I write a lot of academic papers and never use this kind of software. EndNote creates uneditable references and slows down Word, Zotero had some limitations after which they charge a monthly fee, and none of the reference libraries are easy to share with external clients.
Most other medical/technical writers I know only use these tools as a “reference library.” It might be useful for someone writing a thesis, but almost all professionals avoid these because they slow things down, break, and require updates that cause issues.
I use API requests to get formatted references direct from PubMed, and use FileLocator Lite to search multiple PDFs in reference folders with RegEx. QPDF is useful for unlocking PDFs. This system has worked quite well for me and I don’t have to worry about my data getting locked into aging or unsupported software platforms.
Most other medical/technical writers I know only use these tools as a “reference library.” It might be useful for someone writing a thesis, but almost all professionals avoid these because they slow things down, break, and require updates that cause issues.
I use API requests to get formatted references direct from PubMed, and use FileLocator Lite to search multiple PDFs in reference folders with RegEx. QPDF is useful for unlocking PDFs. This system has worked quite well for me and I don’t have to worry about my data getting locked into aging or unsupported software platforms.