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Guides & Tutorials: EndNote Basics
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EndNote is bibliographic management software that allows users
to manage citations in personal libraries and create bibliographies
based on a number of available journal or writing styles. This guide
will aid you in performing basic tasks using EndNote version 7,
8, or 9.
In addition to this guide, you may want to consult the EndNote
Support page for information on downloading the software
and the EndNote
FAQ page for (you guessed it) frequently asked questions.
Creating a New Library
- Open EndNote. You may do this by double-clicking on the EndNote
icon OR by locating EndNote on the computer's hard drive.
- A box with choices will appear. Choose Create a new EndNote
library. Click OK.
- Name your library and pick a location on your computer where
the library will be saved.
- Click Save.
Choosing Fields to Display as Column Headings in your
Library
You can choose up to five fields to display as column headings
in your library.
- Go to Edit, Preferences.
- Choose Display Fields from the left-hand list.
- Choose your desired field for each column from the drop-down
menus. Note: If you want to remove a column
so that fewer than five fields appear, you can choose "Unused" from
the from the drop-down menu.
 Using
Term Lists
- To ensure that your bibliographies will be formatted correctly,
you should import a journal term list before you add any references
to your library.
- Go to the Tools menu, Open Terms Lists, and then
Journals Term List.
- A blank table will appear. Click the Lists tab, highlight
Journals, then click Import List.
- Navigate to your EndNote folder (C Drive>Program Files) and choose the Terms
Lists folder. Select the subject area for the type of references you will be working
with (chemical, medical, or humanities).
- The table will be filled with full journal titles and their official abbreviations.
Opening an EndNote Library
- Open EndNote. You may do this by double-clicking on the EndNote
icon OR by locating EndNote on the computer's hard drive.
- A box with choices will appear. Choose Open an existing EndNote
library. Select a library from the drop-down menu. Click OK.
- You can also go to the File menu and select Open Library
or choose an existing library from the list.
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| Adding References to Your Library |
This section explains multiple ways you can build a reference library
using EndNote. The EndNote library can serve as your master bibliography
for any and all projects you are working on.
| A. Manual Entry of Data into
your Library |
This is the most labor-intensive way to put references into EndNote,
and the way that is most prone to errors. Use this method as a last
resort, if you can't find your reference(s) in a database like MEDLINE,
or in a library catalog like Northwestern University's NUcat for books
or book chapters. (You would just need to get the record for the book
and modify your EndNote record to reflect a chapter of that book).
- Go to the References menu and select New.
- Select the appropriate Reference Type. Journal Article is the
default.
- Enter data:
- Author names must be entered one per line e.g. Smith, J.T.
- Put a period or space between initials. Try to be consistent
with other references in your EndNote library.
- Use ? for unknown dates
- Go to the File menu and select Save, or simply
close the record --it will automatically be saved.
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| B. Searching Databases Using the EndNote Interface |
EndNote allows direct connections to quite a few databases using
connection files that are included in your EndNote software package.
To access NU-restricted resources (for example, Ovid databases
and Web of Science) through EndNote, you will need to be on the
Northwestern University network or connected via a Virtual
Private Network (VPN).
Databases like PubMed or the NU library catalog (NUcat) should
be ready to go, and access is not restricted.
Please Note: If you want to search MEDLINE, select PubMed.
This option allows you to search the database regardless of your
location.
- Performing
Searches
The EndNote search interface is very basic and does not support
advanced searching options such as the ability to explode or focus
in MEDLINE. The searching via EndNote method is good for retrieving
"known items", i.e. articles you know already exist or
all articles by a particular author. It is not as useful for subject
searching (for this see C. Importing
Search Results into EndNote).
- Go to the Tools menu and select Connect.
- Select the database you want from the list of those previously
searched
OR
- Select Connect to see the complete list of potential
connection files that come with EndNote
- If you are using a licensed database, such as Ovid MEDLINE
or PsycINFO, and you are on the NU campus, you do not need to
enter a User ID or password. If prompted for a password, just
click OK to
connect, without entering any information.
- At the top of the search screen will be the name of the database
you're searching. Verify that you are searching the proper database.
- Enter your search terms and click on the Search button.
Please Note:
- The default connector is OR; change to AND if necessary.
- Add more search boxes by clicking on the "Add Field" button
at the bottom.
- For Journal Searching: Use the full journal name, not an
abbreviation.
- For Author searching: Type the last name first, followed
by a comma and the first initial.
- Once
references are retrieved, a screen appears listing search results.
Select the number of results you wish to retrieve. Note: Retrieving a large number of citations can take some time. You may want to choose a manageable number of citations to retrieve or modify your search if your result set is too large. The citations most recently entered into the database you are searching will appear at the top of your retrieval set.
To download references to your library either
- Click
on the Copy All References to button on the resulting screen
and then select either a new library or a previously created library
to save citations to your library.
Or
- Select (highlight) the citations you want to add to your library
using your mouse and the CTRL or SHIFT keys.
- Click
on the Copy References to button on the resulting
screen and then select either a new library or a previously
created library to save citations to your library.
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| C. Importing Search Results into EndNote |
This is the recommended way to put citations into your EndNote library. This method allows you to take advantage of the search features of the database you are using and will usually result in more precise search results.
Ovid
Databases: Direct Export
- Perform
your search in an Ovid database.
- Select
references that you want to save.
- Save
your selected references using the Citation Manager at the bottom
of the results.
- Citations: choose Selected Citations
- Fields:
choose those that meet your needs
- Citation Format: choose Direct Export
- Click
on the Save button
- The
EndNote program will open.
- Select
the library you want the citations to go into.
PubMed
(MEDLINE): Saving Results
- Perform
your search in PubMed.
- Select
MEDLINE as your Display type.
- From
the Send to drop-down menu, choose File. Click the
Send to button.
- Name
your search. The .txt file extension is fine for importing into EndNote.
- Follow instructions for importing references (below).
Note: There is no direct export method for PubMed.
Web of Science (Science Citation Index): Direct Export
- Perform your search in Web of Science.
- Mark the references you want and Submit them
to the Marked List.
- Click on the Marked List button at the top of the page.
- In Step 1, select the fields you
want to include (abstract, times cited, etc.)
- In Step 2, leave the default selection at "Field Tagged".
- Click on the Export to Reference Software button.
- The EndNote program will open.
- Select the library you want the citations to go into.
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Importing Your References
After Saving Search Results
- Open
EndNote and the EndNote library in which you want to place your
references.
- Click
on the File menu and select Import.
- Choose
the file you want to import. This is the file you saved from PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, or Web of Science.
See the PubMed (MEDLINE): Saving Results section above.
- Choose
your Import Option based on which database you searched. (MEDLINE
(OVID) if you searched the Ovid version of MEDLINE).
- If
you don't see the correct import filter, choose Other Filters
and check the full list of import filters.
- Choose
what you prefer to do with duplicates:
- Import
All
- Discard
Duplicates, or
- Import
Into Duplicates Library
- Click
on the Import button.
| Searching Your EndNote Library |
- Go
to the References menu and select Search References.
- A
search screen will appear.
- At
the top of the search screen in the blue area will be the name
of the EndNote library that you are searching. Verify that you're
in the proper library.
- Enter
your search terms
- You
will see a list of references that meet your search criteria.
- To
see your full library again, go to the References menu
and select Show All References.
Editing References
- Double-click
on the reference you want to edit.
- Change
the appropriate field(s).
- Go
to the File menu and select Save.
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Inserting
Citations into Your Paper
- Place
the insertion cursor after the text you are citing.
- If
you are using Microsoft Word, go to the Tools menu and
select Go to EndNote.
- If
you are using another word processor, switch to EndNote.
- Highlight
the reference you want to cite from your EndNote library.
- There
are 4 ways to add a reference to your paper:
- While
still in EndNote, go to Tools, Cite While You Write,
and Insert Selected Citation(s)
- If
you are using Word, go to the Tools menu and select
Insert Citation(s).
- Also
with Word, you may choose Insert Citation(s) from the
Add-in menu in EndNote.
- You
may copy/paste or drag/drop the reference into the spot in
your document where you want to cite it. This works with any
word processing software.
-
The
"Cite While You Write" feature in EndNote does two things as
you insert citations in your document:
- In-text
citations will be formatted into the output style you last
used (provided Instant Formatting is enabled -see Formatting
Your Bibliography below).
- An
ongoing bibliography will be constantly created in the same
style.
Formatting Your Bibliography
- Once
you have inserted citations into your paper, you may at any time
format or re-format your bibliography, providing your EndNote
library is open.
- If
you are using Microsoft Word, go to Tools>>EndNote 9>>Format Bibliography.
- If
you do not see the style that you want to use in your list of
options, follow the instructions below to change your list of
bibliography styles.
- The
Format Bibliography box also allows you to enable or disable
Instant Formatting.
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Changing
Your List of Bibliography Styles
- Go
to the Edit menu, select Output Styles, then select
Open Style Manager to pick from over 1000 potential bibliography
styles.
- Select
as many styles as you would like to be placed in your shortlist
of styles.
- You
can always add or remove styles later.
- Close
the Style Manager box.
Creating an Independent Bibliography
There may be occasions when you will want to create
a stand-alone or "independent" bibliography.
| Galter Library Contact Information |
If you
are a Northwestern University affiliate, please don't hesitate
to contact us with any questions about EndNote.
Galter
Library Education Team
galter-ed@northwestern.edu
312-503-8109
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You
will find several brief, step-by-step instructional videos throughout
this guide. Click the projector icon to launch each video. Videos
will open in a new browser window and contain audio narration
so be sure to turn on your speakers.