Referencing tools

Free referencing tools - tips and information

You may hear about Citation/Referencing tools which "do it all for you". These tools can be very useful, however, to use them successfully, it is essential to have prior knowledge of APA Referencing and/or use them in conjunction with an APA guide.

Zotero - Comprehensive referencing tool recommended for staff/students doing research.

MyBib(external link) and Citefast(external link)  

These are free tools which allow you to create your own account and manage your sources. For some source types the tools can automatically fill in the referencing details for you (e.g., using a website URL or DOI or book or journal title). However, you then need to verify and modify the information by checking against the source. Having an APA guide on hand is essential so you know what needs to be modified. You may come across other similar tools. Always check their accuracy.

MyBib has browser extensions available for Chrome, Firefox and Edge. If you add these browser extensions for the browser of your choice, you need not have to copy the journal or book title or DOI to get the citation details. The browser extension adds the citation details automatically from the source document. Please note that browser extensions may recognise the source type incorrectly. In this case, you need to change the source type and check that all the citation details are correct by examining the source document. 

On the MyBib landing page, by clicking the Chrome button on the right-hand side, you can add the Chrome browser extension. It is always a good practice to pin your browser extension to your toolbar. Click the puzzle piece icon(external link) in the top-right corner of the browser, locate the desired extension, and click the pushpin icon next to it to pin it to the bar. 
You can also search for the MyBib browser extension in the web stores of the concerned browser to add it to your browser.