Education Library Resources: Citing and Writing

The APA Style is commonly used in the social sciences, including in education. The most current edition of APA is the 7th edition.

More details on APA 7th: UNC Libraries APA Style Research Guide 

Citation managers help you collect, organize, share, and cite research materials. UNC Libraries offers support for 3 citation management programs: Zotero, SciWheel, and EndNote. 

• Zotero
• SciWheel
• EndNote

Citation mangers can:

• Help you organize and keep track of references for your classes and research projects
• Automatically format in-text citations for your papers in Word or Google Docs
• Automatically generate bibliographies for your papers in Word or Google Docs
• Format references in thousands of citation styles
• Store and organize full text PDFs with highlighting and sticky note features
• Store and organize copies of webpages
• Collect references and/or PDFs from your browser as you search
• Allow for team collaboration in groups
• Export references and transfer them to other citation management programs
• Provide access to your references on a desktop application, internet browser, or mobile app 
• Search for full-text PDFs

The Libraries offer free introductory classes on these programs. Visit our Upcoming Events page to view what's happening virtually and in person.

When using Zotero to import citations into a Microsoft Word document or Google Doc, any edits (i.e., annotations) you make to the auto-generated bibliography will be deleted when the page refreshes. 

There are two ways to prevent this from happening when you need to create an annotated bibliography.

Copy/Paste a Plain Text Bibliography from Zotero

One option is to copy/paste citations from your Zotero library as plain text, and then type your annotations into your document. This is ideal for when you need a standalone annotated bibliography that is not part of a larger paper or project with citations. This approach does not link your Zotero library to the document, so the pasted citations will not be corrected if you accidentally add or delete text from them. 

If you're using the Zotero desktop application, select any items you want to cite. Right click and select Create Bibliography from Items.

Select the citation style you need. This does not need to be an "annotated bibliography" variation. Under Output Method, select Copy to Clipboard. Click OK.

If you're using the Zotero website, select the items you want to cite and click the Books icon on the right side of the menu bar. Select the citation style you need and click Copy to Clipboard.

Open your document and paste the text. Your annotations can be added under each citation.

Use an Annotated Bibliography Style

The second option is to use an annotated bibliography style. This approach does link your Zotero library to your document. It is ideal for a larger paper or project with in-text citations and an annotated bibliography at the end.

Your annotations will need to be pasted into the Extra fields for each citation that will be in your bibliography. You can either type your annotations directly into this field in Zotero, or you can write your annotations in another document and paste them into the appropriate Extra fields.

Open your document and insert your citations as normal, using the style "APA 7th edition (annotated bibliography)". If you don't see this style as an option, you can download it from Zotero.

Click Add/Edit Bibliography to add your annotated bibliography. If you need to make edits to your annotations, do that in Zotero, then return to your document and click Refresh. 

Zotero is a free and open-source citation management system. If you're not sure which citation manager to choose, start with Zotero -- you can transfer your references to another citation manager at any time, and you won't lose access to it after you leave UNC.

ZoteroBib (zbib) is a free service from Zotero to help you generate citations. Just enter the DOI, URL, or title, and zbib will do the rest.