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EndNote Desktop guide

How to use the EndNote Desktop program to add and manage references, and format citations and bibliographies.

Attaching full-text

METHOD A: Manually attach a saved PDF to an existing reference

 

Purpose

This method is useful when you already have the PDF of a reference saved on your computer or USB, or for references that do not have a DOI (please see METHOD B below for more details). This method is carried out for one reference at a time, not multiple reference simultaneously.

 

Instructions

  1. In your EndNote Desktop library, select (click) the reference you would like to attach the PDF to.
     
  2. Click on the Summary tab on the right panel, then press the Attach File button. Select the PDF and press the Open button. As an alternative, you can also go to: File Attachments > Attach File > select the PDF > press the Open button.
     
  3. Click on any other reference to bring up a "Do you want to save the changes you made to the reference?" pop-up box. Click Yes.
     
  4. Repeat Steps 1-2 for each other reference you want to attach a PDF to.

METHOD B: Using Find Full Text to automatically attach multiple PDFs to existing references

 

Purpose

This method is useful when you do not already have the PDFs of your references. EndNote Desktop will search for the full-text PDFs within RMIT Library's subscription databases. If we have those PDFs, EndNote will then automatically attach them to their corresponding references in your EndNote Desktop library. This method can be carried out either for one reference at a time or for multiple reference simultaneously. You will need to be connected to the Internet.
 

IMPORTANT: This method only works for journal articles and conference papers with a DOI (Digital Object Identifier). You do not need to know which ones have a DOI -- EndNote will work that out. Older journal articles and conference papers, government reports, annual reports, company or industry reports, unpublished materials such as manuscripts, newspaper articles and book chapters do not have a DOI. In this case, EndNote will not automatically find and attach any PDFs -- you will need to manually do this yourself. First find and download the PDFs yourself, then follow METHOD A above.

 

Instructions

A) Configure your EndNote Desktop settings
  1. Click on the Find Full Text option within the Preferences window:

    - On Windows: Edit > Preferences > Find Full Text
    - On a Mac: EndNote > Preferences > Find Full Text
     

  2. In the Find Full Text option within the Preferences window:

    a) Ensure that the OpenURL option is ticked.
    b) In the OpenURL Path field, copy and paste this link: https://libkey.io/libraries/1057/openurl
    c) Check that the Authenticate with URL field is empty -- do not type anything within.
    d) Press the Apply button.

    find full text settings in endnote desktop preferencesImage: Copyright © Clarivate. Used under licence.
     
  3. Click on the URLs and Links option within the same Preferences window.
     
  4. In the URLs and Links option within the Preferences window:

    a) Replace whatever is in the ISI Base URL field with the following link (copy and paste): https://go.openathens.net/redirector/rmit.edu.au?url=
    b) In the OpenURL Arguments field, replace WoS with endnote.
    c) Press the Apply button.
    d) Press the OK button.

    url and links settings in endnote desktop preferencesImage: Copyright © Clarivate. Used under licence.


    wos value in open url arguments settings in endnote desktop
    Image: Copyright © Clarivate. Used under licence.

    TO...

    endnote value in open url arguments settings in endnote desktop
    Image: Copyright © Clarivate. Used under licence

 

B) Automatically find and attach full-text PDFs
  1. Select one or more references in your EndNote Desktop library.
     
  2. Get EndNote Desktop to automatically find and attach full-text PDFs using one of these options:
    - Go to: References > Find Full Text > Find Full Text OR

    - Click on the Find Full Text icon find full text icon in endnote desktop OR
    - Right-click on your selected reference(s) and select Find Full Text.
     

  3. The PDFs have now been attached to relevant references in your EndNote Desktop library, as evident by the paperclip icon next to each reference. The number of references for which the PDF has been found and attached will also appear next to Found PDF within the Find Full Text section.
     
  4. The number of references for which the URL has been found appears next to Found URL within the Find Full Text section. This means that, although EndNote found the full-text PDFs for those references, it could only provide the URL links that lead to those PDFs. It could NOT attach the PDFs to your references. You will need to individually open each affected reference, scroll down to the URL field and click on the link to download the PDF. Then manually attach the PDF to its corresponding reference as per Method A in the previous tab.
     
  5. The number of references for which the PDFs were not found nor attached due to having no DOI, will appear next to Not found within the Find Full Text section. You will need to first find and manually download those PDFs yourself, then manually attach the PDF as per Method A in the previous tab.

    find full text section in endnote desktop
    Image: Copyright © Clarivate. Used under licence.

METHOD C: Manually adding a folder of saved PDFs to create new references

 

Purpose

You can get EndNote to automatically create new references in your EndNote Desktop library by importing a group of full-text PDFs. This method will only work for PDFs with a DOI. You do not need to know which ones have a DOI -- EndNote will work that out. 

 

Instructions

  1. In your EndNote Desktop library, go to: File > Import > Folder.
     
  2. Press the Choose button, then find and click on the folder that contains your PDFs. Press OK, then press Import.
     
  3. The references (e.g. title, author, year, etc.) have been created, and their corresponding PDFs have been attached to them.
     
  4. Always check the accuracy of each reference to ensure that no information is incorrect or missing.​
Note: If your imported PDFs do not have a DOI, only the PDFs will be inserted NOT the reference details (title, author, year, etc.). You will need to manually insert these details yourself.

PDF management

Automatically import and rename PDF files

You can set up your EndNote Desktop library to enable automatic importing of PDFs from a designated folder on your computer. This allows for any new PDFs added to the folder to be automatically imported into your EndNote Desktop library and a new reference created for each PDF.

You can also set up your EndNote Desktop library for any new PDFs to be automatically renamed using the naming convention you select (for example: Author + Year).

 

Instructions for automatic importing

  1. In your EndNote Desktop library toolbar: Edit [for Windows] OR EndNote [for Mac] > Preferences > PDF Handling > tick Enable automatic importing > select the designated folder where you saved your PDF files (click Select Folder) > press OK.
     
  2. EndNote Desktop will now automatically import into your library any new PDFs added to this designated folder, as well as create a new reference for that PDF. If the reference is already in your EndNote Desktop library, the PDF will automatically be attached to it. If the reference is not already in your EndNote Desktop library, a new reference will automatically be created and the PDF attached.
     
  3. Where possible, EndNote Desktop will also find and add basic information to the new reference via the Digital Object Identifier (DOI).

Tip: While you are researching, download any new PDFs you find to the designated folder you specified above.

 

Instructions for automatic renaming

  • You can have EndNote Desktop create more informative PDF names.
     
  • If you add a file such as <1-s2.0-S0305748812001399-main.pdf> to your auto import folder, EndNote Desktop can attempt to rename the PDF to an author-date-title format e.g. Bendall-2013-The public life of maps.pdf.
     
  • EndNote Desktop will automatically rename your PDFs when importing them into your EndNote Desktop library. This renaming does not affect the name of the PDF in the original folder on your computer.
     
  • You can also set your own custom renaming protocol:

In your EndNote Desktop library, go to: Edit [for Windows] OR EndNote [for Mac] > Preferences > PDF Handling > PDF Auto Renaming Options > select your naming convention preference, e.g. Author + Year > press OK button. 

Tip: The automatic renaming process works in the background when you open your EndNote Desktop library and while you are working in it.
 

Note: you can ask EndNote Desktop to find any missing reference information. If the PDF was added and only lists its file name and a DOI, EndNote Desktop can try to find and add the base reference information via the DOI. 

  1. In your EndNote Desktop library, select the reference. 
  2. In the toolbar, go to: References > Find Reference Updates. 
  3. If anything can be found you will be presented with the additional information. Fill in the blank fields or copy across additional information, then Save the changes.
  4. Sometimes EndNote Desktop matches the accession numbers from different databases and suggests a different article. In this case, press Skip.