Scientific work and literature management
Whether it's a term paper or your bachelor's thesis - writing scientific papers places very special formal demands on you. With the right techniques, you can make your scientific work more efficient. This also includes the question of correct citation. Literature management programs make your work easier.
Techniques of scientific work
- Guide to Academic Writing
3rd, revised and expanded edition, in collaboration with Anna-Lena Gerdon and Stefanie Gora
Ludwigshafen 2025 - Lotse Tutorials (on YouTube)
Eleven tutorials on the following topics: Using the Internet, Search Strategies, Databases / Subject Bibliographies, Web of Science, Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism, published by the University and State Library of Münster - Finding, Citing, Documenting: Research Data in the Social Sciences and Economic Sciences
The brochure, published by the ZBW, German National Library for Economics (Leibniz Information Center for Economics), GESIS—Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, and RatSWD, Council for Social and Economic Data, provides basic information on finding, documenting, and archiving quantitative research data in the social and economic sciences - Online Information Literacy Tutorial
The online tutorial from the Information Literacy Working Group concisely provides basic knowledge on preparing and conducting a literature search, as well as on acquiring and processing information - Social Sciences FAQ
Online research in the social sciences: sociology, political science, history, education, psychology, economics, geography, and ethnology—tutorials and web resources for students and scholars - Social Sciences FAQ
Online research in the social sciences: sociology, political science, history, education, economics, geography, and ethnology—a tutorial and web index presented in a minimalist style, focusing only on the essentials - The Search Guide
How do you find information on the Internet? - Tips on Study Skills and Learning Methods
Comprehensive guide from the Central Student Counseling Office at Bielefeld University
The form of scientific work
- Theses and other academic papers
Prof. Dr. Wolf-Fritz Riekert from HDM Stuttgart offers a document template for designing academic papers with MS Word in his thesis. - Colourbox Education (campus license)
This license gives members and students of the Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society access to millions of images, illustrations and videos, each with 30 free downloads per month for research and education. Further information can be found on the Image Rights website. - Quotation and manuscript
Work aid for writing economic papers by Fred G. Becker
Quote correctly
- Lorenzen, Klaus F.: The bibliography in scientific papers
- LOTSE Tutorial citation rules
Online tutorial for an overview of different citation rules using examples and their structure - Citation of Internet sources
Detailed presentation in English by Jens Bleuel - Citing instead of plagiarizing
Dr. Christine Wilhelm, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
Literature management programs
- Zotero (recommended open source solution)
The University Library recommends the use of Zotero. This free, platform-independent program offers all the functions for modern literature management.
We have instructions and video tutorials to get you started on our page e-learning (see info box on the right). - Citavi (campus license until 31.05.2027)
The Citavi campus license is available to university members until the end of May 2027.
For new projects: We strongly advise you to start new projects directly with Zotero.
For existing projects: You can continue to use Citavi. If you need to renew your license key or activate it on a new device, please use the Citavi portal of the HWG LU. Help with using Citavi can be found in the Citavi 7 user manual.
Migration: Support and instructions for migrating your data from Citavi to Zotero can also be found on our e-learning page. - Citavi free
Free program for your reference management with citation, keyword and location management as well as tools for collaborative reference editing in a team - Mendeley
Free literature management program in English with integrated social network for collaborative literature editing in a team - Comparison of Reference Management Software
The "Comparison of Reference Management Software", now in its 8th update (as of June 2020), provides an overview of the various functions, operation and license/price models of reference management programs.
The following applications are considered: Bibsonomy, Citavi, EndNote, JabRef, Mendeley, Papers, reference management in MS Word and Zotero. - An overview of reference management programs
M. Adam, K. Hoffmann, J. Musiat, S. Rahm, M. Stöhr, Chr. Wenzel, SLUB Dresden; as of July 2018
A comparison of the reference management programs Zotero, Citavi, Mendeley, RefWorks, EndNote and JabRef with the criteria: General and installation, import / export variants, data entry and editing, display and search, citation and reference lists, cooperation, knowledge organization, special features and support.