Adding Citations and Bibliographies in MS Word

Introduction

The instruction below cover how to use Mendeley’s word processor plugin with Microsoft Word. Mendeley also works with many other word processors, and the instructions should be similar. Please contact us if you need any assistance.

A plugin must first be installed before you are able to use Mendeley with Microsoft Word.

Before installing the plugin, make sure that both Word and Outlook are closed.
Open the Mendeley Desktop, go to the Tools menu and select the Install MS Word Plugin option.
The plugin will begin to install, and once installed a message will pop up confirming the install.

You can use Mendeley's Cite-O-Matic tool to insert citations into your Word documents:

Ensure that your cursor is in the spot where you would like your in-text citation to appear.
Next, go to the References tab in you Word document, and click on the Insert Citation button.
A search tool will pop up. Use the search box to find the article you would like to cite. You can search by Author, Title or Year.
As you type in your search query, articles matching your query will be listed. Click on the relevant article from the list of results.
You can search for more articles if you are citing more than one.
Click on the OK button when you are ready to insert your citation/s.
This will add the in-text citations into your document according to the selected citation style.

You can easily change the citation style in your Word document:

Go to the References tab in your Word document, and in the Mendeley Cite-O-Matic panel, select your preferred style from the Style: drop-down list.
If your preferred citation style does not appear in the list, then select the More Styles... option at the bottom of the list to choose from a more comprehensive list.

You can insert a bibliography at any point in your writing process. Once the bibliography has been inserted, it will automatically update whenever a new in-text citation is added.

Ensure your cursor is in the spot where you would like your bibliography to appear - This is often below a heading you’ve created for the bibliography.
Go to the References tab in your Word document, and in the Mendeley Cite-O-Matic panel, click on the Insert Bibliography button.
The bibliography will then be generated according to your chosen citation style.

When you have completed your document, it is best to remove the Mendeley coding before submitting or sharing it.

Go to the References tab in your Word document, and in the Mendeley Cite-O-Matic panel, click on the Export as drop-down list, and select the Without Mendeley Fields option.
Follow the prompts to save a duplicate copy of your document.
Your original document with the Mendeley field codes will remain and can be edited if changes need to be made to your references. The duplicate document can be submitted or shared without risking problems with your references.

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