Academic tools
None of this is expert advice. It's what people worked out for themselves, usually the hard way — what actually helped, and what they'd tell someone standing where you are. Take what fits and leave the rest.
If you only read a few
Save journal articles immediately upon finding them.
It can take a long time to find them again later.
one person who lived it
Learn the citation style guide manually to recognize when automated tools produce errors.
Automated tools are not accurate enough for final papers and TAs often penalize incorrect references.
3 people, independently
- Know proper citation formatting manually because auto-cite features often lead to errors on serious papers.1
Consider using Mendeley to manage references, save them in a library, and create folders, as one user found it free and helpful throughout university.
one user found it saved references in a library, allowed folder creation, and was free for everything
- based on one person's experience during university
one person who lived it
Locate and cite sources during the outline phase before writing the main content.
Preparing early helps organize references upfront.
one person who lived it
Do not solely rely on Microsoft Word for citation accuracy.
An English professor claimed they were not always accurate, and comparisons with APA manuals show the output can be wildly askew.
one person who lived it
Create a bookmark folder named 'references' to store useful websites found during research.
It is an easy way to organize sources.
one person who lived it
Add citations immediately after using data or ideas rather than waiting until the paper is finished.
This prevents the difficulty of recalling sources later and makes tracking references easier.
2 people, independently
Write an annotated bibliography while researching to keep facts organized.
Having entries ready makes writing the paper faster and ensures the information makes sense.
one person who lived it
1 more on this
Automatically import references from Google Scholar or Web of Science into a citation manager so you never have to type them by hand again.
avoids typing references by hand
one person who lived it
- Use browser plugins for reference managers to capture sources easily.1