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EndNote X9

Building your EndNote Library

There is more than one way to bring records into an EndNote Library, and the methods you choose will have more to do with your searching style and the type of records you will have in your library, so all of the following could be useful to you.

Make sure your EndNote library is open before you export your references.
  • Most databases, including Library Search | Ketu, support the export of references directly into an EndNote library.
  • Only the reference details are exported, not the PDFs, even when these are available in the database.
  • Instructions for exporting sets of references into EndNote are included in each of the database guides available on our website. Instructions for other commonly used Otago databases can be found at: EndNote Reference Import Instructions
  • It is also possible to export from Google Scholar:

    If you go into Google Scholar via our Databases page, you should see the option to Import into EndNote.

    Again, only the citation is imported, even when the PDF is available, and you can import only one citation at a time.

    Google Scholar - EndNote import link
    As the quality of Google Scholar citation imports is variable, it is usually better to either go to the publisher's website and export the citation from there, or to download the PDF and import it into EndNote later.
Most 21st century PDFs of journal articles contain embedded details called metadata which can be used to create an EndNote record.
  • From the File menu, PDFs can be imported individually, or collectively in bulk from a folder.
    EndNote import menu
    The import icon Import icon on the toolbar is for importing single PDFs only.
  • PDF icon Importing a single PDF:
    1. Select File Import File
    2. Find the PDF you want to import
    3. Set Import Option to PDF
    4. Click Import
    EndNote import PDF dialogue
  • PDF icon Importing a folder of PDFs:
    1. Select File Import Folder
    2. Find the folder of PDFs you want to import
    3. Set Import Option to PDF
    4. Select Import
    EndNote import folder dialogue

    Note that there are options to include subfolders if your file is a complex one, or to create a Group Set to segregate these references.

    Although you have the option to remove duplicates as the files are imported, EndNote cannot identify which of two is the more complete or accurate reference.

    It is safer to Import All, then check for duplicates later.

  • If any PDF file you import has no embedded data, EndNote will still import the PDF, and will put the name of the file into the Title field between angle brackets, e.g.

    EndNote - No embeded data

    In these cases, you will need to edit the record adding sufficient information from the imported PDF to create a complete citation.

    You may also need to correct the Reference Type to e.g. Book Section or Report.

You can search a number of databases directly from EndNote using Online Search, but:

The search options in EndNote's Online Search function are not designed to support a sophisticated search, so this method is best used to find known references.
Online Search is not available for Scopus.
Unless you are connecting to a free resource such as PubMed, Online Search works best on the University Otago, Wellington network.
  1. Choose Integrated Library & Online Search Mode from the toolbar icon panel.
    EndNote - Online Search Mode
  2. You will then see a list of those databases available for Online Search in the left-hand sidebar. Click the more… option to add any other databases you want to search.
    EndNote - Search databases
  3. Even within the University of Otago, Wellington network, you may find that you get a Remote Password pop-up.
    Just leave the fields blank and click OK to continue.
    EndNote - Remote Password pop up
  4. In the Search Panel above the main window, you will see that the upper menu is now showing Search Remote Library.
    The list of available Search Fields in the search panel varies depending on the database selected.
    EndNote - Search remote libraries
  5. Once you click OK, the records retrieved will be added to your EndNote library. Again, only the citation is imported, even when the PDF is available via that database.

    If the Confirm Online Search pop-up shows a high number of records (more than 10 or more than you expect), click Cancel and rethink your terms.
    The quality of the records retrieved varies depending on the database. Poor quality records should be amended as soon as you see the problem.
    EndNote - Records retrieved

    If in doubt, use Web of Science as a resource of choice, or ask us for more specific advice.

Manual entry is the least common way of entering references into an EndNote library, but will be necessary for things like websites, reports, etc. that either cannot be downloaded from a database or resource, or do not have sufficient metadata for EndNote to create a record from the PDF.

  1. Click on the New Reference icon to get a template for your reference.
    EndNote - New Reference
  2. The Reference Type defaults to Journal Article.
    For anything other than a journal article, you must change this to the appropriate format from the drop-down list, e.g. Report, Government Document, Webpage.
  3. Enter the citation details into the appropriate fields. You do not need to fill the template, but you should include as many details as possible in fields that will show in the Reference list, e.g. author(s), title (in the correct case for the reference type), date, publication details, URL (web address).
    There are special rules for entering authors:
    • Enter one author name per line – press Enter on your keyboard to add more authors.
    • Enter personal author names in the format Last Name, First Name (or initials), e.g.
      Smith, Linda Tuhiwai
      Cornplanter, J.J.
      Te Hēmi, Hēmi
    • Enter all author names for a particular reference. EndNote will truncate the list of authors with “et al.” or “and others” as required by the citation style you choose.
    • If a reference has no author, leave the Author field blank. Do not enter “Anonymous”.
    • When entering corporate or institutional authors, put a comma after the name to keep the words in order, e.g.
      U.S. Department of Agriculture,
      Capital & Coast District Health Board,
    If you encounter a complex institutional author name that is not looking right in your reference list, come and talk to us - we have tips and tricks for dealing with the oddities.
  4. Close the template to save the record.
  5. Double click on the reference in the EndNote window to open it if you want to make further changes to the record.