Mendeley
Mendeley is a reference management software solution. It's designed to be used in an academic or research-oriented setting. Mendeley is also an academic social network that aids in organizing research, online collaboration with peers and research discovery. Notable customers of the software include Carnegie Mellon University, Hong Kong Baptist University, ETH Zurich, ETH-Bibliothek, Institut Pasteur, the Technical University of Denmark and the International Food Policy Research Institute. The software has been reviewed by the BBC, LifeHacker, The New York Times, the Guardian, TechCrunch, Mashable, Science Blogs, ARS and Wired.
- Includes apps for Apple iOS and Android operating system devices to allow the user to read academic papers on the go via mobile device
- Research papers can be accessed from anywhere by using any internet browser
- Automatically search for relevant papers based on what is currently being read on the screen
- Includes the ability to easily import research and academic papers from other commonly used research software, such as EndNote, RefWorks, Zotero and Papers
- The basic version of the software is completely free to use, but other versions for institutions are available by quote after contacting the sales department
- All monthly plans can be cancelled at any time
- If users are looking for the ability to search across external databases and integrate with library systems/EZProxy, they will be out of luck. Other software does offer that functionality, and Mendeley offers a software comparison tool on their site
The field of academic research is important for students, scholars and scientists. Conducting research used to involve spending hours in libraries, but technological advances have made it possible to cut the time by large amounts. Mendeley is an example of this trend, as the software is designed to greatly speed up research processes and enhance collaboration between peers. The free version of the software comes with 2 gigabytes of personal library storage space. For more, a monthly subscription is required. The next step up is the Plus plan, which is billed as "great for students" on the Mendeley website. It costs $4.99 per month (or $55 per year if paid all at once, giving the user a free month) and includes 5 gigabytes of personal library space, plus the ability to sync annotations to mobile devices and the Mendeley "suggest" tool, which recommends similar research papers to one that is currently being read. Next up is the Pro plan, which Mendeley calls its "most popular" plan. It costs $9.99 per month (or $110 per year with a free month) and gives the user 10 gigabytes of space. Finally, the Max plan (for "power" users) costs $14.99 per month ($165 per year, includes free month) and comes with 100 gigabytes of space. Even more space is available by contacting the the Mendeley business department. Both the Pro and Max plans also get the Suggest tool and the ability to sync annotations. Accepted payment methods include Visa, Mastercard and American Express, and payments are secured using the AES-256 standard.