Citation Management Software

Pepperdine Libraries discontinued its RefWorks subscription on January 31, 2022. After carefully considering factors including usage and cost, as well as peer institutions' current practices, we have reached a decision to discontinue RefWorks. Many free citation managers exist that work as well as or better than RefWorks.

Pepperdine Libraries assembled a team of librarians to assist you in choosing a new citation manager and migrating your references from RefWorks to your new system of choice, the steps for which are detailed in this guide. Please contact us in the Libraries with any questions:

Maria Bramhe | Liaison - Education, Psychology
Lauren Haberstock | Director of the Genesis Lab Maker Space and Librarian for Emerging Technology and Digital Projects
Erin McAllister | Liaison - Natural Science

IMPORTANT: Don't lose your citations! Save or export any RefWorks references prior to the end of January 2022!

We've included the steps below to guide you through the process of exporting your citations from RefWorks.  A PDF version of RefWorks Export Instructions is also available.

For instructions on how to migrate your citations to a new system, visit the tab on this guide for your respective Citation Manager.

Steps for RefWorks (New Version)

1. Sign in to RefWorks, click "Share" at the top of the screen

2. Select 'Export references'

3. Choose to export all references and export in BibTex (.bib) or RIS (.ris) format.

Note: A batch export will not preserve your folder structure. If you have folders you wish to keep, please export each folder individually.

4. Click 'Export' and save the file to download your references from RefWorks.

Import your saved file(s) of references into a new citation manager. 

Special thanks to all of the helpful RefWorks migration guides that others have created, including guides and announcements from:

Alberta Health Services; University of Alberta; University of Denver; Claremont Colleges; Arizona State University