Hey guys,

I finally got my dream PhD studentship:)
I love the project, I really got to like the team and I am so excited bout the city!

I will be starting in a couple of weeks and would like to ask you about the referencing software.
I had a look at the archives, I am just not sure why is it so good/essential to use it? Is it just for keeping the record or does it actually help with referencing? Would using a standard database software be enough?

Thanks in advance for your help:)

Well done on getting your project, hope you have a good time doing it.

Right, I use Endnote. Basically, when i search on scopus or science direct and find a paper I'm going to read, I download and print the paper. But at the same time I download the citation details too, this goes into Endnote, and whenever I'm writing a document and need to reference that paper, I highlight the paper in Endnote, and in Word click 'insert reference'. This puts the reference in the document as a citation, then as a reference at the end of the document, so saves you a whole load of time.

The good thing about Endnote is you can download styles from the Endnote website, this enables you to automatically reference in the style of the journal you plan to submit to (they all have slightly different styles, just to make our lives harder)

Another thing, I would recommend Endnote, although I haven't tried Procite or reference manager, so it wouldn't be fair for me to say which one is better. See what the university uses, as they may automatically install one of them onto your pc for you.

Word 2007 has some limited referencing functionality if you are on a budget. Probably not enough for PhD student though.

Great suggestion then

Stu. This is genuinely meant in a nice way. If you are ever going to mix in polite society you are going to have to do some serious work on your people skills.

Well I guess I won't be mixing in a polite society then. As long as whatever society I do mix with has beer, then I'll be fine.

Thank you for your concern golfpro.

hey guys,

Stu - thanks for explaining how it works, that's the advise I was really looking for.

On the other hand I really appreciate advise from golfpro - thanks. I am one of those people who believe that software should be free. I am using Open Office and found a program for reference managing that is free and is called Biblioexpress. Anyone knows anything about it's quality?

Please, please don't argue, it's a festive period:)

Mellory, don't worry about the costs of this software. You will have a budget code for your project, and you can purchase a copy of Endnote if you need to (assuming the uni doesn't give you referencing software)

ok, so you open your word document, click on tools, endnote, insert selected citation, (after you have written something you want to reference) or format bibliography, if you want to add the list of references to the end of your word document.

If you are unsure about your reference software, the university library may have some guides on their website, or may be able to show you personally how to use the software.