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EndNote Desktop guide

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

Setting up EndNote sync

About syncing

  • EndNote Desktop gives you the ability to automatically sync your EndNote library across two or more computers via EndNote Online.
     
  • You can then share your entire library via EndNote Desktop or just a group (or selected groups) via EndNote Online with fellow researchers or other students. This allows you to collaborate with them.
     
  • You can sync one library with unlimited references and attachments and up to 5,000 groups.
     
  • Please do all this only on your own computer.
     
Note: You can only link ONE library to an EndNote Online account. This online account will then "lock" to that computer's copy of the EndNote software. You will NOT be able to work with more than one synced account per personal computer or per login on RMIT computers.

Sync to a new EndNote Online account

  1. Open your EndNote Desktop library.
  2. On Windows: go to Edit > Preferences > Sync. On Mac: go to EndNote 21 > Settings > Sync.
  3. Press on the Enable Sync button.
  4. If you do not already have an EndNote Online account, press on the Sign Up button.
  5. Enter your email address twice - you do not have to use your RMIT email account. This email address will become your login.
  6. Press Submit.
  7. Fill in all of the required fields that have a red asterisk [*]
  8. Click I agree.
  9. Your registration is complete. Press Done.
  10. The Sync process will authorise your new account and automatically add any references to your EndNote Desktop library.
  11. If you have references in the library, you will be asked to make a compressed backup. Follow the instructions to do so.

The first time you sync it may take a while for the sync process to complete (especially if you have many references with full-text). Future syncing will be quicker. Your EndNote Desktop and EndNote Online libraries will now sync automatically.

Sync to an existing EndNote Online account

  1. Open your EndNote Desktop library.
  2. On Windows: go to Edit > Preferences > Sync. On Mac: go to EndNote 21 > Settings > Sync.
  3. Type your existing EndNote Online login and password into the EndNote Account Credentials fields.
  4. Press OK.
  5. You may be asked to register the computer for your EndNote Online account. Fill in all of the required fields that have a red asterisk [*]
  6. Click I agree.
  7. Your registration is complete. Click Sync.
  8. Press OK to save the settings.

Do you want to check how much space you have left in your EndNote Online library? Click on Sync Status on the left panel of your EndNote Desktop library (ensure you are logged into your EndNote Online account first via your EndNote Desktop library).

Sync an existing account to a second computer

  1. If you have already created and synced an EndNote library on a first computer, make sure to note the library's name for step 4.
  2. Open your EndNote Desktop library on a second computer (Windows or Mac).
  3. Go to File > New.
  4. Create a new library with the same name as the original synced library.
  5. On Windows: go to to Edit > Preferences > Sync. On Mac: go to EndNote 21 > Settings > Sync.
  6. Type your existing EndNote Online login and password into the EndNote Account Credentials fields.
  7. Press OK.

The first time you sync it may take a while for the sync process to complete (especially if you have many references with full-text). Future syncing will be quicker. Your EndNote Desktop and EndNote Online libraries will now sync automatically.
 

Note: Future syncing will be quicker. The synced library's references, attachments and groups will be added to the library on your second machine. Your computers will now sync to EndNote Online and update automatically. Remember to regularly back up your Word documents.

Sharing a library via EndNote Desktop

It is very easy to share an EndNote library or a group(s) with up to 100 people, whether it be colleagues, other researchers, your supervisor or other students. The full reference (record) will be shared, including any attached full-text PDFs or images.

  1. Follow the instructions in the Setting up EndNote sync box on this page.
     
  2. If you wish to share your entire EndNote Desktop library, click File > Share.
     
  3. If you only want to share a specific group(s) instead: from the Groups section on the left panel, select a group and click the Share this group icon on the toolbar.
     
  4. After undertaking either step 2 or 3, a Sharing screen will appear. Enter each email address of the person you want to share with, separated by a comma.

    share an endnote desktop library
    Image: Copyright © Clarivate. Used under licence.
     
  5. Change the Permission setting, so that recipients have either Read & Write or Read Only access.
     
  6. Type a message in the Add a message box (if applicable).
     
  7. When finished, click Invite. Your colleagues will receive an email asking them to accept your invitation. They will only be able to do so if they are using a more recent version of EndNote e.g. X7.1 or later.
     
Note: Older versions of EndNote Desktop (prior to X7.1) do NOT have the share functionality. Once your recipients click Accept, they will be redirected to their EndNote Online account where they will need to login and, again, Accept.

Please be aware of copyright considerations when sharing your EndNote library:

  • Most RMIT Library subscription databases licence terms allow for personal use only and do not allow you to share full text of articles, book chapters and other content including PDFs.
  • Documents from the web may only be available for personal use and are not intended to be further distributed and shared. Check the website terms of use to see what use is permitted.
  • Creative Commons licenced material can be distributed and shared provided you adhere to the Creative Commons Licence terms. 
  • You can safely link to content in Library licenced databases and non-infringing material on the web.

Managing shared groups

When you sync an existing EndNote Online account with your EndNote Desktop library, you may duplicate group names or references, or introduce new groups into your EndNote Desktop library.

Any new EndNote Online groups are automatically added to your My Groups list.

When new groups are added, it is recommended that you check for any duplicates that may now appear in your library:

  1. Select Library > Find Duplicates to identify and remove any duplicated references. Note: Before deleting duplicates, you will need to check your Word document to verify what duplicate record number(s) are listed so you do not delete the wrong reference.
     
  2. Once any changes have been made to your shared library, you can then refresh the sync status. To do this select Sync Status from the top left of screen and click on the Sync now button. Note: You should also refresh your EndNote Online library to reflect the new changes.
     
  3. Please remember to regularly back up your Word document, and also your EndNote Desktop library by using the File > Compress Library (.enlx) option. Please see the Back up page on this guide for more details.