Reference list

You never type a reference list in Papero. Papero builds it at the end of your document from the sources you cite, in your document's citation style, and keeps it up to date as you cite, remove citations or change the style.

How the list works

The list sits below your text, under its own heading: Works Cited for MLA and the styles based on it, References for all other styles.

• Cite a source and it joins the list. Remove the last citation of a source and it leaves the list.
• The style decides the order and the format of each entry.
• Beside the heading you find the Citation style button, the number of sources the list holds, and Copy.
• While Papero formats the list you see Formatting your references….
• A document with no citations yet shows Cite a source and it will appear here.

To change how the citations and the list look, see Citation styles.

Retracted papers

An entry whose paper has been retracted carries a Retracted marker. Papero also warns you before you cite a retracted paper from the search results. See Cite as you write.

To check all the sources a document cites, use the checks in the Review panel. See Review checks.

Copy the list

1. Scroll to the reference list.
2. Press Copy.
3. Paste the list where you need it.

Papero says References copied. If your browser does not allow copying, it says so: select the list and copy it yourself instead.

Free and Plus

The list works the same on Free and Plus: you can read it, press Copy, and copy it with your text through Copy to clipboard in Document options. Every citation style is on both plans. The plans differ in exports:

• On Free, a Word or LaTeX export has plain-text citations and, in place of the reference list, its heading and one line saying the list is part of Plus. A LaTeX export has no references.bib file.
• On Plus, the citations and the reference list in a Word export are Zotero citations you can keep editing in Word with the Zotero plugin, and a LaTeX export includes a references.bib file.

For exports, see Export to Word and Export to LaTeX and Overleaf. To compare the plans, see pricing.

When the list cannot update

Sometimes the list cannot be formatted at once. Papero says why:

• Citations are busy. Trying again shortly. Papero tries again by itself.
• Papero could not format your references just now. They will update when you change a citation or the style. Press Try again, or carry on writing.
• This style cannot format this document: the style cannot handle many long author lists, or many sources with the same first author and year. Switch to APA, MLA or IEEE, or remove some of those sources.
• A document with a very large number of citations may be too large to format in full. Papero says so, and the list updates once you remove some citations.

Your sources stay in your library

Each source you cite is also saved in your library, so you can cite it again from the Library tab in Cite, in this document or another one. Removing a citation does not delete the source from your library. For the library, see Your library.

Next: the journal impact filter.