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BibDesk

BibDesk is a free open source reference management software for macOS. It helps organize documents and references for research papers and projects, integrates well with LaTeX, and supports BibTeX formatted databases.

What is BibDesk?

BibDesk is a free and open source reference management software designed specifically for macOS. It helps researchers organize their documents and references for research papers, articles, theses and other projects.

Key features of BibDesk include:

  • Maintains BibTeX formatted databases of references and integrates well with LaTeX and Text editors like TexShop.
  • Offers advanced search and auto-completion for quick access to references.
  • Finds and imports references from PubMed and other online sources.
  • Supports tagging of references and organisation into groups for easier grouping.
  • Annotate and highlight PDFs linked to references.
  • Generate formatted bibliographies in HTML, RTFD and LaTeX formats.

With an easy-to-use interface, BibDesk is the perfect research assistant for students, academics, scientists and scholars who work with reference management and bibliographies. It can significantly speed up literature review and writing research papers on macOS.

The Best BibDesk Alternatives

Top Apps like BibDesk

EndNote, Zotero, Mendeley, Qiqqa, JabRef, Paperpile, ReadCube Papers, Researcher PRO, wizdom.ai, EasyBib, PDF Stacks, BibGuru, Weava, PubChase, Zenreader, DeepDyve, Bibfilex, ZoteroBib, Microsoft Word Plugin for Zotero, BibTeXSearch, LibreOffice Plugin for Zotero are some alternatives to BibDesk.

EndNote

EndNote is reference management software produced by Clarivate Analytics. It allows users to:Search hundreds of online resources to collect references and PDFsOrganize references, images, PDFs and other filesRead and annotate PDFsCreate rules to automatically organize references as you workSync your references and files to your EndNote online libraryAccess your...

Zotero

Zotero is a free, open-source reference management software that helps you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources. It was created by the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.Some of the key features of Zotero include:Capturing references from web pages with one clickOrganizing...

Mendeley

Mendeley is a popular free reference management software used by millions of researchers worldwide. It helps you build your own searchable library, organize and annotate your PDFs, generate citations and bibliographies, collaborate and network with other researchers online, and discover the latest research.Some key features of Mendeley:Cloud sync...

Qiqqa

Qiqqa is a free, cross-platform reference management software designed to help researchers and academics organize, manage, and cite their references. Developed by Cambridge-based company Digital Science, Qiqqa aims to provide an alternative to paid reference managers like EndNote or Mendeley.Some key features of Qiqqa include:Web browser integration to...

JabRef

JabRef is a free, open-source reference management software that helps researchers organize, manage, and cite bibliographic references like research papers, articles, books, etc. Developed in Java, it works on all major operating systems like Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.Key features of JabRef include:Intuitive graphical user interface for...

Paperpile

Paperpile is a cloud-based reference and citation management software designed for researchers and academics. It allows users to organize, search, read, annotate and cite research papers in a personalized digital library.Key features of Paperpile include:Integration with Google Docs for easy citing and formatting bibliographies as you writeOne-click imports...

ReadCube Papers

ReadCube Papers is a free reference manager and enhanced PDF reader designed specifically for researchers, clinicians, and scientists who need to access, read, manage and annotate peer reviewed literature. It combines an easy-to-use interface with powerful tools to help you organize, read, highlight, and annotate PDF articles across multiple devices...

Researcher PRO

Researcher PRO is a feature-rich reference management software targeted at academic researchers and scholars across disciplines. It helps to efficiently collect, organize, read, annotate, cite, and share research literature, references, and data.Key features of Researcher PRO include:- Store, organize, search and manage an unlimited number of references and...

Wizdom.ai

wizdom.ai is an AI-driven platform that combines knowledge management and collaboration capabilities to unlock the collective intelligence across teams and organizations.At its core, wizdom.ai allows employees to collaboratively build a living knowledge base - capturing knowledge and insights as they work, for the benefit of the whole...

EasyBib

EasyBib is a free online bibliography and citation tool designed to help students create properly formatted bibliographies and cite sources accurately when writing research papers. It is very user-friendly and easy to use, making it ideal for high school or college-level writing assignments.Users simply enter the details of their...

PDF Stacks

PDF Stacks is a powerful yet easy-to-use PDF management application for Windows. It enables users to efficiently organize, merge, split, encrypt, annotate and convert PDF documents.With its intuitive tabbed interface, you can carry out various PDF tasks like combine hundreds of PDFs into one file, extract specific pages from...

BibGuru

BibGuru is a free online bibliography and citation management tool designed to help students and researchers organize sources and create properly formatted citations or bibliographies. With an intuitive interface, BibGuru makes it easy to:Search for books, journals, websites, and other sources to add referencesImport references automatically from websites, DOIs...

Weava

Weava is a cloud-based team collaboration platform that provides a central hub for teams to manage projects, share content, and collaborate. Its key features include:Document sharing and real-time co-editing - Weava allows teams to store documents centrally, share files securely, and collaborate on docs in real-time like Google Docs...

PubChase

PubChase is a free web-based recommendation engine that helps researchers discover relevant scientific publications. It was developed by researchers at Microsoft and launched in 2020.Here's how PubChase works: Users sign up with a Microsoft, Google, or Facebook account and import their publication history. PubChase analyzes a researcher's publications, journals they...

Zenreader

Zenreader is an open-source, minimalist RSS reader and news aggregator software. It provides a clean, ad-free interface for subscribing and reading content from websites via RSS feeds.Some key features of Zenreader include:Open-source code and available on GitHub for community contributionsSupport for adding and organizing RSS feeds into categoriesOffline...

DeepDyve

DeepDyve is an online platform that provides access to millions of peer-reviewed scientific journal articles across thousands of publications. It serves as an affordable alternative to expensive institutional journal subscriptions for researchers and professionals.DeepDyve operates on an online rental model - users can access the full text of journal...

Bibfilex

Bibfilex is a free, open-source bibliography software manager developed as an alternative to proprietary reference managers like EndNote or RefWorks. It allows researchers, academics, and students to store, organize, manage, and share bibliographic references for their research papers, journal articles, theses, and other academic works.Some of the key features...

ZoteroBib

ZoteroBib is a free, open-source Chrome extension that integrates with the Zotero citation manager to help researchers and students easily create bibliographies and citations while browsing the web and searching literature databases.One of the key features of ZoteroBib is that it allows you to instantly cite materials and insert...

Microsoft Word Plugin for Zotero

The Microsoft Word Plugin for Zotero is an add-on for the Zotero citation management software that integrates Zotero into Microsoft Word. It allows you to easily insert citations from your Zotero library into Word documents, automatically generating bibliographies and managing in-text citations.Some key features of the Microsoft Word Plugin...

BibTeXSearch

BibTeXSearch is an open source website developed to help researchers more easily find and manage BibTeX references for their academic papers and publications. It provides the ability to search across many online databases, open access repositories, university bibliographies, and other sources to locate relevant BibTeX references.Once relevant citations are...

LibreOffice Plugin for Zotero

The LibreOffice Plugin for Zotero is an open-source plugin that seamlessly integrates the popular Zotero reference management software into LibreOffice, the free and open source office suite.With the Zotero plugin installed, LibreOffice users can insert citations from their Zotero library directly into their documents with just a few clicks...