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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

  • To create an account: go to refworks.proquest.com, select Use login from my institution, and select George Washington University. This will direct you through the usual GW Single Sign-On, then you can complete your account setup.
  • For existing accounts: you can continue logging in with your existing password at refworks.proquest.com. Or, you have the option to click the Use login from my institution button, and link your account to GW Single Sign-On. After linking your account, you can log in using either method. 

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.

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