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Reference managers

An introductory guide to three common Reference managers - EndNote, Zotero and Mendeley.

EndNote Desktop introduction

Introduction

EndNote is a tool for managing references and bibliographies. Depending on your needs, you can either download EndNote Desktop to your computer or sign up online for EndNote Online.

EndNote will

  • gather, store and manage references
  • automatically create and format bibliographies in your referencing style
  • search and retrieve records from catalogues and databases
  • insert citations directly into documents in your referencing style.

Guides

Training

Download EndNote

EndNote Desktop software is available from the Software for Staff and Students on Personal Devices page.

EndNote software is already loaded on RMIT computers.

Downloading issues

Contact IT Connect regarding problems with downloading and installing EndNote.

Creating an EndNote library

Opening EndNote and creating a new library

  1. EndNote is already loaded on RMIT computers: Open Finder > Applications > EndNote 21 > EndNote 21.
  2. Create a new EndNote Library (File > New) and save to desktop, H: drive or USB.  It is best to save your EndNote library in the same location as your thesis documents. 

This will create an .enl file and a .data folder. BOTH must be KEPT TOGETHER in the SAME location for your EndNote Library to work properly. If you move the .enl file to a different location, you MUST move the .data folder with it.

Mac users will also see an option to Save as Package. This creates a single document that contains both the Endnote library and the .data folder. It is best practice to know the exact location of your EndNote library and where backups are stored.

Tips:

Mozilla Firefox is the recommended browser for Mac users.

It’s recommended that you only create one EndNote library for your research. Multiple EndNote libraries can cause problems with duplication of records and PDFs between documents and can be difficult to search.

Exporting references

Exporting references from LibrarySearch

Make sure that you have your EndNote library open:

  1. Go to the Library homepage and log in to LibrarySearch. 
  2. Do a search on your topic. e.g. groundwater AND contamination AND “heavy metals” 
  3. Mark records you want to export from LibrarySearch by selecting the pin next to each record.   
  4. Click on the large pin on the top right of the screen to Go to My Favourites.  
  5. In My Favourites, click the tick box at the top of the list to mark all references. You can also send references to EndNote individually by selecting the EndNote (RIS) Export icon  
  6. You’ll now see three options next to My Favourites. Select the ellipsis (three dots ...) icon 
  7. Select Endnote (RIS) Export from the list. 
  8. From the drop-down Encoding menu, select the UTF-8 option.  
  9. Select the Download button.  
  10. Save the Primo_RIS_Export.ris file to your desktop (or another convenient location). 
  11. Open the file from your desktop (or convenient location) and this will send the record(s) to your EndNote library.

Note: When you open the .ris file, if you are asked what program to open it with, select EndNote 21 (you may need to browse the list of programs) and tick the option to always use this program to open these files. 

Exporting records from Library databases: Scopus

Major databases such as Science Direct, PubMed, ERIC, ProQuest, EBSCOhost, Scopus, JSTOR, IEEE, Web of Science and Emerald allow Direct Export of references into EndNote. Some examples of the words used by popular databases include: Send to; Export citation(s); Export; Export/Save; Save; EndNote.

  1. Ensure your EndNote library and the RMIT University Library homepage are both open. 
  2. From the RMIT University Library homepage select the Databases tab (under Find books, articles and more). 
  3. From the Popular databases drop-down menu select Scopus. 
  4. Do a search on your own topic. 
  5. Select the reference(s) you would like to export by selecting the box next to the corresponding number.
    scopus record citation exportImage: Copyright © Elsevier. Used under licence.  
     
  6. Click Export.
    Scopus Export option
    Image: Copyright © Elsevier. Used under licence.
     
  7. From the Export drop down menu, select EndNote RIS Format (under Reference Managers). Note: Citation Information will be selected within the Export document settings window. Other options (e.g. Abstract and Keywords) can be selected.
  8. Click Export to start saving.
    scopus export optionsImage: Copyright © Elsevier. Used under licence
     
  9. Download and save the scopus.ris file to your desktop (or another convenient location). 
  10. Open scopus.ris file from your desktop (or convenient location) - this will send the records to the EndNote library.

Note: Sign in to Scopus to save your Export selection by ticking Save as preference for future sessions. You will then automatically export to EndNote by selecting Export and My RIS settings.

Tip: The record(s) will appear in the Imported References folder within your EndNote library. It also appears in the All References (master) folder. Each time you export a record(s), the previous record(s) will be replaced with the new one(s) within the Imported References folder, but will still remain in the All References folder. 

Exporting records from Library databases: ProQuest

  1. Ensure your EndNote library and the RMIT University Library homepage are both open. 
  2. From the RMIT University Library homepage select the Databases tab (under Find books, articles and more). 
  3. From the Popular databases drop-down menu select ProQuest. 
  4. Do a search on your own topic. Note: The Advanced Search options are often useful – e.g., to search within a specific part of an article.
  5. Select the references you would like to export by ticking the box next to the corresponding number. To select a page of references, tick Select 1-20.

    Image: Copyright © ProQuest. Used under licence.

    proquest export icons
    Image: Copyright © ProQuest. Used under licence.
     
  6. Select ellipsis (three dots – see image above) and then select EndNote.  
  7. The Export/Save box will appear. Select Continue. 
  8. Download the ProQuestDocuments (dated).ris (e.g. ProQuestDocuments-2024-04-03.ris) file to your desktop (or another convenient location).
  9. Open the ProQuestDocuments (dated).ris (e.g. ProQuestDocuments-2024-04-03.ris) file from your desktop (or convenient location) - this will send the records to the EndNote library.  
Reminder: The record(s) will appear in the Imported References folder within your EndNote library. It also appears in the All References (master) folder. Each time you export a record(s), the previous record(s) will be replaced with the new one(s) within the Imported References folder but will still remain in the All References folder. 

Exporting records from Google Scholar

  1. Navigate from the RMIT University Library homepage to Google Scholar (Select the tab under the heading Find books, articles and more). Click Search Google Scholar.  
  2. When prompted, Login using your personal Google/Gmail account. Alternatively, you can export individual publication records without logging in. 
  3. To import an individual reference into EndNote select the Cite icon (quotation mark) underneath the citation and select the EndNote option. 
  4. Alternatively, if you login to your Google Scholar using a personal email account, you can Save references individually to My library and then Export all by following Steps 5-10 below.
  5. When you log into Google Scholar for the first time, you need to enable your Scholar library. Click on My library link at the top of the screen.  
  6. From the Getting Started page, click the ENABLE button to enable your Scholar library. 
    Note: Steps 5 and 6 (enabling your Scholar library) only needs to be completed once - the first time you sign in to Google Scholar using your personal Google account.   
  7. Search on a topic in Google Scholar. e.g. “global warming” 
  8. Click the Star icon (save option) below each required reference to save them to your Google Scholar library. You can create/select a folder if you wish.
    Tip: When a reference has been saved, the Star icon changes to a blue colour. You can click on Saved option to view the reference's citation details. The reference is also placed in the My library option (on the right-hand side of the screen).
  9. From the My library option (on the left-hand side of the screen) select the references you want to export into your EndNote library. 
  10. Select EndNote from the drop-down Export button at the top of the screen.
    Note: If using Chrome, save the 'citations.enw' file and then double-click it. If using Firefox, IE or MS Edge, you can save or open the file (look for the pop up at the bottom of the screen). 
  11. Your Google Scholar references have now been exported into your EndNote library.
    Tip: An alternative method if you do not sign into Google Scholar with your personal email address or enable your Scholar library, is to use the Cite option (quotation mark) below each record and select EndNote or Select the ‘Settings’ option and choose EndNote for the ‘Show links to import citations into’ option under the Bibliography Manager heading and then select click the Import to EndNote option below the required reference

Notes:  

  • Remember to check each record to make sure that all information is correct (see Minimum Fields list). You can make quick corrections to fields in the Summary/Edit section. Click on the title, and then edit in top right corner.

    Image: Copyright © Clarivate. Used under licence.
     
  • You can add Research Notes to identify important references (in Edit mode), and in the library summary screen, you can also add a Rating. 
  • You can also view full-text PDFs in the Attach file PDFs section.

Capturing web references using EndNote Online

You can create a new reference for webpages, blogs and other research materials.

Note: You need to have an EndNote Online account before you can capture webpage information. See the instructions in the Setting up EndNote sync for collaboration to set up your account.

Firstly, you will need to add the Capture Reference tool to your browser:  

  1. Login to your EndNote Online account. 
  2. Scroll across the top menu bar and select Downloads. 
  3. Drag and drop the Capture Reference icon into your bookmarks toolbar. Note: In some browsers, you may need to right-click and select "Add to Favorites" or "Bookmark This Link." 
  4. Find a webpage you want to capture into EndNote. Note some details, such as the author name, and the title of the page. Now click Capture Reference. Note: A pop-up window opens. EndNote Online imports any publication data it can detect in the webpage.
  5. Make sure the Reference Type says Web Page. 
  6. Type in any other useful reference information for this item. At the top of the pop-up box, tick the radio button for EndNote (this will add the reference to your EndNote 21 library), then click the Save To button.
    capture web reference
    Image: Copyright © Clarivate. Used under licence. 

Note: You can add additional information. See Minimum Fields listed. For webpages, add in the Access Year and Access Date. The webpage title and the URL address will be automatically captured. The new reference has been added to your Imported References group in EndNote.  

Manual input of references

Manual input of references

  1. Create a new reference References > New Reference or click the plus sign in the short-cut icons.

  2. The default setting for new references is Journal Article. You can change the reference type using the Reference Type drop-down menu (top left corner) e.g. journal article, book, web page, etc.  

  3. After you have entered the details click on the small red dot at top left, to close OR Cmd+W. If a pop-up asks you if you want to save changes to the record, click Yes/OK).

Tips: 

  • List author last name (family/surname) first and followed by a comma – e.g. Benton, Tim                  
  • Write organisation names in full, followed by a comma – e.g. RMIT University, 
  • Enter each author name on a separate line. 
  • Space between author initials. 
  • Full stop after each author initial – e.g. Smith, J. O. 
  • Sentence case for journal article or book titles e.g. Nanotechnology: Photons make light work. 
  • Add some of your own keywords for searching later e.g. specific wavelengths 

See the section on the minimum fields that need to be completed when manually creating a record.

Minimum fields

For references to display correctly in MOST referencing styles, a certain number of bibliographic elements or minimum fields are required.  

Note: Refer to the Library’s EasyCite referencing guide for more details.

Webpage Journal article Electronic article Book Electronic book
  • Author or producer of site (personal or corporate) 
  • Title (of site) 
  • URL 
  • Year (date of publication or of last update) 
  • Access Date (date you accessed the site) 
  • Author 
  • Title 
  • Journal 
  • Volume 
  • Issue 
  • Year 
  • Pages 
  • DOI – Digital Object Identifier (if applicable) 
  • Author 
  • Title 
  • Year 
  • Periodical Title (Journal title) 
  • Volume 
  • Issue 
  • Pages 
  • Date accessed 
  • URL (or database name) 
  • DOI – Digital Object Identifier (if applicable) 
  • Author 
  • Title 
  • Year  
  • Publisher 
  • City  
  • Edition (If not the first) 
  • Author 
  • Title 
  • Publisher 
  • Year (copyright date) 
  • Date accessed 
  • URL (or database name)