Fiat lux...

By Steffen Dettling

The problem starts in grad school: You submerge into your topic, you read papers, many papers, and before you know it you end up with a collection of hundreds of cryptically named PDF files in your download folder. And of course, you will print them because you like to highlight sections and make notes… Post-its, notes on the margins or huge stacks of manuscripts on your desk, where you can never seem to find what you are looking for – these times are over.

Using a reference manager will help you keep your desk clean an organized while the PDF you are looking for is just a keyword search away. Think of the benefits. Adapt your citation style within seconds, organize your papers in thematic groups, sync your library across multiple devices, and highlight or annotate sections you want to cite later…

Of course you could ask your colleagues about their preferred organizer. You could also skim a pertinent and useful article in Nature! Maybe they know what is best for you…