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EndNote Desktop

Tips for Importing References

There are three ways to collect citations for Endnote:

  1. Export (download) the citation from a database and import the downloaded file to Endnote (covered in this section).
    • This is the most common and efficient way of collecting references. 
  2. Create a citation manually from within Endnote using the Add Reference button. 
  3. Search for a specific citation from within Endnote Desktop. 

Tips

  1. When importing from a database, it is more efficient to download multiple references from the database as one file rather than importing individually. You can do this by:
    • Checking off references on your search results page, and export from the results page OR
    • Add references to the database's "folder," "collection" or "clipboard" feature, then when you are finished collecting references from the database, check off all the collected references and export as one file. 
  2. When exporting a citation from a database, the citation file will download to your Downloads folder. Depending on your browser, the download may not pop up. During the Import step, sort your downloads folder by Most Recent to find the downloaded citation. 

Importing References into EndNote Desktop

  1. Select the references you want to export.
  2. Click the “Send to” button above the results list.
  3. Select “Citation manager” from the drop-down menu.
  4. Select “Selection (#)” from the Selection drop-down menu.
  5. Click the “Create File” button.
  6. In EndNote Desktop, click on the File tab in the main toolbar.
  7. Select the “Import...” option from the drop-down menu.
  8. Select the file that PubMed created for you.
  9. Click on the Options button.
  10. Select PubMed (NLM) from the “Import Options:” drop-down menu.
    • Note: If you don’t see the filter mentioned above listed, you can select “Other Filters…” from the drop-down menu and use the search function to find and select it.
  11. Click the Import button.
  1. Select the references you want to export.
  2. Click on the “Export” link in the results section of the page (NOT the history section).
  3. Select RIS format (Mendeley, EndNote) from the “Choose a format” drop-down menu.
  4. Click the Export button.
  5. Click the Download button.
  6. In EndNote Desktop, click on the File tab in the main toolbar.
  7. Select the “Import...” option from the drop-down menu.
  8. Select the file that Embase created for you.
  9. Click on the Options button.
  10. Select Reference Manager (RIS) from the “Import Options:” drop-down menu.
    • Note: If you don’t see the filter mentioned above listed, you can select “Other Filters…” from the drop-down menu and use the search function to find and select it.
  11. Click the Import button.
  1. Search an EBSCO database (CINAHL, Health Business Elite, Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection, etc.) or the HSL Discovery Search.
  2. Add the references you want to use by clicking on the folder icon next to each record.
  3. Click on the “Folder View” link in the right sidebar.
  4. Check the “Select / deselect all” checkbox.
  5. Click the Export link in the right sidebar.
  6. Click the "Direct Export in RIS Format" button under the "Save citations to a file formatted for:" section on the right-hand side.
  7. Click the Save button.
  8. In EndNote Desktop, click on the File tab in the main toolbar.
  9. Select the “Import...” option from the drop-down menu.
  10. Select the file that EBSCO created for you.
  11. Click on the Options button.
  12. Select Reference Manager (RIS) from the “Import Options:” drop-down menu.
    • Note: If you don’t see the filter mentioned above listed, you can select “Other Filters…” from the drop-down menu and use the search function to find and select it.
  13. Click the Import button.
  1. When you find an item you want to use in the library catalog search results, click into that record.
  2. Click the “Save record” link in the right sidebar.
  3. Select RIS from the drop-down menu.
  4. In EndNote Desktop, click on the File tab in the main toolbar.
  5. Select the “Import...” option from the drop-down menu.
  6. Select the file that NYMCat created for you.
  7. Click on the Options button.
  8. Select Reference Manager (RIS) from the “Import Options:” drop-down menu.
    • Note: If you don’t see the filter mentioned above listed, you can select “Other Filters…” from the drop-down menu and use the search function to find and select it.
  9. Click the Import button.
  1. Select the references you want to import.
  2. Click on the “Export selected citation(s)” link at the top of the search results page.
  3. Click on the “RIS (EndNote)” link under the “Select the format you require from the list below” section.
  4. If you want the abstract for each reference, check off the “Include abstract” checkbox at the bottom of the window.
  5. Click the Download button.
  6. In EndNote Desktop, click on the File tab in the main toolbar.
  7. Select the “Import...” option from the drop-down menu.
  8. Select the file that Cochrane created for you.
  9. Click on the Options button.
  10. Select Reference Manager (RIS) from the “Import Options:” drop-down menu.
    • Note: If you don’t see the filter mentioned above listed, you can select “Other Filters…” from the drop-down menu and use the search function to find and select it.
  11. Click the Import button.

NOTE: Google Scholar tends to have unreliable metadata, meaning that you probably have to do a lot of editing to make citations you get from there usable.

Setting Up

  1. Go to Google Scholar.
  2. Click on the menu icon next to the “My profile” icon in the upper, left-hand corner of the page.
  3. Click on the Settings section at the bottom of the menu.
  4. If the system does not automatically default to the “Search results” section of the settings, click on the “Search results” link in the left sidebar.
  5. Go to the “Bibliography manager” section and select EndNote from the drop-down menu for “Show links to import citations into.”
  6. Click the Save button.
  7. Now the link will show up on the bottom, right side of the records in your search results list. 

Importing Your Result (Single Record)

  1. In your search results list, click on the “Import into EndNote” link on the bottom, right side of your chosen record.
  2. In EndNote Desktop, click on the File tab in the main toolbar.
  3. Select the “Import...” option from the drop-down menu.
  4. Select the file that Google Scholar created for you.
  5. Click on the Options button.
  6. Select EndNote Import from the “Import Options:” drop-down menu.
    • Note: If you don’t see the filter mentioned above listed, you can select “Other Filters…” from the drop-down menu and use the search function to find and select it.
  7. Click the Import button.

Importing Your Results (Multiple Records)

NOTE: Like PubMed, Google Scholar’s export functionality for multiple records requires you to perform multiple steps. However, unlike PubMed, Google Scholar has no bulk select tool, so you will have to select each article you want manually.

Also note that before you begin this process for a new search, make sure you’ve cleared the results of your last search from your library. 

  1. Click on the star icon underneath the records you want to export.
  2. Click on the “My library” link in the upper, right-hand corner of the page.
  3. Click on the checkbox next to the records you want to export or click on the checkbox on the menu bar at the top of the page to select all records on a page.
  4. Click on the export icon (it looks like a download button) on the menu bar.
  5. Select the EndNote option from the drop-down menu.
  6. In EndNote Desktop, click on the File tab in the main toolbar.
  7. Select the “Import...” option from the drop-down menu.
  8. Select the file that Google Scholar created for you.
  9. Click on the Options button.
  10. Select EndNote Import from the “Import Options:” drop-down menu.
    • Note: If you don’t see the filter mentioned above listed, you can select “Other Filters…” from the drop-down menu and use the search function to find and select it.
  11. Click the Import button.

Exporting References from EndNote Desktop

  1. Highlight the references you want to export.
  2. Click on the File tab in the main toolbar.
  3. Select the “Export…” option from the drop-down menu.
  4. Select the folder where you want to store the export file.
  5. Select the “Text Only” option from the “Save file as type:” drop-down menu.
  6. Select the “EndNote Export” option from the “Output Style:” drop-down menu.
    • NOTE: If you don’t see the style mentioned above listed, you can select “Select Another Style…” from the drop-down menu and use the search function to find and select it.
  7. Click on the Save button.
  8. You can then import that .txt file into your other citation management software as an EndNote Import file.

 

  1. Click on Tools>Output Styles>Open Style Manager.
  2. Be sure the RefMan RIS Export style is checked.
  3. Highlight the references you want to export.
  4. Click on the File tab in the main toolbar.
  5. Select the “Export…” option from the drop-down menu.
  6. Select the folder where you want to store the export file.
  7. Select the “Text Only” option from the “Save file as type:” drop-down menu.
  8. Select the “RefMan (RIS) Export” option from the “Output Style:” drop-down menu.
    • NOTE: If you don’t see the style mentioned above listed, you can select “Select Another Style…” from the drop-down menu and use the search function to find and select it.
  9. Click on the Save button.
  10. You can then import that .txt file into your other citation management software as an RIS file.

Option A:

  1. Highlight the references you want to export.
  2. Click on the File tab in the main toolbar.
  3. Select the “Export…” option from the drop-down menu.
  4. Select the folder where you want to store the export file.
  5. Select the “Text Only” option from the “Save file as type:” drop-down menu.
  6. Select the “Tab Delimited” option from the “Output Style:” drop-down menu.
    • NOTE: If you don’t see the style mentioned above listed, you can select “Select Another Style…” from the drop-down menu and use the search function to find and select it.
  7. Click on the Save button.
  8. In Google Sheets, create a new spreadsheet.
  9. Click on the File tab in the top navbar.
  10. Select the Import option from the drop-down menu.
  11. Click on the Upload tab at the top of the pop-up window.
  12. Click on the “Select a file from your device” button and choose the file you just exported from EndNote.
  13. Select “Append to current sheet” from the “Import location” drop-down menu.
  14. Leave the “Separator type” as “Detect automatically.”
  15. Check the “Convert text to numbers, dates, and formulas” check box.
  16. Click the Import button.
    • NOTE: EndNote Desktop does not export records with column headers, so you will need to insert a column above your first record and add the headers yourself. 
  17. Download the Google Sheet as an Excel spreadsheet.

Option B:

  1. Go to Output Styles>Open Style Manager>From the list, check of the style Tab Delimited.
  2. Go to Output Styles>Tab Delimited now appears in your drop down. Check it off.
  3. Highlight all the references you would like included in the Excel sheet.
  4. Right-click on the highlighted references and select Copy Formatted References.
  5. Open a new Excel sheet and place the cursor in cell A2. Paste the formatted references.
  6. From here, you may want to add your own column headers in the first row and clean up the data as you would like it to appear.

NOTE: With this option, you may notice some inconsistencies in your spreadsheet, where fields appear in the wrong column, or references run into two rows. To fix:

  • Make a backup copy of your Endnote Library by clicking on File (the EndNote tab if you are using a Mac) and then click on Save a Copy. Save a copy of the library.
  • Click on File (Or EndNote for Mac) then Open Library, and open the copy of your library.
  • Highlight all the references by clicking on All References on the left-hand column, then Control or Command+A to highlight all the references.
  • Click on the Library tab, then click on Find and Replace.
  • Place the cursor in the box Find. Then click on Insert Special and pick Carriage Return.
  • Place the cursor in the box Replace. Press the space bar.
  • Still in the Find and Replace window go to the drop down menu Select A Field. Choose Any Field.
  • Click Change.
  • Now follow the Option B steps above for copying the formatting references to Excel. 
  1. Highlight the references you want to export.
  2. Click on the File tab in the main toolbar.
  3. Select the “Export…” option from the drop-down menu.
  4. Select the folder where you want to store the export file.
  5. Select the “Text Only” option from the “Save file as type:” drop-down menu.
  6. Select the “Tab Delimited” option from the “Output Style:” drop-down menu.
    • NOTE: If you don’t see the style mentioned above listed, you can select “Select Another Style…” from the drop-down menu and use the search function to find and select it.
  7. Click on the Save button.
  8. In Google Sheets, create a new spreadsheet.
  9. Click on the File tab in the top navbar.
  10. Select the Import option from the drop-down menu.
  11. Click on the Upload tab at the top of the pop-up window.
  12. Click on the “Select a file from your device” button and choose the file you just exported from EndNote.
  13. Select “Append to current sheet” from the “Import location” drop-down menu.
  14. Leave the “Separator type” as “Detect automatically.”
  15. Check the “Convert text to numbers, dates, and formulas” check box.
  16. Click the Import button.
    • NOTE: EndNote Desktop does not export records with column headers, so you will need to insert a column above your first record and add the headers yourself.