EndNote: Desktop EndNote

If a database does not provide a direct export feature it is usually possible to save the references in a suitable format that can be imported into EndNote. 

1. Search your database and mark any relevant items (usually a checkbox).
2. Once you have marked the items look for an 'Export' option. In many cases you can select the 'EndNote' or 'RIS' export option and save the file. 
3. Open EndNote and import the references using the correct import option (also known as a filter) for the database you have used. If the correct import option isn't there try the 'Reference Manager (RIS)' or 'EndNote Import' options.

The import option will map the information in each downloaded reference to the corresponding fields in EndNote. Because the information in each database is organised in different ways, there is a different import option for each database. EndNote comes with a range of import options, others are available to download for Desktop EndNote from the EndNote Import Filters download site (see below).

Once your references are imported, open a couple to make sure the fields have been filled in correctly.

To find out which import option to use for your database:

Getting additional filters for importing references

If the filter you need is not included in the list provided with EndNote, check whether it is available to download using the link below.

1. Search for the name of the database. There may be several different versions available for different hosts - make sure you select the correct one for the site you are using.
2. Click Download. 
3. Choose the Save option and save the file.

Saving your additional filters

Once your selected filter has been downloaded click on it to open. Go to 'File' and 'Save as' and 'Save'. This should save it into a location where EndNote can find it and use it. If you have any issues using the filter make sure it is saved in one of the following locations.

On your own computer
Save the file into the Filters folder in the EndNote program folder on your computer.
On a Windows computer browse to your Local Disk (C:), open the 'Program Files (x86)' folder, then the 'EndNote' folder and then the 'Filters' folder and save it there.  
On an Apple Mac computer go to the Applications area and open the 'EndNote' folder and then the 'Filters' folder and save it there.

For University computers you don’t have admin rights on
Save the file to your personal folders on your computer. This is in Documents\EndNote\Filters (you might need to create the EndNote\Filters folders if they don't already exist).

The EndNote Online search uses connection files to allow you to search a database from within EndNote and download into your Library.

We do not recommend using the EndNote Online Search to find references because:

• it offers very limited searching functionality making it hard to refine your search;
• there can be technical difficulties with the z3950 technology it uses.

Searching a database directly and then using Direct export to get the references into your library is the best method, or downloading and importing references if the first option is not available.

However, the Online Search can work well when searching Library catalogues. It is possible to use it to download records from our own catalogue this way. For best results make sure that your search is specific and well constructed - too general a search might retrieve thousands of useless records and it not easy to refine your search once you have your results.

Note that it also possible to search our Enterprise catalogue directly and select 'Export to EndNote (RIS)' from the Actions menu.

Downloading the connection file for our catalogue

If you don't already have the 'U Reading' in the list of Online Search connections you will need to download our connection file via the link below. 

Once your selected connection file has been downloaded click on it to open. Go to 'File' and 'Save as' and 'Save'. This should save it into a location where EndNote can find it and use it. If you have any issues using the file make sure it is saved in one of the following locations.

On your own computer
Save the file into the Connections folder in the EndNote program folder on your computer.
On a Windows computer browse to your Local Disk (C:), open the 'Program Files (x86)' folder, then the 'EndNote' folder and then the 'Connections' folder and save it there.  
On an Apple Mac computer go to the Applications area and open the 'EndNote' folder and then the 'Connections' folder and save it there.

For University computers you don’t have admin rights on
Save the file to your personal folders on your computer. This is in Documents\EndNote\Connections (you might need to create the EndNote\Connections folders if they don't already exist).

Please note that this is connecting to the Unicorn catalogue (which just holds details of the University Library books and journals) and not the Enterprise catalogue. It is also possible to download directly from Enterprise. Run your search on Enterprise and look for the 'Export to EndNote (RIS)' option under the 'Actions' menu when viewing your results.

When EndNote is installed it should automatically add the Cite While You Write toolbar in Word.

If you have installed EndNote and the Cite While You Write toolbar is not appearing in Word try the following:

1. Open Word.
2. Click on File and then Options in the list on the left.
3. Choose Add-Ins.
4. Go to the Manage drop down list at the bottom of the screen There are a couple of things to check here:
   1. Select 'Disabled Items' and click on 'Go'. If any Endnote files are on the Disabled Items list, select them and click on the 'Enable' button.
   2. Select 'COM Add-ins'. If 'EndNote Cite While You Write' appears here tick the box next to it and click 'OK'.
5. The EndNote toolbar should then appear in Word.

If that doesn’t work close Word and find the EndNote programme files. On a Windows computer these will be on the C: Drive > Programme Files (x 86) > EndNote. On a Mac these will be in the Applications area. Click on the ‘Configure EndNote’ entry in the EndNote folder and make sure you select the ‘Cite While You Write’ option. Click through and then try reopening Word and hopefully the toolbar will have returned.

On a Mac you can also try opening Endnote and click 'Endnote' on the toolbar at the top left of the screen. Select 'Customizer' and make sure 'Cite While You Write' is ticked.

If these don't work try the solutions given in the following guide:

Alternatively contact the Clarivate Analytics support team for technical help:

As EndNote versions 20 and 21 are very similar most of the features covered in this video apply to both.

Video guides to using Desktop EndNote

We have produced a series of five introductory videos which are in the YouTube playlist below.

• Video 1: Getting started - covers downloading and installing the software, creating a library and synchronising with EndNote Online to create a secure backup.

• Video 2: Getting references into EndNote - covers downloading from Summon, Web of Science and PubMed and typing in references for books and webpages.

• Video 3: Organising and editing references - covers navigating and managing your library, using groups to organise references, editing references and attaching PDFs.

• Video 4: Inserting citations and references in Word - covers using the Word plugin in insert citations and create a reference list, changing the style and creating a plain text copy for submission.

• The final video in the playlist covers using EndNote for a systematic review.

If you are unable to view these videos on YouTube they are also available on YuJa (University username and password required):

We run regular workshops in term-time which cover all aspects of using Desktop EndNote.

If you are unable to attend a workshop, you can teach yourself using the step-by-step guides or videos:

Videos

Websites

Your Academic Liaison Librarian can offer individual help on using EndNote. 

They can offer a tutorial, or advice on specific questions. Contact them to make an appointment. The link below gives a list of liaison librarians for each department.

For technical issues contact Clarivate Analytics directly:

Adding page numbers to citations

1. In Word, highlight the citation to which you want to add page numbers.
2. Click on the Edit & Manage Citation(s) button on the Endnote toolbar.
3. This opens a dialogue box. In the box next to Suffix, type a space, followed by a comma, a space, and the required page numbers in the format required by your referencing style, then click OK. Your citation will appear with page numbers eg (Asimov, 1960, pp.7-8).

Updated July 2023

Corporate names - getting them to appear correctly in citations

How do I get EndNote to format a corporate author correctly? It is formatting World Bank as Bank, W.

Just put a comma after the name in the author field, for example:

World Bank,

If your corporate author is made up of initials and has a comma in the name, you will need to put two commas in place of the single one to fool EndNote into formatting the name correctly.

For example:

M & P, Inc. should be entered in EndNote as M & P,, Inc.

This makes EndNote treat M & P as a surname thus formatting the name correctly to display as M & P. Inc.

Updated July 2023

My citations look odd! They are in squiggly brackets. Why?

If your citations within your bibliography look like this example: {Cooper, 2007 #29} and your bibliography does not appear at the end of your document, you are displaying “Unformatted” or “Temporary citations”.

Select the style you want from the Style pick list on the EndNote toolbar in Word, and then select Update Citations and Bibliography. This will change the temporary citations in the text to the style you have chosen and create the bibliography at the end of your document. 

July 2023

Formatting multiple citations

I want to be able to cite multiple references in the text with commas between them and "and" between the 2nd and last. As for example (Smith et al, 2002, Jones, 1999 and Bloggs, 1986). How can I do this?

There is a way to do this but it has to be done to each citation when they have been created in Word. It cannot be done through the output style on EndNote.

1. In Word insert your required citations with no space between them.
2. Make sure the cursor is in the required citation.
3. From the toolbar choose 'Edit & manage citation(s)' (or right click with the mouse).
4. An edit box will appear with all three citations displayed.
5. Click on the last citation and then click in the prefix box.
6. Type 'and' then a space.
7. Click on OK. This will allow the word to appear before the last citation. Unfortunately the comma appears as well, but at least this does allow the 'and' to be added manually, as desired.

Updated July 2023

Dealing with variant forms of author names

My paper contains multiple references to the same author. In some references the author might be described as 'Benjamin', whereas in others as 'Ben'. EndNote regards Benjamin and Ben as two different authors and in the citation includes the first name to distinguish them. How do I get EndNote to treat Benjamin and Ben as the same person?

1. In EndNote go to the Tools menu and select Output Styles 
2. Edit your chosen output style
3. In the Citations section of the style select Author Name
4. Remove the tick next to 'Use initials only for primary authors with the same name'  

See EndNote guide 2 for guidance on editing output styles.

However, if you are using a style such as APA which requires different authors with the same surname and first initial to be distinguished from one another, you should instead edit the individual entries in your library to ensure the same form of name is used for each author.

Updated July 2023

Grouping references by type, for example Books, Articles, Websites

It is simply done by altering a setting in the output style you are using. See our EndNote guide 2 to for an introduction to editing styles.

1. When editing the style click on Sort Order under the heading bibliography.
2. You are given a number of options - click next to Other.
3. A new box will appear give you a number of sort options to choose. Select Reference Type from the pick-list. This will re-order the bibliography into alphabetic order of the different reference types in your library.
4. Save the amended style and apply it to your references (go to 'Select Another Style' to find it). You will then simply need to add relevant headings to each section in the bibliography.

This works well if your primary sources are all the same sort of reference type. If they are different you could add a customised field or you could use the field 'type of work' and add it as a first sort criterion. Once formatted, simply add the heading as appropriate in the bibliography.

Updated July 2023

Merging references from multiple chapters to create a single reference list

If you have written a section of a paper in collaboration with others, or separate chapters of a dissertation or book, you can merge the text and have one reference list at the end.

1. Create a blank document where you will place all the chapters.
2. Make a backup copy of all the documents you wish to merge.
3. Open the documents to be merged in Word.
4. Copy the text of the individual documents, but NOT the reference list. It is important that you do not include the reference list as part of what you copy.
5. Paste the text from the individual documents into the new blank document.
6. Once you have created the merged document go to the EndNote toolbar and 'Update Citations and Bibliography'.

This procedure will create a formatted Microsoft Word document with one bibliography at the end.

Updated July 2023

Working on a Word document on multiple computers

If you have EndNote on both your work and home computers and you want to work on one Word document in both places you need to follow these steps:

1. Take backups of both your work EndNote library and your Word document.
2. On your work computer use the sync function to copy all references into an EndNote online account.
3. On your home computer create an empty library.
4. Use the Sync function to download all the references from your EndNote online account. At this point, although the two libraries contain identical content, the unique number (#) for each record can differ between libraries.
5. Open the Word document created on your work computer.
6. In Word's Endnote toolbar, click Update citations and bibliography. This will align the record numbers with library on your home computer.
7. When you open the same document on your work computer, click Update citations and bibliography to re-align the record numbers with the library on your work computer.

Get into the habit of syncing your EndNote library each time you start and finish working with it, at work and at home - or set the library to sync automatically. This will ensure all versions of your library have identical content. Also, update the citations and bibliography in Word before you start work.

Updated July 2023

Recovering a deleted EndNote library

If you accidently delete your EndNote library but still have its .data folder you can recover the Library by following these steps:

1. Use Notepad to create an empty plain text file.
2. Save it with the same name as the data folder and give it the .enl file extension. Make sure you change the Save As Type: to All Files.
3. Open the .enl file you have created and it will be a copy of the original library.

Updated July 2023

I am about to leave the University but want to continue using Desktop EndNote

The University's EndNote licence requires you to remove Desktop EndNote when you leave the University. To continue using it you will need to purchase your own licence directly from Clarivate using this link:

Alternatively you could synchronise your desktop library with an EndNote online account and use that instead. Or export the references to use in another reference management system (see our FAQ in the section on 'Moving references to/from other packages'.

Updated July 2023

Can I use EndNote with Google Docs?

If you are using EndNote 21 synchronised with EndNote Web then you can use it with Google docs. The Cite While You Write add-on can be downloaded from the MarketPlace. For more information see this guidance from Clarivate:

Updated August 2023