Skip to Main Content

EndNote

A comprehensive guide to the reference management software EndNote.

Manual entry

You can manually enter publication details to EndNote to create a reference record.

Note: Entering details carefully and correctly to avoid errors in your Word document.

Creating a new reference manually

Create a new reference

  • Click the New Reference icon on the EndNote library toolbar 
    • Alternatively, you can select Reference > New Reference, or press <Ctrl+N> (PC) or <Cmd+N> (Mac)
  • Important: by default the template for entering a Journal Article will appear. If you are NOT entering a Journal Article, click the drop-down arrow and select the correct Reference Type

  • ​Enter all the details required for an accurate reference, eg. for APA this is most often:
    • Author(s)
    • Year
    • Title
    • Journal Article: Journal Title, Volume, Issue and Page information
    • Book section (a chapter): Editor, Book Title, Publisher, Pages, Edition
    • Book: Publisher, Edition
    • DOI or URL
  • Author names can be entered in several different ways, as shown below
  • Once you have finished entering (or editing) details Save the reference and Close the edit screen
    • Press <Ctrl+S> (PC) or <Cmd+S> (Mac)to save the reference
    • Press <Ctrl+W> (PC) or <Cmd+W> (Mac) to close the template
    • Alternatively you can simply close the Edit screen, and EndNote will prompt you to save the changes
  • A sample completed Book Section template is shown below (except for the edition field which is further down)

 

Review your reference(s)

  • Highlight your newly entered reference in All References, then select the Preview tab to review how it appears in your selected Reference style
  • If there are modifications that need to be made, Edit the reference entry
  • Make any changes, save and Preview to check again

Creating a new reference

  • Click the add new reference icon on the EndNote library toolbar
    • Alternatively, you can select Reference > New Reference, or press <Ctrl+N> (PC) or <Cmd+N> (Mac)
  • Important: by default the template for entering a Journal Article will appear. If you are NOT entering a Journal Article, click the drop-down arrow and select the correct Reference Type
  • ​Enter all the details required for an accurate reference, eg. for APA this is most often:
    • Author(s)
    • Year
    • Title
    • Journal Article: Journal Title, Volume, Issue and Page information
    • Book section (a chapter): Editor, Book Title, Publisher, Pages, Edition
    • Book: Publisher, Edition
    • DOI or URL
  • Author names can be entered in several different ways, as shown below
  • Once you have finished entering (or editing) details Save the reference and Close the edit screen
    • Press <Ctrl+S> (PC) or <Cmd+S> (Mac)to save the reference
    • Press <Ctrl+W> (PC) or <Cmd+W> (Mac) to close the template
    • Alternatively you can simply close the Edit screen, and EndNote will prompt you to save the changes
  • A sample completed Book Section template is shown below (except for the edition field which is further down)

 

Watch this video: EndNote 20 (Windows) Create a new reference

 

Review your reference(s)

  • Highlight your newly entered reference in All References, then select the Preview tab to review how it appears in your selected Reference style
  • If there are modifications that need to be made, Edit the reference entry
  • Make any changes, save and Preview to check again

Editing an existing reference

After a reference has been entered to your Library, you should check the reference output and edit any field that has not been entered correcly. Find instructions in the Review and edit references page.

 

Tips for manual entry / editing

  • Some less common reference types require specific and unusual adjustments. Check APA 7th & EndNote if you are having trouble
  • For corporate or group authors, e.g., a report by Creative New Zealand, you must add a comma directly after the last letter of the name. Otherwise the software will assume it is the name of an individual and output it as Zealand, C.N.

Add a comma to a corporate author name

  • Authors names can be entered in various ways, but consistency is important. We suggest you entering full names in the Author field
    • Uzzell, David
    • Uzzell, D
    • David Uzzell
    • D Uzzell
    • There must be either a space or a period after an initial if it is followed by another initial or name

  • If you have a number of articles written by an author in your library, make sure all references should use exact same full name. e.g. Do not use N Smith in one record, and Nick Smith in another.
  • Spelling and capitalisation must be entered correctly. EndNote will NOT correct spelling or capitalisation for you. Check APA 7th Referencing Style guide (or a guide to the style you are using) if you are unsure
  • Avoid entering an extra space in each field, for example, an extra space at the end of the title. This will create an incorrect punctuation or a missing punctuation in the reference

AUT Library Video: Enter reference manually

Export from Library Search

  • Open your EndNote Library first
  • Go to the Library website, search for the items you wish to export to your EndNote Library    
  • Search results are grouped by two key collections: Books & media and Articles & more
  • Click See all results for a collection, for example Articles & more

          

  • Select references you want, click Export
  • You can also click Save to save selected items to your AUT library account (login required) and export references from there

         

  • A popup box will appear, check that the format for exporting is EndNote, click Export

          

  • Click  Download file in the next popup box
  • Double click the downloaded file showed on your browser
  • These references should be downloaded to your EndNote Library
  • Check each reference in the Preview (EndNote X9) or Summary (EndNote 20) section and make any changes necessary to ensure each reference is in a correct reference style

Export from databases

Most of AUT Library's databases support the direct exporting of references. Although the location of export commands and labels varies by database, the overall process is largely the same:

  • Have your EndNote library open
  • Search a database and select the references you want to export from the results list
  • Click the Export button
  • Choose the EndNote exporting option or select the .RIS export file type
    • Google Scholar may export an .enw file 
    • OVID databases may export an .cgi file
  • The way to open the downloaded file can vary slightly between browsers
  • If the export file does not automatically open, click or double-click the file to open it (the downloaded file is usually from the bottom left of the screen, in the downloads bar or in your downloads folder)
  • The newly exported references will be added to the All References folder in the left column of your EndNote Library. For convenience they also appear in a temporary folder called Imported References
  • Check each reference in the Preview (X9) or Summary (20th) column
  • Edit the references as needed. Instructions are available the Review and edit references page

Video tutorial

This EndNote workshop video Export references from databases shows the process for exporting references from the Library Search, the Scopus database and Google Scholar. 

You may watch this short video for EndNote 20 Importing text files.

Export references from a specific database

In most databases the exporting citation function is relatively easy to use. However, for some databases extra information may be needed. The following list provides instructions for exporting from these databases.

EBSCO databases:
Art & Architecture Complete; Art Full Text; Art Index Retrospective; Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre; Business Source Complete; CINAHL; Communications and Mass Media Complete; Hospitality & Tourism Complete; MEDLINE; SocINDEX with Full Text; SPORTDiscus with Full Text; Teacher Reference Center

OVID databases:
AMED; Cochrane Library; ERIC; Essential Nursing Collection; Journals@OVID; MEDLINE; PsycARTICLES; PsycINFO; Lippincott 100 Nursing and Health Science Collection

ACM Digital Library

OUP Journals

A+ Education (Informit)  

OVID databases

AGIS Full Text (Informit)

Periodicals Archive Online (ProQuest)

Annual Reviews 

Project MUSE

APAFT (Informit)

ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global

CABI Leisure Tourism

SAGE Journals (Sage Fulltext Collections)

Cambridge Journals Online

SAGE Research Methods

EBSCO databases

ScienceDirect

Emerald Insight

Scopus

Gerritsen Collection

Sociological Abstracts (ProQuest)

Google Scholar

Taylor & Francis Online

INNZ (Index New Zealand)

Vogue Archive (ProQuest)

JSTOR

Wiley Online Library

MEDLINE via PubMed

 

Import PDFs

Importing a PDF to create a reference

This function will create a reference in your Library with the PDF attached. You will need to check and edit the reference to ensure the information inserted is correct.

The PDF must meet the following criteria: 

  • The PDF must be publisher-generated, i.e., downloaded from a database, and preferably with a DOI
  • The PDF is saved on your computer

Click the instructions for PC or Mac below:

Open your EndNote library, click File > Import > File

  • An Import File box will pop up, click Choose
  • Navigate to find the PDF saved in your computer, select the PDF and click Open
  • Back to the Import File box, select PDF from the Import Option dropdown, click Import:

           

  • A reference record with the PDF should be saved to your EndNote library now
  • The paperclip icon next to the reference in the main panel shows you that there is a PDF attached to it
  • EndNote X9: the PDF appears next to the Preview tab 
  • EndNote 20: the PDF is in the Summary column:

 

  • Check the reference Preview to verify that the reference details were imported correctly
    • If elements of the imported reference are missing or incorrect, Edit the record to correct it as normal
    • If the Title of the record is in angle brackets using the PDF filename, then you will need to enter all of the missing data

 

Open your EndNote library, click File > Import >

  • An Import box will pop up
  • You need to select the PDF - navigate and find the PDF saved on your computer and select it,
  • Then select Options at the bottom left of the Finder window and set options as shown below

           

  • Select Import
  • A record with the PDF will be saved to your EndNote library
  • The paperclip icon next to the reference in the main panel shows you that there is a PDF attached to it
    • EndNote X9: the PDF appears next to the Preview tab 
    • EndNote 20: the PDF is in the Summary column:

 

  • Check the reference Preview to verify that the reference details were imported correctly
    • If elements of the imported reference are missing or incorrect, Edit the record to correct it as normal
    • If the Title of the record is in angle brackets using the PDF filename, then you will need to enter all of the missing data

 

Import a folder of PDFs

You can import a folder of PDF documents to your EndNote Library rather than doing each one individually. Each PDF will generate a reference. 

 Windows/PC

  • Open your EndNote library, click File > Import > Folder
  • Choose the folder from your computer and click Import
  • Check each record to ensure the reference is correct. Generated references vary in quality, editing may be required

Mac

  • ​Choose File > Import and click Options in the bottom left of the window
  • Under Import Options, choose PDF Folder as a Group Set > Import
  • Check each record to ensure the reference is correct. Generated references vary in quality, editing may be required

Watch this short video: EndNote 20 Importing PDF files.

 

Importing PDFs automatically

You can set up EndNote to automatically import PDFs from a default folder on your computer. 

  • Create a default folder on your computer, and save PDF documents you wish to import into EndNote to this folder
  • Open your EndNote, go to Edit > Preferences > PDF Handing

         

  • Click Enable automatic importing 
  • Click Select Folder, navigate to the default PDF folder and select it 
  • (Windows/PC) Click OK
  • (Mac) Click Save
  • Any new PDFs added into this folder will be automatically imported into your EndNote library. References will be created (as long as the PDFs have a DOI) and the PDFs will be attached to references
    • Generated references vary in quality, editing may be required

Watch this short video: EndNote 20 (Windows) PDF auto import folder.