Studies and analysis of reference management software: a literature review

TL;DR

This paper systematically reviews existing literature on reference management software, analyzing evaluation methods, criteria, and models used to assess their effectiveness and contributions to scientific research.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of evaluation approaches and criteria in reference management software studies, highlighting methodological rigor and research gaps.

Findings

Identifies common evaluation criteria used in literature

Analyzes types and models of reference management software

Assesses methodological rigor of existing studies

Abstract

Reference management software is a well-known tool for scientific research work. Since the 1980s, it has been the subject of reviews and evaluations in library and information science literature. This paper presents a systematic review of published studies that evaluate reference management software with a comparative approach. The objective is to identify the types, models, and evaluation criteria that authors have adopted, in order to determine whether the methods used provide adequate methodological rigor and useful contributions to the field of study.