Organizing and Databasing Papers/Science Articles

[FortranMan]

I'm beginning to build a large collection of papers for my research and it is getting bewildering trying to navigate them and collect their citation information. Right now I keep making a text file in each directory with the citation information of each paper and their file name. Is their a database program that can run on a flash drive or a computer to organize my papers and that I can search through? Does bibtex do something similar?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Microsoft Access would be just fine for you.

 

[FortranMan]

Thanks Greg, but does anyone know of any free alternatives?

 

[NeoDevin]

http://www.zotero.org/"

Edited to add: Allows you to manage all your references, including pdfs of the papers, links to webpages, fully searchable, and organized by "collections" and tags. Integrates with MS Word and OpenOffice.org to automate production of bibliographies. Also automates searching for books/papers in your university library, and automates logging into journal websites through your library proxy. Works best with Firefox, but I think they have chrome integration now.

 

[LudusRex]

As a scientist and researcher, I completely understand the struggle of organizing and managing a large collection of papers. Keeping track of citations and file names can be overwhelming and time-consuming. Luckily, there are several database programs and tools available that can help streamline this process.

One option is to use a reference management software such as EndNote, Mendeley, or Zotero. These programs allow you to store and organize your papers, add citation information, and even generate bibliographies and citations in various styles. Many of these programs also have search functions that allow you to easily find specific papers within your collection.

Another option is to use a database program such as Microsoft Access or FileMaker Pro. These programs allow you to create your own customized database for organizing and storing your papers. You can include fields for citation information, keywords, and even abstracts to make searching and sorting through your papers easier.

Alternatively, if you are comfortable with using LaTeX, bibtex is a great tool for managing citations and references. It allows you to create a database of references and easily insert them into your documents. However, it may require some technical knowledge to set up and use effectively.

Overall, I would recommend exploring different options and finding the one that best fits your needs and preferences. With the right database program or tool, organizing and navigating through your collection of papers should become much more efficient and less overwhelming.