Mendeley Review:
based on real mystery shopping

A*Help Score: 90/100
🔥 published March 20, 2024 - updated September 25, 2024

Quick Overview

Mendeley is a robust references finder for searching, organizing, reading, and citing research papers. It’s essentially the academic equivalent of a Swiss Army knife, blending the functionality of a reference manager with access to a vast library of sources. The A*Help score of 90/100 speaks for itself, but let’s take a little closer look at this helpful tool.

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Most convenient on mobile devices 90/100 Read review
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Science.gov
Best search filters 88/100 Read review
The Good
  • Plenty of filtering options
  • Access to journals, books, and conference materials
  • Free access to the reference manager
The Bad
  • No choice for specific study types or disciplines
  • Plugin is needed for quick citing
 Photo of the main page at Mendeley
Visiting Mendeley’s main page (click to see a bigger image)

Mendeley: Searching Quality – 44/50 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mendeley offers a pretty comprehensive setup for digging into research. You can filter through a variety of sources, including journals, books, and conference proceedings, which is a big plus. However, it falls a bit short in allowing users to select specific study types or disciplines, which, in our opinion, can be a limitation for people looking for very targeted information. The platform updates its information to keep it fresh, but when it comes to citation formatting, it’s only possible if you choose to install Mendeley Cite plugin which is only available for PCs. We also noticed issues with the access to PDF documents. It seems to be available, but we couldn’t open a few of them due to an unidentified error on the website.

Screenshot of the main page at Mendeley (click to see a large image)
Search engine at Mendeley (click to see a large image)
🔍 SEARCH REQUEST 👍 RELEVANT RESULTS 🏆 FEATURES HIGHLY-CITED SOURCES
Climate change effects on Polar bears
Newest data on Mars rover findings

Mendeley: Value for money – 23/25 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mendeley shines bright when you look at what you’re getting without having to spend a dime. The platform offers its own reference manager, which users can download for free. It simplifies managing and organizing your research. This aspect alone places Mendeley high on the value-for-money scale, especially for those of us grappling with the financial constraints often faced in colleges.

However, it’s worth mentioning a specific caveat in citation formatting. While citation functionality within the platform itself isn’t supported, Mendeley provides a free add-on for MS Word, which allows for seamless citation management within your documents. This setup, while certainly valuable, presents an inconvenience for MacOS users, as it nudges them towards a specific ecosystem. Despite this hiccup, the overall value proposition of Mendeley remains strong. Offering such a comprehensive suite of features at no cost is a rare find in the academic world, making Mendeley an attractive option for anyone in need of reliable reference management without the financial burden.

Screenshot of search results at Mendeley.com (click to see a large image)
Search results at Mendeley (click to see a large image)
10/10
Subscription cost
5/5
Free features

Mendeley: Overall Experience – 23/25 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mendeley keeps things simple and effective. Registration is quick, and its interface, while maybe a little plain, is still user-friendly. It supports essential features like saving chosen papers to a personal library and tagging them according to their status, though it oddly lacks a sharing feature. It integrates well with Mendeley’s reference manager for those who download it, and its mobile and desktop apps ensure you can take your work anywhere. All in all, the tool neither impressed us with some mind-blowing features nor disappointed us. What it has to offer should satisfy many users, but we wouldn’t be surprised if some of them will find issues to complain about.

Screenshot of the personal library at Mendeley
Personal library at Mendeley (click to see a large image)
9/10
User experience
4/5
Speed and efficiency
8/8
Mobile accessibility

Conclusion

To conclude, Mendeley offers reliable support for the academic community, providing a simple platform that combines resource organization with easy access to a wide range of materials. Despite its limitations in citation styles and discipline-specific searching, its free price tag and necessary features make it a helpful tool for students and researchers.

FAQ

Mendeley Reviews

To make certain our reviews are credible, AcademicHelp closely examines sites such as Mendeley. We search through a wide range of customer comments and ratings from reputable sites such as TrustPilot, Reviews.io, Sitejabber, and even Reddit. This method allows us to acquire different viewpoints from various academic areas and levels of experience. Along with this user-generated content, we accomplish our own in-depth study and hands-on testing of Mendeley’s features and services. Our comprehensive approach creates the framework for our thorough analysis of Mendeley, ensuring that our advise is well-rounded and based on genuine experiences from throughout the academic community.

Is Mendeley a scam?

No, Mendeley is far from being a scam. It is a well-regarded reference management tool that offers genuine value to its users. Its features and free access highlight its commitment to supporting the academic community.

Is Mendeley legit?

Certainly, Mendeley has established itself as a legitimate and reliable tool in the academic community. With its wide adoption across universities and research institutions, it has proven to be a trusted platform for reference management and scholarly collaboration.

Is Mendeley safe?

Mendeley prioritizes user safety and data security, employing robust measures to protect personal and research information. It’s a secure platform for storing your documents and references, giving users peace of mind while handling their academic materials.

Is Mendeley trustworthy?

Absolutely. Over the years, Mendeley has earned the trust of thousands of users by consistently delivering a dependable and user-friendly service. Its commitment to enhancing research efficiency and accessibility has solidified its reputation as a trustworthy website.

Is Mendeley a good service?

Yes, Mendeley is a highly effective service for researchers. It provides flexibility in managing references, organizing research, and storing valuable articles. Its broad access to various document types and search capabilities make it a heloful resource for academic work.

Mendeley Specs

> Quality and Variety of Sources
journals
books
conferences
> Comprehensiveness (study types, domains)
access to full texts or abstracts
Relevance (Up-to-Date Information)
> Citation Formatting
MLAavailable with an add-on
APAavailable with an add-on
Chicagoavailable with an add-on
Harvardavailable with an add-on
Other stylesavailable with an add-on
> Subscription Cost / pricing
Free
> User experience
saving
copying
sharing
Integration with Reference Management Tools
search functionality and filtering options
AI assistant
> Support
live chat
blog
help center

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