EndNote

Ask a Librarian

Create a Library

  1. Start EndNote and click on File and New .
  2. Name your library, making sure to save the library in the Examples folder of EndNote.
    Note: This isn't required but may eliminate problems when working with the library. All library file names should end in the .enl file extension.

    3. Number of Databases/Libraries allowed= Any number

    Number of Recordsper Database= any number, recommended not over 100,000

    Reference Types = 35+ 3 unused

    Number of Fields(individual pieces of information) per Record=52

    Field Length =64K (16 pages); 45 pdfs in Link to PDF field; 1 image (any size) in image field.

  3. Optional: You may customize the way records display in the EndNote Library window.It can be helpful when displaying your records to see whether the item is a book or journal article (ref type), URLs, pdf attachments, etc.

    1. Click on Edit and Preferences to customize the library window display.
    2. Select desired fields from the drop-down boxes.
    3. Click on OK to apply your changes.

Build a Library

Importing Citations electronically

Many databases support a Direct Export feature for electronically importing reocrds into your EndNote Library. If there is no Direct Export you will have to save your records as a text file (.txt) and import them manually into your EndNote Library.
Check Importing Citations into EndNote for directions for your specific database.

Online Searching within EndNote

    You can perform searches of PubMed, MadCat (UW-Madison Online Catalog) and many other library catalogs directly through EndNote.

  1. Click on Tools and Connect.
  2. Select the desired database from the list. Univeristy of Wisconsin-Madison is the correct choice for UW-Madison's MadCat Catalog.
  3. Enter your search terms and click on Search.
  4. Click OK at the Confirm Remote Search: box.
  5. Records will show in the displayed window. You may view the contents of a record by clicking on the title.
  6. Click on the Copy All References to button to transfer these records into the EndNote library of your choosing.
    (Optional) You may also click on individual records to transfer them to your EndNote library.
  7. Records will be autmoatically copied to your EndNote Library. When you are done searching close your Connect search box and click Discard at the prompt.

Manually creating a new reference

  1. Select New Reference from the References pull down menu at the top of the screen.
  2. Select appropriate reference type from the Reference Type drop-down menu.
    This is very important because it determines how a style will format that citation.

  3. Enter the information from your reference in the appropriate fields.
  4. Close record to save.

    5. Guidelines for entering information in an EndNote record

    Enter data without formatting . The Style used when printing your list of references will add whatever formatting is required by that particular style.

    Example:Do not use bolding, underlining, italics, punctuation, etc. Capitalize in sentence style (first word, proper nouns in English, all nouns in German, etc.)

    Exceptions:Use formatting for words that could not be interpreted by a style, such as superscript, subscript, capitalization of proper nouns, and use of italics for genus species names, etc. You must also use commas between the last and first names of authors.

    Author Guidelines

    Personal name is recorded in the following order:
    Lastname, Firstname Middlename
    Initials are separated by a space or period: Lastname, F.M.

    Multiple authors
    Each author should be entered on a separate line, or separated with a semi-colon.

    Corporate names are entered as you want them to appear, without commas. Enter a comma at the end for proper formatting:
    Apple Computer Inc.,

    Date of Publication:
    Enter dates as you want them to appear. EndNote does not re-format dates.
    Year= Enter the year information only here. This used for sorting by date.
    2001

    Date= This field is used for month, day and year if available. You should enter this information in a numeric format, instead of as text. Use the format of yr/month/day
    95/05/21 NOT May 21 st, 1995

    Pages : Enter number(s) only. The output style will determine if it is p. or pages.
    Enter page ranges in a variety of formats. EndNote can interpret page ranges.

    142-149 OR 142-9

    Keyword Guidelines
    Keywords can be single words or multiple word phrases. Use upper case for the initial letter of each word. Each keyword should be entered on a separate line or separated by a semi-colon.
    DNA Fingerprinting
    Genetic Engineering

Organize Records

Tagging records with keywords allows easy retrieval of a subset of your EndNote Library. You can tag a record manually with multiple keywords or globally add keywords to a group of records.

Adding Keywords to Records Globally

You can do this to all the records showing in the display window or to selected records. To select a sub-set of records within a library, either do a search within EndNote or highlight the items desired from the display window.

  1. Click Reference and Change and Move Fields.
  2. Select Keywords from the In: box.
    Note: Words can be added to any field within an EndNote record. Simply select the desired field from the In: box
  3. Click in the desired radio button in the Change: box.
  4. Type a keyword or keywords in the right hand text box. Separate multiple descriptors with a semi-colon and no spaces (e.g., “plastics;polymers”).
  5. Click on OK.

View/Edit Records

Viewing records

  1. Click on the title to view full record.
  2. Click the right or left arrows to move between records.

Editing Records

You can edit any field in an individual reference by clicking on the record in the display window. There is an editing toolbar at the top of the screen, which includes fonts, sizes, and special editing features such as bolding, italics, and the insertion of subscript, superscript, and symbols.

Note:You do not need to add any formatting to the record itself which is a function of the output style, such as underlining journal titles, parentheses around volume or issue, etc.

Globally Editing Author, Keywords or Journal Names within individual records.

  1. Click on Edit and Change Text.
  2. Select Author, Keywords or Journal/Secondary Title from the In: box.
  3. Type the word you wish to replace in the Search for: box.
  4. Type the replacement author, Keyword or Journal name in the Change the text to: box.
  5. Click on Change.

Create a Bibliography

Creating a Bibliography within EndNote

  1. Click to highlight the desired records for your bibliography.
  2. Select desired output style from the drop-down Style menu at the top of the screen.
  3. Click on Edit and Copy Formatted.
    A formatted bibliography of your desired records is copied to your clipboard.
  4. Go to your word processor and paste the formatted bibliography into your document.

Optional: If you have a large number of records in your bibliography you may choose to export those records, rather than copy and paste them into a word processor.

  1. Search for your desired records or highlight your desired records so that they become the records currently showing in the EndNote display window.
  2. Click on File and Export.
  3. Select Rich Text Format (*.rtf) from the Save As Type: drop down menu.
  4. Click on Save
  5. Go to your word processor and open the saved document. This will be a formatted bibliography of your records in the style you previously selected.

Cite While You Write

Use the EndNote Cite While You Write Plug-in to insert references, and format citations and bibliographies automatically while you write your papers in Word. The EndNote plug-in should be added when you install EndNote on your computer.
Note: If you do not see the EndNote toolbar or EndNote commands under the Tools menu in Word see the following directions.

Inserting cited references in your Word document

  1. With your Word document open, place the cursor in the location where the citation should appear.
  2. Select EndNote and Find Citation(s) from the Tools menu.
    This tool searches your entire library (i.e., all reference fields for all references in all folders)
  3. Enter a search term in the Find: box to find the reference or references to insert.
  4. Click on Search.
  5. Select the desired reference. To insert multiple references in one citation, click each reference while holding the Ctrl key.
  6. Click Insert.

When Instant Formatting is turned on the citation appears at the cursor location, formatted according to the bibliographic style specified. The reference information is also automatically added to the bibliography at the end of your manuscript.

This can cause some problems with longer Word documents. To disable this feature and format your bibliography when you are done writing your paper go to Tools, EndNote and Cite While you Write Preferences and click off on the box in front of “Enable instant formatting on new word documents. You can always turn it back on if you decide you want to do so. Then when you have completed inserting all of your cited sources go to Tools— EndNote—Format Bibliography to have it format your entire word document at once.

To add specific page numbers to your in-text citation:

  1. Highlight the desired in-text ciation
  2. Select EndNote, Edit Citations from the Tools menu.
  3. Enter page number in either the Pages: or Suffix box.
    I have never had success with the Pages box, so I recommend using the Suffix box for this information.
  4. Click on OK.
  5. Your in-text citation now includes the page number and is unformatted.
  6. Go to EndNote, Format Bibliography from the Tools menu to reformat this citation in your word document.

Share/Export Records

Exporting references to another EndNote Library

  1. Records for exporting should be those showing in the current display window. If you wish to export a subset of your entire library then search for or select the desired records so they are the only ones showing in the display window.
  2. Click on File and Export.
  3. Select Text File(*.txt) from the Save as Type: drop down menu.
  4. Select EndNote Export from the Output Style: drop down menu
    If you do not see EndNote Export on the drop down menu click on Select another style and choose from the list.
  5. Click on Save.
  6. Open the EndNote library where you wish to import the references.
  7. From the File menu, choose Import.
  8. Click the Choose File button to select the file and click OK.

  9. From the Import Options list, select EndNote Import.
    10. Select an option from the Duplicates list:
    By default, a reference is considered a duplicate when the Author, Year, Title, and Reference Type match a reference already in the library.
  10. Click Import to import the file.

Copying an EndNote Library

  1. With a library open, choose Save a Copy from the File menu.
  2. Name the new library and choose where to save it.
  3. Click Save and EndNote creates a copy of the library.
    The new library does not open, it is simply saved to disk, where you can then open it with EndNote. EndNote leaves your original library open as it was before the command was chosen.

Other Sharing Options

Sharing records between EndNote Web and EndNote Desktop

Moving EndNote records into RefWorks

Moving RefWorks records into EndNote