The PhD scholars’ book club (Ink and Insights society) of CESS conducted a practical workshop on 26-05-2025, focused on reference management tools, specifically Zotero and Mendeley. The session aimed to introduce efficient ways of organising, citing, and managing research sources.
The workshop began with a brief overview of the importance of reference management in academic writing. The facilitators were our senior PhD scholars, Srija Mitra and Poola Devendra, who provided a comprehensive lecture on Mendeley and Zotero, respectively, highlighting key features of both tools. Participants received a step-by-step demonstration on how to install both Zotero and Mendeley, import references from databases and websites, organise references using folders/tags, generate bibliographies and in-text citations, and use plugins for MS Word and Google Docs. A Q&A session followed, where attendees asked about compatibility, cloud storage options, and the choice between the two tools. To enhance the understanding, Kannan K and Medha A S, PhD scholars, demonstrated their software libraries offering real-life examples of how the tools have been used for reference management. They shared a few more research tools that help improve research efficiency. The discussion concluded with a recommendation to explore both platforms and choose the one best suited to individual research workflows. Participants left with a better understanding of how Zotero and Mendeley can streamline the research process. The session was well-received, with suggestions for a future follow-up workshop.