This can be more time-consuming and requires manually updating the references and creating the bibliography, but allows you to use a wider range of software when pasting your references. You can also copy citations from your reference manager and paste them into your document. Are there other options for citing references? Using a 'cite whilst you write' feature to easily insert citations can speed up the process of writing up your work, though it is important to proofread all your citations in your work as sometimes there can be errors in your library or in the referencing style you're using.
That is because these citations are bits of computer code that keep them linked to your reference manager, so they'll update if you update the reference in your library. The inserted references may look like normal text, but if you hover over them you'll see they behave a little differently to regular text in a document.
The tools use specific rules to know how to format your citations.
These features work by inserting the citation information for a selected reference in your library in the referencing style you have set it to use. How do reference managers cite references? Reference managers typically include the ability to insert references from your library directly into a document, using a plugin/add-in for a text processing application. At this stage, you might want to try adding more referencing using the method you'll be likely to use in the future, or try working out how to export a plain text version of your document (if you used a plugin).īy the end of this section, you should have tried out citing in your chosen text processor. Extension: Check your references match how you expect your referencing style to look.If you've done both 4 and 5, click on the references in each document to see the difference - the ones inserted using a plugin should highlight in a light grey with just one click (because they are still linked to your reference manager), whereas the copied text ones won't.In your chosen reference manager, try copying a formatted reference or a selection of references, and then paste them into this new blank document. Open a new blank document in your text processor.The bibliography updates (you may need to hit a 'refresh' button). Then add more text to the body of your document, then add a second citation using the plugin. If it doesn't done automatically, insert a bibliography at the end of your document. Open a blank document in your text processor, write some text, and then insert a citation using the plugin.Make sure you've installed the citation plugin for your text processor.