UF Hawkins Center Strategy Tutors

What is Mendeley?

Mendeley is a free reference or citation management software that can offer the usual citation management tools, including:

• organizing references
• sharing citations with colleagues
• reading and annotating full text
• easily inserting citations into documents  

There are two versions of Mendeley: a desktop version and a browser version.  The desktop version is called Mendeley Reference Manager and can be downloaded to your computer, though it does not work well on Macs. The browser-based version is called Mendeley Web and can be accessed from any device. Both version sync any additions or edits with each other.

Who can use Mendeley?

Mendeley is free and available to anyone to download, but it does not work well with Mac computers.

Why Mendeley?

The Mendeley desktop is comparable to the EndNote desktop in terms of functionality, but freely available. The Mendeley web importer and Microsoft Word plug-ins are also useful.

Potential Concerns

Just be aware that Mendeley no longer supports the local saving of your file library. Instead of storing PDFs on your computer in a folder, they are now stored in Elsevier cloud storage, which could be a concern for data privacy. Also, the latest version of Mendeley now encrypts your citation data, which means you cannot export your references to any other reference manager. And you can only have 5 private groups with up to 25 members before being asked to pay for access, so Mendeley's usefulness as a collaboration tool may be limited.

Download Mendeley Desktop

• Go to www.mendeley.com and Register (do not use the Sign In Through Your Institution option)
• Select the red button Download Now Mendeley Reference Manager for free

Install Microsoft Word Plug-In and Mendeley Web Importer

• Open Mendeley Reference Manager > select Tools > choose Install Mendeley Cite for Microsoft Word
• You can also find the Mendeley plug-in through the UF subscription of Microsoft Word:
  • Open a Word Document > select Insert > select Get Add-Ins > select Admin-Managed >choose Mendeley Cite
• Open Mendeley Reference Manager > select Tools > Choose Install Mendeley Web Importer
  • This web importer works for Safari, Chrome, and Firefox

Sync between Mendeley Reference Manager and Mendeley Web

• Click on the Sync Library icon > Mendeley will upload or download any changes to files

Entering References into the Mendeley Library

1. Manually 
   • Add New > Add Entry Manually > Choose reference type and enter bibliographic information > Save
2. Through a PDF
   • Save the PDF to the computer > drag and drop the PDF into the central column of Mendeley Reference Manager > Check that the bibliographic information Mendeley imports is correct
3. Web Importer
   • Navigate to the web page or article that you’d like to import > Select the Web Importer icon in the toolbar of the internet browser
   • A Web Library box will appear > make sure the bibliographic information is correct > Save > select Sync in Mendeley Reference Manager to download the reference
4.  PubMed
   • Perform a search in PubMed and select references using checkboxes and send them to the Clipboard
   • When in the Clipboard, select the Web Importer icon in the toolbar of the internet browser > a Web Library box will appear > select references again using checkboxes > Save > select Sync in Mendeley Reference Manager
5. Web of Science (Web Importer unreliable)
   • Perform a search in Web of Science and  select references using check boxes
   • Select Export > under File Format  choose BibTeX > in Mendeley click Add New, Import Library >  choose the downloaded file
6. EBSCO Databases (does not work with Web Importer)

•  Perform a search > select the Add to Folder icon next to the references in EBSCO that you’d like to import to Mendeley > select Folder View > choose Export > select Direct Export in RIS Format > Drag and Drop the saved file to Mendeley Reference Manager OR click Add New, Import Library

Mendeley Cite

• Open Word > click on References tab > ensure you are in the Mendeley Cite section
  • Select the correct folder you’d like to cite from or click “All References” to view them all
  • Type keywords from article, like title or author, hit enter
  • Check the box of the citation or citations you’d like to add
  • Then click Insert 1 Citation
• Add page numbers
  • Click citation > Edit Citation
  • Select the citation you need to edit
  • Add page numbers
  • Save Changes
• Add Bibliography
  • place cursor at end of document
  • click three dots and Insert Bibliography 
  • Different journals require differing citation styles, so you can change reference style under Citation Settings and then click Update Citation Style