphasizes collaboration.
Pros of EndNote
Use your citations from any computer.
You can access EndNote Online from any computer with an Internet connection, even if it hasn’t installed EndNote Desktop.
Share references with other EndNote Online users.
EndNote allows you to share references with other EndNote Online users worldwide.
Sync between EndNote desktop and EndNote Online
You can sync EndNote X8 & EndNote Online so that an exact match, including file attachments, exists.
Organize and annotate your research.
EndNote X8 allows unlimited uploads of file attachments (same as desktop). You can organize and annotate your research, create bibliographies, and insert citations as you write into Microsoft Word, Pages, and Wolfram Mathematica 8.
Import and search PDFs
EndNote allows you to import and search PDFs.
Cons of EndNote
You can't use term lists for journal abbreviations
EndNote has a built-in feature allowing you to create journal abbreviation lists. However, you can’t use term lists for journal abbreviations.
You can't edit styles and filters.
While you can create and customize citation styles, you cannot edit the existing styles and filters in EndNote.
Storage limit of 50,000 records
EndNote Online only allows for a maximum of 50,000 records.
Clunky user interface
Many users find EndNote’s interface clunky and outdated.
Let Otio be your AI research and writing partner — try Otio for free today!
12 Best Zotero and EndNote Alternative Tools
1. Otio: The All-in-One Research Companion
Today, knowledge workers, researchers, and students suffer from content overload and are left to deal with it using fragmented, complex, and manual tooling. Too many settle for stitching together complicated bookmarking, read-it-later, and note-taking apps to get through their workflows. Now that anyone can create content with a button, this problem will only worsen.
Otio solves this problem by providing researchers with one AI-native workspace. It helps you collect various data sources, from bookmarks, tweets, and extensive books to YouTube videos. Otio lets you extract critical takeaways with detailed AI-generated notes and source-grounded Q&A chat. Finally, it helps you create draft outputs using your collected sources.
Otio helps you go from the reading list to the first draft faster. Along with this, Otio helps you write research papers/essays faster. Here are our top features that are loved by researchers: AI-generated notes on all bookmarks (Youtube videos, PDFs, articles, etc.), Otio enables you to chat with individual links or entire knowledge bases just like you chat with ChatGPT, as well as AI-assisted writing.
Let Otio be your AI research and writing partner — try Otio for free today!
2. Tableau: Visualizing Research Data Made Easy
Tableau is a data visualization tool powered by Salesforce. It connects data from different sources on a single analytics platform. The reference management software makes it easier to organize complex research data using a drag-and-drop interface and interactive dashboards. With access to various data analysis and sharing options, Tableau makes your life easier. It’s designed for everyone, from students and teachers to data scientists and business owners.
Limitations
Users report that large files sometimes require long loading times and may result in crashing. Some reviews mention bugs in new versions of Tableau software.
3. MarginNote: A Powerful Reading Tool For Learners
MarginNote is a powerful reading tool for learners. Whether you are a student, a teacher, a researcher, a lawyer, or someone with a curious mind to learn, MarginNote can help you quickly organize, study, and manage large volumes of PDFs and EPUBs. This all-in-one learning app enables you to highlight PDF and EPUB files, take notes, create mind maps, review flashcards, and save you from switching endlessly between different apps. It is available on Mac, iPad, and iPhone.
Limitations
With tons of features and hard-to-follow how-to advice, the user experience can be overwhelming and potentially off-putting.
4. GanttPro: Efficiently Manage Your Research Projects
GanttPRO is a resource management system that uses Gantt charts for efficient project management. It’s also a research and reference management software perfect for managing teams and organizing workflow. Import Excel spreadsheets and graphs, or use pre-made templates to get your projects going pronto. Of all the research management tools in this list, GanttPRO helps you organize everything you need for thesis research, business data analysis, wiki pages, bibliographies, and more.
Limitations
Some reviews mention limited customization options. Others report difficulty moving and converting tasks.
5. RefWorks: A Web-Based Reference Management Software
RefWorks is a web-based commercial reference management software package. Users’ reference databases are stored online, allowing them to be accessed and updated from any computer with an internet connection. Institutional licenses allow universities to subscribe to RefWorks on behalf of all their students, faculty, and staff. Individual licenses are also available. The software enables linking from a user’s RefWorks account to electronic editions of journals to which the institution’s library subscribes.
Limitations
RefWorks is paid software; you cannot use it for free except when you are a student of a partner university. You cannot sign up and get a RefWorks login or the RefWorks downloads without an invitation code from a university. The RefWorks interface is complex and requires much time to learn how to work with it.
6. Mendeley: Free Software for Organizing Research Papers
Mendeley Desktop is free academic software (Windows, Mac, Linux) for organizing and sharing research papers and generating bibliographies with 1GB of free online storage to automatically back up and synchronize your library across desktop, web, and mobile.
Limitations
We need to pay for extra storage, limited group sharing on the free version, and syncing between computers, which is not automatic.
7. KlipFolio: Monitor Your Research Data in Real Time
Klipfolio is a business dashboard tool that monitors your real-time research data. It’s a metrics-focused platform that helps everyone make better decisions with access to the data they need when they need it. Individual users and data teams can use this powerful analytics tool to catalog data in a user-friendly platform that provides self-serve access to research information. Draft effective reports for team projects, organize citations for research papers and create useful dashboards for end-users.
Limitations
Some reviews mention a lack of alerts and notifications. Some users report issues restarting the application after adding elements to their dashboard.
8. Whatagraph: A Reporting Tool for Managing and Visualizing Research Data
Whatagraph is a reporting tool that helps manage and visualize research data with customizable templates for efficient marketing projects. Move data, share reports with stakeholders, and build stunning reports. Whatagraph replaces multiple tools and collects your team’s work in an easy-to-use data platform with a user-friendly dashboard. This tool is designed with in-house data research and marketing teams in mind.
Limitations
Some reviews mention slow customer service responses, and some users report bugs that slow down their research process. However, there are no actual project management software features.
9. Looker: Analyze and Visualize Research Data
Looker (aka Google Looker Studio) is a browser-based data analytics platform that uses a unique modeling language to leverage, analyze, and visualize research data. Use it for governed and self-service business intelligence (BI) and to build the best apps for your organization’s metrics. Collaborate in real-time and capitalize on the fastest analytic databases available. Looker’s lightweight architecture allows developers to quickly create flexible data and researcher apps.
Limitations
Users report issues with the varied Google Cloud Pricing structure and the lack of a set monthly fee. Some reviews report problems with the dynamic tables not displaying full header text. Data focus means few project management software capabilities.
10. Readcube: Manage and Annotate Academic Research Articles
ReadCube is a desktop and browser-based program for managing, annotating, and accessing academic research articles. It can sync your entire library, including notes, lists, annotations, and even highlights, across all your devices, including your desktop (Mac/PC), mobile devices (iOS/Android/Kindle), or even the Web.
Limitations
Minor support is needed for scholars outside of life and medical sciences. Older or non-OCR PDFs are ineligible for enhancement. Annotations are not Acrobat-compatible.
11. Bit.AI: A Document Collaboration Platform for Research
Bit.ai is a document collaboration platform for quick and easy note-taking, creation, and research management. It also builds dynamic knowledge bases, projects, and technical docs with various sharing and formatting options.
Users can access advanced design options, robust search features, powerful document tracking, and real-time collaboration tools. And teams can work together using this tool from around the globe across multiple platforms and devices.
Limitations
Some users mention issues with document creation and some reviews report trouble with the user interface and a need for a more user-friendly experience.
12. SciSpace: Researchers App to Save You Time
SciSpace, or Typeset.io, is a powerful research app that uses AI to save you time. It allows you to discover and review a network of relevant papers and get simple answers from each one without spending hours deep-diving the content.
Minimize time spent on menial tasks and let SciSpace research for you while you find your answers. And you’ll have access to millions of papers and PDFs to get the necessary information. It’s also easy to use in tandem with applications like Zotero and Mendeley.
Limitations
Some reviews mention issues with LaTeX templates. The free plan includes no significant features and no reviews on major platforms.
Supercharge Your Researching Ability With Otio — Try Otio for Free Today
Otio helps you tackle research overload head-on. The software provides a single workspace to collect, organize, and write research faster. Here are the three core parts of the Otio workflow. First, Otio helps you collect all types of data from across the web. With Otio, you can gather bookmarks, tweets, articles, PDFs, YouTube videos, and more. Next, the software helps you make sense of your research. Otio generates detailed AI notes on all your collected files so you can review your sources quickly.
You can chat with individual files or entire knowledge bases using AI to extract the information you need to proceed with your writing. Finally, Otio helps you create written outputs. Once you're familiar with your research, you can use Otio to draft your paper or essay, making the transition from the reading list to the first draft much smoother.
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