TOP PICKS | 20 TOOLS
Research and Citation Tools for Students
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PebbleGo
Easily accessible, kid-friendly database for the littlest researchers
Bottom line: Delightful, safe introduction to the world of research, databases, and reporting, with interesting articles and helpful teacher supports.
Grades: K–3
Price: Free to Try, Paid Free trial available. Prices vary depending on how many databases teachers want to access. District pricing also available.
NowComment
Rich collaboration and discussion site engages students and teachers
Bottom line: It's a versatile discussion platform for teaching, peer reviewing, and fostering active reading, and offers much more than traditional word processors.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free
Citelighter
Substantial all-in-one tool scaffolds the research and writing process
Bottom line: This smart, intuitive system supports students in every step of the writing process.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free, Paid Citelighter Pro allows citations from PDF files and Google Docs, among other features. It's available with different monthly and yearly pricing options.
Digital Public Library of America
Impressive online collection of historic and cultural artifacts
Bottom line: This epic database of history and culture is a labor of love that all students can benefit from.
Grades: 5–12
Price: Free
Gooru
Personalized tool fosters exploration, teacher-led meaningful learning
Bottom line: A great portal for supplementing classroom instruction; supports independent and personalized learning.
Grades: 5–12
Price: Free
ZoteroBib
Fewer clicks and less clutter equal a new go-to site for citing sources
Bottom line: An intuitive site that takes the stress out of citing sources, but students will still need instruction to tweak auto-generated citations.
Grades: 5–12
Price: Free
findingDulcinea
Aging search tool has curated resources and links to credible sites
Bottom line: It can help kids quickly find credible websites for study and schoolwork, but those resources will be a bit out-of-date.
Grades: 6–10
Price: Free
SweetSearch
Search engine with filtered results leaves room for critical thinking
Bottom line: SweetSearch supplies valid, reputable websites that can help kids learn about a variety of topics.
Grades: 6–10
Price: Free
Britannica School
More interactive support and instruction than Wikipedia -- for a price
Bottom line: Over 140,000 credible and up-to-date articles are presented with social media savvy; the research here is engaging and accessible.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free to Try, Paid $525 for up to 700 students; $0.75 for each additional student. Discounts are available for district and consortium purchases. Schools in some locales may already have state-wide access.
Hypothes.is
Browser extensions add layer of annotation and discussion to the web
Bottom line: Free, user-friendly tool opens up the web to in-context annotation and discussion.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
Imagine Easy Academy
Versatile site helps integrate literacy skills into the curriculum
Bottom line: Detailed lessons make information literacy accessible; it's a great resource for teaching research-based units.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free to Try, Paid Imagine Easy doesn't publish specific pricing information. Pricing is based on class and school size.
NoodleTools
Expansive research tool uniquely melds learning and productivity
Bottom line: While the complex, old-school design isn't ideal, NoodleTools gives students specific assistance where they need it the most -- with citations, paraphrasing, elaboration, and organization.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free to Try 30-day free trial. Individual accounts are $15/year, but these lack collaboration features. Contact for school and district plans with full feature set.
Diigo
Social bookmarking encourages discovery, collaboration, and sharing
Bottom line: With a Diigo educator account, teachers and students have a safe space to organize, customize, and share Web content while learning about a variety of subjects.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Free, Paid Users can mark and highlight 1,000 items a year with a free Diigo subscription; two paid versions, which cost from $20-$40 a year, provide unlimited bookmarking, screen capture, and highlighting capabilities.
The educator account, which is also free, lets teachers bookmark and save 20 cached pages a month (users are allowed to save multiple versions of the same page at different times to track changes) and provides unlimited highlighting capabilities
EasyBib
Helpful citation and writing resource for instant bibliographies
Bottom line: EasyBib takes the pain out of citing sources and gives students and teachers a comprehensive place to organize all research paper-related activity.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Free, Paid
PowerNotes
Simple, efficient research tool lacks features for group projects
Bottom line: When paired with strategic teacher guidance, the simple user interface and effective research-gathering capabilities make this a useful but incomplete option.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Free, Paid PowerNotes is free for one project at a time. For $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year, users can create unlimited projects. Contact the developer for information on institutional pricing.
Weava
Chrome extension helps organize web-based research
Bottom line: For Chrome users and mostly digital classrooms, this is a fairly intuitive tool that'll help students wrangle their research.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Free, Paid Free version has unlimited highlights but 100MB of storage, 5 highlight colors, and 1 collection with 3 sub-collections. Paid version ($5.99 per month or $49.99 per year) has 2GB of storage, unlimited collections, 10 highlight colors, and extra features like more file exports, image clipping, and better support. This paid version is free if users can get five other people to sign up.
Scrible
Browser extension helpful for annotation and research organization
Bottom line: A solid -- with room to grow -- annotation and research tool; serious users will need to pay for premium.
Grades: 8–12
Price: Free, Paid Free basic account includes 500 MB of storage, one library, and light annotation and citation features. Optional paid upgrade increases storage to 1 GB across 10 libraries. Paid accounts also add more annotation styling and citation options. These accounts are $10/year for primary and secondary school, $28/year or $3/month for college and grad school. Volume pricing available starting at $1,000; covers all students and educators in a school.
Google Scholar
Academic search engine, an excellent source for credible research info
Bottom line: This smart tool can help teens locate credible material for paper and report writing, general research, and other school projects.
Grades: 9–12
Price: Free
Purdue Online Writing Lab
Quality resources for literary teens, but won't motivate reluctant writers
Bottom line: Use this site as a robust resource for all aspects of the writing process, but don't expect an online community or interactivity.
Grades: 9–12
Price: Free
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database
Deep, complex database is challenging but a peerless research tool
Bottom line: This is a highly academic site for better and for worse; it's filled with deep, research-backed resources and primary sources but is intimidating without clear guidance.
Grades: 10–12
Price: Free