Using EndNote : introductory level

Creating an EndNote "library"

EndNote calls each list of references a "library".

When you start EndNote, you will get the option to create a new library file.

Alternatively, at any time you can create a new library file within EndNote by choosing the File menu and selecting New...

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Add a new reference to EndNote

To add a new reference (EndNote also calls them records), click on the References menu, and select New Reference.

Select the reference type before adding any details.

Different types of references (books, journal articles, web pages, etc) require different details. See the Library's Citing and referencing tutorial for more detail.

If this is the first time you have used an author or journal name, it will show up in red. If you have already entered the author or journal name, it will show up in black and attempt to provide auto-completion. If the name is only similar, not identical, just keep typing to over-write the auto-completion.

When you have finished entering the details, close the record by clicking on the cross in the top right corner. All details will automatically be saved.

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Changing an existing EndNote reference

To change the details of a reference, choose the References menu and choose Edit References. You can also just double-click on an individual reference in the list of references.

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Sorting EndNote references

You can quickly change the order in which your EndNote records are displayed by clicking on the headers at the top of each column.

For example, clicking once at the top of the Year column sorts the references by publication date.

Clicking a second time reverses the order.

Clicking on the Author header restores sorting by author.

Choosing a reference style

In order to use styles in EndNote you need to select your "favourites" from the many styles EndNote provides.

From the Edit menu, select Output Styles, then Open Style Manager.

In the style manager you may choose any number of styles. A style must be ticked to add it to your list of favourites.

If you know the style you want, you can easily find it by name (or even part of the name).

Close the style manager after you have selected the styles you want to use.

Once you have chosen some favourite styles, you can quickly select them from the toolbar in EndNote.

If the toolbar is not showing, use Tools, Show Toolbar, Main to reveal it.

When you select a style from the toolbar, the preview will change to show the currently selected reference in that style.

The preview is how the reference will show in your reference list (bibliography), not as an in-text citation.

If the preview area is not showing, click on the Show Preview Indicator.

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Adding an in-text citation

Make sure the required EndNote library is open. Select the reference you wish to insert into your document.

Open Word, position the cursor where you wish to insert the citation, and select the Tools menu, EndNote, and Insert Selected Citation.

If you prefer, you can use the icon on the EndNote toolbar.

If you have the "Cite While You Write" feature (also known as instant formatting) turned on, you should see both the in-text citation and the reference list entries added automatically.

If you need to add page numbers to a book citation, click anywhere in the in-text citation (the background of the citation should turn grey to show it is selected), then from the Tools menu, Endnote, select Edit Citation(s), or use the button on the EndNote toolbar.

You must add the page numbers to the Suffix field. The Pages field is only for footnote styles.

If you need a numerical in-text style, you must select the appropriate style (eg Vancouver) in EndNote (see "Choose a style").

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Adding a footnote citation

Make sure the required EndNote library is open.

Select the reference you wish to insert into your document.

Open Word, position the cursor where you wish to insert the footnote indicator, then select the Insert menu, Reference, Footnote.

Important: Make sure you are in Print Layout view in Word

Go down to the new footnote, click where you want the citation to be inserted, and select the Tools menu, EndNote, and Insert Selected Citation.

If you prefer, you can use the icon on the EndNote toolbar.

If you have the "Cite While You Write" feature (also known as instant formatting) turned on, you should see both the footnote citation and the reference list entries added automatically.

If you need to add page numbers to a citation, click anywhere in the footnote citation (the background of the citation should turn grey to show it is selected), then from the Tools menu, Endnote, select Edit Citation(s), or use the button on the EndNote toolbar.

Add the page details to the Pages field.

see it in action (swf, 545kb)

Changing styles in Word

Word uses the bibliographic style currently selected in EndNote.

You can easily change this in Word to any other style you have selected as a "favourite".

In Word, select the Tools menu, EndNote, then Format Bibliography, or click on the button in the EndNote toolbar.

In the pop-up box that appears, select the style you want from the drop-down list. This list only shows the styles you have selected as favourites in EndNote (see "Choose a style"). Click the OK button after selecting a style. This style will be applied throughout the document.

see it in action (swf, 350kb)

Removing an in-text citation from Word

Sometimes you want to remove an existing citation - it may the wrong citation accidentally inserted, incorrectly placed, or some other reason.

Do not simple select and delete the citation in Word - EndNote inserts hidden formatting characters, and you may not delete all of them cleanly.

To remove a citation, first click once inside the in-text citation - the background of the citation should turn grey to indicate that it has been selected.

Then either choose the Edit Citation(s) button from the EndNote toolbar or choose Edit Citation(s) from the EndNote menu under Tools

This will bring up the Edit Citations box you may remember from adding page numbers. Make sure the correct citation is chosen, then click on the Remove button, and then OK.

If this is the only time the citation was used, it will also be removed from the list of references.

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