Literature Review: Manage Your Citations

Literature reviews require in-depth research. You will need to be careful to keep track of the sources you want to use in your literature review. This can help save you time when it comes to actually analyzing your research and writing the literature review. It can also help you avoid plagiarism. 

1. Save as you go!

You may think you'll remember how you found an article, but it can be very easy to forget how and where you found a source you want to use for your research. Make sure you save the source if you think you may want to use it again. 

2. Take notes as you go!

Jot down why you are interested in a source and what you think it will add to your literature review. It can be hard to remember which parts of a source you found useful when you return to it again. 

A citation manager is a software tool that helps you keep track of and cite sources as you go through the research process. They are especially useful when writing long papers that require the use of many sources, like dissertations, capstone papers, etc. During the research process, it can be hard to keep track of all the sources you use or think you will use as you write your paper...citation managers can help with that!

Most citations managers allow you to:

1. Collect lists of articles, books, webpages, etc. for use in research.
2. Format and create bibliographies using a particular citation style
3. Store the source materials.
4. Insert in-text citations and bibliography entries while writing in Microsoft Word.

Check out our Citation Managers guide for more information on citation managers.

You will be required to cite all of the sources you include in your literature review. Your citation style is often set by your professor. Our Cite Your Sources guide has helpful tips on how to cite in APA, MLA, and Chicago style!