Conducting a thorough literature review is arguably the most time-intensive but critical part of any doctoral-level research — including in a DBA. The right tools can make a huge difference: they help manage dozens (or hundreds) of sources, visualise relationships between papers, annotate quickly, and stay organised throughout the writing process. Whether you’re at the beginning of your literature mapping or deep into drafting your review, the 10 tools below can help you streamline and elevate your workflow.
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Table of Contents
- What makes Zotero one of the most effective tools for managing literature in 2025?
- How can Mendeley help researchers collaborate and organise their literature more efficiently?
- Why do many doctoral researchers still prefer EndNote for advanced reference management?
- What are the advantages of using Paperpile for cloud-based citation management?
- How does Connected Papers assist in mapping and understanding a research field?
- What unique features does ResearchRabbit offer for long-term literature discovery?
- How does Litmaps support researchers in tracking new literature and citation networks?
- Why is Rayyan a powerful tool for screening studies in systematic or scoping reviews?
- How does NVivo enhance qualitative analysis during literature review writing?
- What makes Colwiz a useful platform for team-based reference management?
What to Know Before Choosing Tools
Depending on your discipline, volume of sources, and whether you prioritize collaboration, cloud-syncing, or deep qualitative coding — the best tool set for you may be a combination rather than a single one. Many researchers use a reference manager (like Zotero or Mendeley) in tandem with a literature-mapping tool (like Connected Papers).
1. What makes Zotero one of the most effective tools for managing literature in 2025?
A free, open-source reference manager beloved by many scholars. Zotero lets you collect, organise, annotate, and cite sources with ease. It integrates with web browsers via a connector and works across Windows, macOS, Linux, and mobile.
Official site: https://www.zotero.org
Why it’s great: Supports automatic citation capture from databases/websites, drag-and-drop organisation of PDFs, in-text citations and bibliographies in Word/Google Docs, and group libraries for collaboration.
Use case: Ideal for long-term research projects with many sources and multiple drafts — perfect for DBA dissertations.
2. How can Mendeley help researchers collaborate and organise their literature more efficiently?
A widely used reference manager and academic social platform that allows researchers to store PDFs, annotate them, and sync across devices.
Why it’s great: Seamless Microsoft Word integration, cloud sync, shared team libraries, and built-in academic networking.
Use case: Ideal for collaborative DBA projects and supervisor-student co-authoring workflows.
3. Why do many doctoral researchers still prefer EndNote for advanced reference management?
A long-established reference management software favored in fields requiring complex and precise citation formatting.
Why it’s great: Advanced bibliographic control, thousands of referencing styles, and large-scale library management.
Use case: Best for legacy projects, journal-targeted formatting, and universities requiring highly specific referencing rules.
4. What are the advantages of using Paperpile for cloud-based citation management?
A browser-based reference manager designed for Google Docs and Google Scholar users.
Why it’s great: Google Drive syncing, real-time collaboration, BibTeX/RIS support, and quick migration from other tools.
Use case: Ideal for researchers writing and collaborating entirely in the Google Workspace ecosystem.
5. How does Connected Papers assist in mapping and understanding a research field?
An AI-powered visual literature-mapping tool that builds interactive citation graphs from a single core paper.
Why it’s great: Instantly identifies prior works, derivative research, and hidden connections between studies.
Use case: Excellent for early-stage topic exploration and research gap identification.
6. What unique features does ResearchRabbit offer for long-term literature discovery?
A discovery-driven literature tool that builds citation networks around entire collections of papers.
Why it’s great: Automated update alerts, expanding citation networks, and project-based literature tracking.
Use case: Best for living literature reviews across multi-year DBA research timelines.
7. How does Litmaps support researchers in tracking new literature and citation networks?
A dynamic literature tracking platform that identifies influential papers and emerging research in real time.
Why it’s great: Timeline-based updates, automated citation alerts, and influential-paper detection.
Use case: Ideal for researchers monitoring fast-evolving business and management research domains.
8. Why is Rayyan a powerful tool for screening studies in systematic or scoping reviews?
A web-based tool built for large-scale systematic literature screening.
Why it’s great: Blind review mode, inclusion/exclusion tagging, collaboration features, and abstract-level filtering.
Use case: Best for DBA researchers conducting structured reviews, scoping reviews, or meta-analyses.
9. How does NVivo enhance qualitative analysis during literature review writing?
A professional qualitative data analysis (QDA) tool used extensively in social science and management research.
Why it’s great: Thematic coding, memoing, conceptual modeling, and mixed-method synthesis tools.
Use case: Ideal for DBA dissertations using qualitative, interpretivist, or mixed-methods designs.
10. What makes Colwiz a useful platform for team-based reference management?
A collaborative research platform combining reference management and project control.
Why it’s great: Shared libraries, team dashboards, cloud storage, and task-based research coordination.
Use case: Excellent for DBA cohorts, co-authored studies, and institutional research teams.
Comparison Table
| Tool | Best For | Key Strength |
| Zotero | Individual researcher, free & open source | Citation management, PDF organising, group libraries |
| Mendeley | Collaboration + reference management | Cloud sync, academic social features |
| EndNote | Large bibliographies, legacy use | Extensive style support, advanced reference control |
| Paperpile | Cloud-based writing (Google Docs) | Browser-based reference workflow, collaboration |
| Connected Papers | Literature mapping, discovery | Visual networks to identify research gaps |
| ResearchRabbit | Evolving research, large lit corpora | Dynamic tracking of related literature |
| Litmaps | Long-term tracking, updates | Citation network visualization + alerts |
| Rayyan | Systematic / scoping reviews | Efficient screening and filtering of refs |
| NVivo | Qualitative / thematic review | Coding, conceptual analysis, mixed-method support |
| Colwiz | Team research, co-author projects | Shared libraries, project/task management |
External Learning Resources
- Harvard University Library – Literature Review Guide
https://guides.library.harvard.edu/literaturereview - University of Manchester – How to Write a Literature Review
https://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=34439 - Elsevier Researcher Academy – Conducting a Literature Review
https://researcheracademy.elsevier.com/research-preparation/research-methods/literature-review - Purdue OWL – Writing a Literature Review
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/conducting_research/writing_a_literature_review.html
DBA Coach Resources
- https://www.dbacoach.com/blog/how-to-choose-a-dba-research-topic-10-most-asked-questions-answered
FAQs
Which tool is best for managing a large DBA literature review?
Zotero, Mendeley, and EndNote are the most effective for large-scale reference libraries. Zotero is preferred for open-source flexibility, Mendeley for collaboration, and EndNote for strict journal-specific formatting.
Are AI literature mapping tools reliable for systematic reviews?
They are highly effective for discovery and gap detection but should not replace database-driven searches (Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest). Tools like Connected Papers and ResearchRabbit should support — not replace — formal review protocols.
Should I use one tool or multiple tools for my DBA literature review?
Most doctoral researchers use a stacked workflow, typically:
- Zotero/Mendeley (reference management)
- Connected Papers/ResearchRabbit (discovery)
- NVivo (analysis and synthesis)
What is the best tool for qualitative literature synthesis?
NVivo is the industry standard for coding, theme development, theory integration, and qualitative synthesis across literature and empirical research.
How often should I update my literature review using tracking tools?
For DBA research, monthly updates are recommended during proposal and early data-collection phases, and quarterly updates during writing phases.
Can these tools support collaborative DBA supervision models?
Yes. Mendeley, Paperpile, Colwiz, Rayyan, and Zotero group libraries are all highly effective for supervisor-student collaboration.
Conclusion
In the latest generation of research technology, literature review tools are no longer just digital filing cabinets — they are intelligent discovery engines, collaboration platforms, and synthesis environments. Whether you prefer a lightweight reference manager or a full qualitative analysis suite, the right combination can dramatically reduce manual workload, improve rigor, and enhance scholarly impact.
For a DBA-level project, do not rely on a single tool. Combine reference management, literature discovery, collaboration, and qualitative synthesis to create a future-proof, scalable, and academically defensible literature review workflow.