Managing electronic references

Docear

The Docear academic literature suite [18] is in a similar league to JabRef but tries to use a much more comprehensive approach to managing research data. Docear combines document management with an index database and a drawing tool for mindmaps. It relies on already installed tools for formatting PDF documents and other formats.

The result is a rather complex program that requires a large screen and a corresponding learning curve (Figure 4). The project-oriented working method pays off over time and provides a good overview of the research status of your project.

Figure 4: Reference management using Docear and the JabRef plugin.

This GPL software is also based on Java and is available for Linux, Mac OS X, and MS Windows from the project page. The starting point of its development is mindmap and the Freeplane [19] knowledge management software that includes a direct support for JabRef. Docear also profits from support from the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg and the University of California, Berkeley.

KBibTeX

KBibTeX is a BibTeX tool with a graphical interface that is produced by the KDE team [20][21]. You can use it to modify BibTeX resources, add new ones, delete them, or sort them (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Adjusting an entry in KBibTeX.

The learning curve for the user interface is a bit lower than for Docear. Noticeable are the thumbnails (called previews) in the lower left corner of the editing window that give you an idea of how your references will look in the target document if you use the appropriate style.