Skip to Main Content

Citation Tools

Quick guide to online citation organization tools, including RefWorks & Zotero

What Is RefWorks?

RefWorks is a cloud-based tool for managing citations and creating bibliographies. Through a subscription, the GW Libraries makes RefWorks available to all current students, faculty, and staff at the University. And as a GW alum, your RefWorks account follows you when you leave GW, for free, for as long as the University continues to subscribe to RefWorks. See this guide for more information, and view helpful videos on the RefWorks YouTube channel. Use these links to create your account and log in:

The current version of RefWorks is v.3, sometimes still called "New RefWorks." The previous version, RefWorks v.2, called "Legacy RefWorks" or "Classic RefWorks," has been shut down by the provider.

RefWorks lets you

  • Import citations from the catalog and databases
  • Store and organize citations
  • Add research notes
  • Format in-text citations
  • Create bibliographies in different citation styles

RefWorks is great for

  • Working on collaborative bibliographies/research projects
  • Organizing content in a variety of ways
  • Storing thousands of citations in the cloud

See how RefWorks compares

Here is a comparison chart of how RefWorks stacks up against other citation management software.

GW Libraries • 2130 H Street NW • Washington DC 20052202.994.6558AskUs@gwu.edu