Old Dominion University Libraries

EndNote at ODU Instructions

Tutorials image

EndNote @ ODU Table of Contents

For more information on using EndNote, contact:

  • Nancy Schafer -- nschafer@odu.edu
  • Karen Vaughan -- kvaughan@odu.edu
  • Miriam Bridges -- mbridges@odu.edu

 

EndNote Instructions - Basics

EndNote is a powerful tool for acquiring, organizing and managing citations. With EndNote, users may acquire citations in various ways:

  • Enter the citation manually
  • Search a library catalog directly through EndNote
  • Search a library database and export citations directly into EndNote
  • Search a library database and save citations to import in EndNote with filters

You may then organize your references, images and PDFs and create bibliographies and figure lists. “Cite While You Write” is a feature that allows you to incorporate references from your EndNote library directly into a Word document as in-text citations and as footnotes or references.

Open EndNote

Start / Programs / EndNote / EndNote Program
Unless you want to use EndNote Web, choose “Do not integrate with EndNote Web at this time” – “Finish.”

Create an EndNote library

  1. Select “Create a new library” --  OK.  Or, select “Open an existing library.”
    (You may need to go to “File” / “New” to create a new library.)
  2. Name the file and location for your library.  It will have the extension:  .enl 
  3. Click “Save” and your EndNote Library will open. The “library” is where your citations will be stored.

To enter a citation manually:

  1. Click “References” in the top toolbar, and select “New Reference.”
  2. Select a “Reference Type” (e.g., Journal Article) from the Reference Type dropdown menu at top, and then enter the citation information in the appropriate fields.
  3. When finished entering information, click “File / Close Reference” from the top toolbar, or click the lower X at the top right.

To select a format style and view the reference:

  1. At the top toolbar, choose an output style from the dropdown menu. The default is “Annotated.”  Choose “Select Another Style…” and select from the options (e.g., MLA, APA, etc).  Click “Choose.”
  2. Once you select a style, your references will appear in that style.  Highlight a reference to view it in the bottom Preview section.

To save your references:

Your references are automatically saved in your .enl file. An associated .Data directory is also saved. 

To simply copy references from your library into a bibliography:

  1. Select the appropriate style output.
  2. Highlight the references you wish to use in your bibliography.
  3. Right-click and select “Copy formatted” – then paste them into a Word document.

    To format your paper with footnotes and bibliography, try “Cite While You Write.”

To create a copy of your 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. Note: The Save a Copy command also creates a [library name].DATA folder for the new library and copies all necessary files and images to it.

Some ways to manage your references:

  • There is no limit to the number of references, but it is recommended that you not exceed 100,000.
  • Edit References:  Double-click on the reference to open and edit.
    • Add file attachments:  Right-click on a reference in your reference list to attach a file/s. The attachment icon will show before the author name. You may attach multiple pdfs, Word docs, images to a reference, but only one audio or video file.
    • Add a figure:  With the reference open, right-click and choose “Figure” to add one graphic or file into the Figure field of a record -- the figure can be cited in Word.
    • Add keywords to your references to be able to search and find them later (especially if the title is not descriptive). This can also help you to organize your library by topic
  • Sort References:  Click on the header (Author, Year, etc) to sort all references by that category.
  • Create Groups:  Within EndNote you may wish to create groups to organize your references (under “Groups” / “Create Group”)
  • Move References:  It’s easy to move references within groups (usingcopy/paste or “Groups”/ ”Add References To”)
  • Delete References:   Highlight reference/s to be deleted, right-click and “Move References to Trash.”
  • Find and Delete Duplicates:  Choose “References”/ “Find Duplicates” – duplicates will be highlighted.  With the duplicates highlighted, right-click and “Move References to Trash.”
  • Use Edit / Preferences to customize your library options --  e.g., change to Unicode font if you’re including references in other languages; “change case” for words that need to stay capitalized.

TIPS

It is necessary to double-check every reference, especially those exported from certain databases.  Look at:

  • Page numbers. Many databases only export the first page of the article.
  • Capitalization. In some cases, you’ll need to manually change the entry from all caps.
  • Corporate author names. When entering a corporate author, you should follow it with a comma (eg, Smithsonian Museum, ) – otherwise EN treats it as an individual author.  EN assumes everything before a comma is a last name.
  • Title.  Some databases add descriptive information to a title to indicate the topic.
  • Journal. Some databases will include full citation information in the journal field.
  • Author. Place multiple authors on separate lines. Use lastname, firstname...