Solution to Writing Obstacle No. 39:

“Writing takes forever because I never got around to setting up reference-management software for my citations.”

Okay, okay, I admit it: no one ever said this to me. But they should!

Not setting up reference management software (RMS) programs like EndNote or Zotero will slow down your writing. A lot.

Yes, reference management software (RMS) programs are fiddly to set up and maintain. But every hour you spend on setting them up saves you at least ten hours of work down the line. It also makes your work more accurate.And it allows credit to go where credit is due, as properly formatted citations are essential to properly counting the number of citations a scholar’s work gets.

A lot of people feel guilty about not setting it up before. Don’t. Just do it now. 

The most popular RMS programs in the United States are Endnote, Zotero, Mendeley, and RefWorks, in that order. In Germany, Citavi is popular, and and in India and the United Kingdom, ReadCube Papers 3.

I address the importance of setting up citation software in my Week 1, Designing Your Plan for Writing, pages 55-57.

Solution to Writing Obstacle No. 39, one of the resource obstacles listed on page 32 of Belcher’s Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success (University of Chicago Press, 2019).