Dissertation and Thesis Preparation

UBC G+PS has a dissertation and thesis preparation web page with links to specific aspects here:

https://www.grad.ubc.ca/current-students/dissertation-thesis-preparation


Reference Citations

UBC (University of British Columbia) offers OneDrive as part of its Office 365 suite, which is integrated into the Microsoft ecosystem. When it comes to reference management systems that work well with UBC OneDrive, several popular tools are compatible and can help you manage references and sync your library to cloud storage.

Here are a few reference manager systems compatible with OneDrive:

  1. Zotero
  • Integration: Zotero can be set up to sync your library using cloud storage services such as OneDrive.
  • How it works: Zotero allows you to store your library in a folder of your choice on your computer, and you can set this folder to be inside your OneDrive sync folder. By doing this, your Zotero data will sync across devices through OneDrive.
  • Advantages: Zotero is free and open-source, and it integrates well with Microsoft Word for citation generation. Syncing via OneDrive gives you access to your references across different devices.
  1. Mendeley
  • Integration: Mendeley can sync documents and references to OneDrive indirectly by saving your Mendeley library in a OneDrive folder.
  • How it works: Mendeley automatically syncs your references with its cloud storage, but you can export and store your Mendeley PDFs in your OneDrive folder if needed. This ensures easy access across devices.
  • Advantages: Mendeley is also free (with some limitations for storage), and offers robust citation tools that integrate with Microsoft Word.
  1. EndNote
  • Integration: EndNote allows you to sync your references with its online cloud storage system. Additionally, you can manually store and back up your EndNote library on OneDrive by saving the library file (with the .enl extension) to your OneDrive folder.
  • How it works: Once you save the EndNote library in your OneDrive folder, it will sync across devices via OneDrive, but the syncing of the actual library with OneDrive isn’t automatic. You need to back it up manually to OneDrive.
  • Advantages: EndNote is well-suited for academic writing and has a robust citation tool that works with Word. However, it’s a paid software.
  1. RefWorks
  • Integration: RefWorks, a cloud-based citation management tool, does not require you to store its data in OneDrive since it syncs everything directly to its cloud service.
  • How it works: While it does not natively sync with OneDrive, you can export references from RefWorks to OneDrive if you need to manually store backups or documents.
  • Advantages: RefWorks is useful for collaborative projects and integrates well with Word. Its cloud-based nature means you can access your references from anywhere.

Considerations:

  • Storage Capacity: UBC’s OneDrive offers a large amount of cloud storage (usually 1TB or more for students and faculty), making it easy to store large numbers of reference PDFs, data, and more.
  • Ease of Syncing: Zotero and Mendeley offer easier integration with OneDrive, while tools like EndNote require a bit more manual setup.
  • Platform Compatibility: All of these tools offer cross-platform support (Windows, macOS, and sometimes mobile).

To summarize, Zotero and Mendeley offer the most seamless integration with OneDrive, while EndNote and RefWorks require manual setup for full compatibility.