Citavi

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Reference management with Citavi

Until 31.12.2024 the University Library of the HTW Berlin has a campus license agreement for the literature management software “Citavi Team – Literature Management and Knowledge Organisation”. This includes both the Windows version and the Citavi Web extension with 5 GB of personal cloud storage. The program may be used by all members of the university at work and at home.

Citavi supports you in managing your literature, which you need for academic work (drafting dissertations, seminars or theses).

If the books have an ISBN, this number is sufficient and Citavi will get all the necessary bibliographic data (author, title, publisher, year, possibly the cover graphic and a short summary) from the Internet. Citavi researches over 4000 databases and library catalogues, manages and structures your collections of literature, quotations and ideas, and supports you with documentation and publications. With Citavi Web, you can also work anywhere you have an Internet connection – on any operating system, be it Mac OS, Windows or Linux. All you need is an up-to-date browser.

Literature can be easily tagged and categorized. The most important quotations can be taken from each text, systematically arranged and combined with your own ideas, thoughts and initial draft texts.
In addition, Citavi works with almost all word processors, including LaTeX editors. With a click, the collected quotations, thoughts and references are in the text and the list of cited literature is automatically created.

A detailed overview of the functions can be found in the online manual for Citavi 6.

License terms

The University of Applied Sciences (HTW) Berlin may use an unlimited number of licenses of Citavi team as part of the campus license.
This offer applies to all students and employees of the HTW Berlin. Former members and/or former students of the HTW Berlin are excluded from use. More information can ba found under terms of use from Lumivero.

System requirements

For Windows version and the download you need:

  • Memory requirement:
    4 GB RAM or more
    Citavi projects are loaded to RAM when the project is opened. The maximum project size depends on the amount of RAM and the structure of your data (the number of authors, knowledge items, etc.) but usually is somewhere between 25,000 and 50,000 references.
  • Operating systems:
    Windows 11 or 10, Windows Server 2019, 2016 or 2012 with .NET Framework 4.8

For Citavi Web version an up-to-date browser is reccomended.

For more information, see the technical requirements in the Citavi 6 manual.

Access the Windows Version

  1. Download Citavi
    You can download Citavi 6 here:
    https://www.citavi.com/download
  2. Install Citavi 6
    Installation instructions can be found at https://www.citavi.com/sub/manual6/de/index.html
  3. Create Citavi account
    Register for a Citavi account at: http://www.citavi.com/htw-berlin
    Important: Your e-mail address of HTW-Berlin (*@htw-berlin.de) serves as authentication, registration with a freemailer address (web. de, GMX, Gmail, ...) is not possible.
    In your Citavi account, you will find your license details and instructions on how to enter them in Citavi.
  4. Login (if you already have a Citavi account)
    You can access an existing Citavi account directly at https://www.citavi.com/login
  5. Activation
    The activation of Citavi 6 for Windows is no longer done by entering the license key, but by logging in with username and password from the Citavi account. You will get an email with a link to secure the mail adress. Please check your spam.
  1. Registration:
    Register for a Citavi account at http://www.citavi.com/htw-berlin
    Important: Your e-mail address of HTW-Berlin (*@htw-berlin.de) serves as authentication, registration with a freemailer address (web. de, GMX, Gmail, ...) is not possible.
  2. You can access an existing Citavi account directly at https://www.citavi.com/login
  3. Login
    Log in via this link: https://citaviweb.citavi.com/start
    You will receive the Pro version and access to Citavi Web including 5 GB of cloud storage for the duration of the campus rental contract.
    To activate your account, you will receive an email from Citavi to the email address you provided when registering. Please authenticate the account first.

Functions of Citavi Web

In Citavi Web, the main features you know and love from Citavi for Windows are now online in a modern, intuitive interface: reference management, note-taking, outlining, and task planning.

Since project information is saved online, it’s easier than ever before to work in a team, whatever operating system your colleagues are using and wherever they’re located.

The best tool for writing now offers greater compatibility with new add-ons for Word Online. Use the Citavi Assistant to stay organized and quickly insert citations and outlines, quotations, comments, images, and ideas. Citations and a bibliography are inserted automatically in the citation style you choose.

Design and functionality of Citavi Web are presented in an intuitive online environment. Touch screens for mobile work are also supported.

Working with the Cloud

Citavi 6 lets you save projects in the cloud. This is an option that can be selected at the beginning of a project in the Windows variant, but it is also possible to create and edit projects locally. The option of cloud storage cannot be deactivated, but must be selected or deselected with each new project.

Please note that personal data or security-relevant information should not be stored in the cloud. The cloud storage service should be used primarily for sharing private data. These are not subject to any restriction by the official data protection officer.


Before sharing data – personal or non-personal – you should always ask yourself if you really want to share it, as the recipient of the data can download it and distribute it in turn.

If only data without personal reference are exchanged or an exchange of public data with personal reference (such as all official data that can be seen from the person search) takes place, this is harmless. Data in the cloud can only be accessed for as long as you are a member of HTW Berlin.

>>> More Information from Lumivero for data protection

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