Simplifying Citations with RefWorks

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By Leslie Grant, Graduate Assistant, McLure Education Library

It’s the night before the big assignment is due. You’ve finished writing, and the only thing standing between you and your pillow is the bibliography.  Despite that fourth cup of coffee, you’re fighting a losing battle with your eyelids, and the source notes from this afternoon suddenly resemble ancient hieroglyphs. That’s where RefWorks comes in.

RefWorks is a tool for organizing references and creating citations. Through the website, you can produce a list of cited works, either by entering the bibliographic information manually or importing it directly from a database or webpage. You can also save these references in a folder, letting you access and share them later. Once you’ve finished adding your sources, RefWorks allows you to generate a bibliography from the list. Simply add it to the end of your work, give it a quick proofread, and you’re done!

If you have not used RefWorks before, there is a wonderful guide on the University Libraries’ website with instructions on creating an account and using its different functions. This libguide can be found here. Also, by creating an account now, you will be able to use RefWorks even after you graduate.

Now go get some sleep, and don’t forget your promise not to wait till the last minute next time. : )

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