Tools that track your sources

A citation manager stores your sources and helps you insert references and build a bibliography automatically. It saves hours and prevents mistakes. Common free options include Zotero and Mendeley.

These tools are not AI, but they pair perfectly with honest AI use, because they keep your real, verified sources in one place.

A good workflow:

1. When you verify a real source, save it to your citation manager straight away
2. Let the manager format your in text citations and reference list
3. Keep your AI chats separate, only for understanding, never as a source store

This keeps a clean wall between things you have verified and things AI merely mentioned.

Practice

Install a free citation manager, or open one you already have. Add the three verified sources from your "Sources to check" list into it.