Zotero

The standard tool for collecting sources and generating citations. Free and open source, with AI plugins available.

Best for: Papers with real bibliographies

What you get

• Completely free, open-source citation manager — no premium upsell
• Browser connector saves any source in one click
• Word and Google Docs plugins generate citations and bibliographies
• Paid only if you want extra cloud sync storage (from $20/yr)

How students use it

• Save any source in one click with the browser connector
• Auto-generate citations and the bibliography inside Docs or Word
• Keep a shared group library for team research projects