Reference Management Software
When writing a long essay or a dissertation, or even at the very beginning of a course of study, it can be a good idea to use referencing management software. This can help students to collect, organise and store details of their various sources of evidence. These can then be exported to documents, removing the need to type out references manually, thus saving a great deal of time. It is important to note, though, that schools’ reference formatting will differ in small ways to that of any software, so students will need to make manual alterations before submitting coursework.
The university library recommends two referencing management packages, Mendeley and EndNote, both of which are free to use for Edinburgh Napier students. There are alternatives, though many free services will produce references of dubious quality.
For more on the University’s recommended software, see the library’s guides.