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Reference managers

This guide provides an introduction to three common Reference managers - EndNote, Zotero and Mendeley. It also provides a comparison guide and instructions to help get you started.

Mendeley

Why use Mendeley?

Mendeley is a free, easy to use desktop application to help collect, organise, cite and share references. Features of Mendeley include:

  • Works with many word processing applications such as Microsoft Word and LibreOffice to create citations and bibliographies
  • From within your citation library, read, annotate and highlight PDFs
  • Enables collaboration and sharing
  • Webpages can be captured using the Web Importer

Current RMIT staff and students have access to additional storage and​ collaboration capacity through Mendeley Institutional Edition (MIE). To access MIE, use your RMIT e-mail address to either create an account or log in. MIE access will remain free for as long as you are a current student or staff member of RMIT University.

Mendeley Applications

Mendeley has two Applications: Mendeley Reference Manager and Mendeley Desktop.

Mendeley Reference Manager is the new application that replaced Mendeley Desktop in 2020. Most instructions on this guide deal with this new version.

Mendeley Desktop - from September 2022, users will no longer be able to download and install Mendeley Desktop. Security and versioning updates will also no longer be provided. However, for the time being, existing users of Mendeley Desktop can continue to use the program. See the box below titled Mendeley Desktop for further instructions. If you would like to migrate to Mendeley Reference Manager, follow these instructions.

Mendeley Online

This is the cloud based version of Mendeley. Create an online account to sync your Mendeley library to the cloud and between computers.

Resources for using Mendeley

Installing Mendeley

Please note: If you have an RMIT supplied computer, or use RMIT's Office 365 license, you may need to contact ITS to install both the program and Microsoft Word Cite add-in.

How to add references to Mendeley

The following documents will explain how to add references to Mendeley using several databases such as ScienceDirect, ProQuest and Google Scholar. The principles can be also be used for other databases, including LibrarySearch. Using the Web Importer is outlined in the Online document.

Using Microsoft Word with Mendeley

The following document outlines methods for adding citations from your Mendeley library into Microsoft Word.

Mendeley Desktop

From 1 September 2022, users will no longer be able to download and install Mendeley Desktop software. It has been superseeded by Mendeley Reference Manager. However, for the time being, existing users of Mendeley Desktop will continue to be able to sign into, use and sync their Mendeley Desktop.