Anyone who uses Zotero or Mendeley knows them well: .csl files created with the so-called Citation Style Language . These files can be used to create citation styles to fulfil the requirements of various publications or universities. The styles in my shop are all developed using this programming language.
However, a common question is whether these .csl citation styles can also be used with other reference management programmes such as EndNote or Citavi .
The short answer: No!
EndNote and Citavi rely on proprietary systems for their citation styles. While Zotero and Mendeley work with the open and widely used .csl technology, EndNote and Citavi developed their own formatsthat were created not compatible with with .csl files. This means that you either have to use the existing styles for these programmes or use proprietary editors to make changes.
Why no .csl support?
The decision to rely on proprietary systems is clearly due to the fact that these providers want to bind their users to them. Instead of relying on a open, jointly developed format like .csl, they want to force their users to their to stick to their ecosystems. This makes switching between programmes or using the same citation styles across several tools unnecessarily complicated.
Summary
Anyone looking for flexibility and openness would be well advised to use programmes such as Zotero. I always recommend switching to Zotero, because it only has advantages and on top of that is also free.
