What are basic groups?

With basic groups, you manually drag and drop any existing references into your group. The references are still kept in All References folder; basic groups only contain copies of them.

Create a basic group

1. On the left panel of your EndNote Desktop library: right-click on MY GROUPS > Create Group, or from the toolbar menu Groups > Create Group.
    
2. Name your group whatever you like (e.g. a topic you are researching). The basic group is now created.
    
3. Now drag-and-drop some references from All References into your new group.
    
4. A copy of the references you dragged-and-dropped are now in your new basic group.
   
   
   Image: Copyright © Clarivate. Used under licence.
    

A basic group is identified with this icon .


Image: Copyright © Clarivate. Used under licence.

What are smart groups?

With smart groups, EndNote Desktop will automatically place into the smart group any future or existing references that contain your search criteria within any field within the reference, e.g. title, author, abstract, keywords, etc.. The references are still added or kept in All References folder; smart groups only contain copies of them.

Create a smart group

1. On the left panel of your EndNote Desktop library: right-click on MY GROUPS > Create Smart Groups, or from the toolbar menu Groups > Create Smart Group.
    
2. Name your group whatever you like (e.g. a topic you are researching).
    
3. Press the Author drop-down list, scroll up and select Any Field.
    
4. In the text box, type a word that commonly appears in your references (e.g. in title, author or abstract), e.g. "vaccinations". Press the Create button. The smart group is now created.
    
5. A copy of any existing references that contain that word in any field are now automatically put into your new smart group. Also, a copy of any new references you will add in future that contain that word in any field will also automatically go into your new smart group.
   
   Image: Copyright © Clarivate. Used under licence.
    

A smart group is identified with this icon .


Image: Copyright © Clarivate. Used under licence.

What is a group set?

A group set allows you to group various simple groups or smart groups together.
 

For example, if you are undertaking several courses/subjects, you could create a group set for each of your course/subject codes. You could then create simple groups within every group set for each of your assignments, e.g. assignment 1, assignment 2, etc.


Image: Copyright © Clarivate. Used under licence.
 

Another example is if you are only undertaking a thesis or dissertation in your studies, you could create a group set for each chapter of your paper, e.g. Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc. You could then create simple groups or smart groups within every group set for the references you use for each chapter and categorise those references into sub-topics, e.g. sub-topic A, sub-topic B, etc.


Image: Copyright © Clarivate. Used under licence.
 

Another example is if you are researching a topic, you could create a group set consisting of sub-topics. For example, you topic could be about long-term unhealthy eating and impact on health. You could create group sets as sub-topics for your topic, e.g. causes of unhealthy eating, psychology, health consequences, management & treatment, etc. You could then create simple groups or smart groups within every group set for the references you use for each of these sub-topics, and categorise those references into further sub-topics, e.g. sub-topic A, sub-topic B, etc.


Image: Copyright © Clarivate. Used under licence.

A group set is identified with this upside-down triangle icon .

Create a group set

• In your EndNote Desktop library, go to: Groups > Create Group Set > give your group set a name (e.g. EEET2449, Chapter 1, etc.).

OR

• In your EndNote Desktop library: right-click on the MY GROUPS on the left panel > select Create Group Set > give your group set a name (e.g. EEET2449, Chapter 1, etc.).

Tips for groups

• When you create a group and populate it with references, the references are still kept in All References folder. You are not moving your references from the All References folder; you are simply creating copies of them in your groups.
• You can have the same reference in multiple groups.
• If you delete a reference from a group, it will only delete it from that group, not from the All References folder or any other group the reference may be in.
• If you delete a reference from the All References folder and that same reference is also in a group, it will delete the reference from both All References and that group. 

Add a tag to an existing reference

• Drag-and-drop the reference into the particular tag located under MY TAGS on the left panel of your EndNote Desktop library.

OR

• Right-click on the reference > Manage Tags > select tag(s) from list > press OK button.
  
  
  Image: Copyright © Clarivate. Used under licence.

You can also add new column headings to give your references more descriptors.

Add new column headings

1. Right-click on any column heading in the middle pane of your EndNote Desktop library, then tick the column heading you want to show, e.g. Record Number, Rating.
   
   
   Image: Copyright © Clarivate. Used under licence.
    
2. Once you have added a new column heading, you can sort your references by that (in ascending or descending order).
   
   
   Image: Copyright © Clarivate. Used under licence.