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University Library

LibGuides

EndNote: Saving Citations

An overview of EndNote bibliographic management software with detailed information on getting started and customizing your software.

Importing Citations

There are 4 main ways to add a citation to your EndNote library.

  1. Searching within a database and exporting (directly or indirectly) to EndNote (Recommended)
  2. Import from Google Scholar
  3. Searching from within EndNote
    • EndNote uses Connection Files to let you connect directly to a large number of online bibliographic databases, search for the references, and retrieve those references all without leaving EndNote. These individual Connection Files in EndNote provide the information required to connect to virtually any Z39.50 compliant database. You may also wish to check out EndNote's Connection Files Page which contains their full list of downloadable Connection Files. Note that most of these Connection Files already are included in the Connect folder that installs when you load the EndNote program.

      • Note that Connection Files for Library subscription databases will not work off-campus. Please login to TunnelAll on the VPN when off-campus to use this functionality.

  4. Adding citations manually

Each database will have a different look and feel, so we can't show detailed instructions for every single database. However, we can show you a few representative examples.  More examples are under the tab "Searching Specific Databases".

Export From Databases

Search the database and then directly export the desired articles to EndNote
 

 

Import from Google Scholar

To import from Google Scholar, you have two options. You can import one item at a time into EndNote, or you can use the "capture" extension on EndNote Web to capture up to ten citations, then sync to your desktop.

Import Individually

If you'd like to import citations individually using Google Scholar, you must first make a few changes in your settings.

 

1. From within Google Scholar, go in to your settings. Click the Library links tab and search for University of Illinois. Then check the relevant boxes. Most important is "University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign- Discover UIUC Full Text." Then click Save.

GoogleScholar settings

 

2. Then click on the Search results tab. Under Bibliography manager, select EndNote. Then click Save. This means that, when you do a search within Google Scholar, you will have the option to Export to EndNote.

Settings to export to EndNote

 

3. Go back to Google Scholar and conduct a search. For each item that interests you, click on Import into Endnote.

Import individual items

 

4. If you're using Windows, chose to open the file with EndNote. If this does not appear, save the file in a place where you'll be able to find it, and open it with EndNote from within your computer.

Import from the Library Catalog

The only way to search from within EndNote is to use a connection file (covered below).

Search within EndNote

EndNote comes pre-loaded with a connection file for the University of Illinois Library Catalog. In your Connections Manager, make sure to select U Illinois-Urbana:

Select U Illinois-Urbana

For complete directions for searching within the library catalog through EndNote, see the section Search Within EndNote, below.

 

Search within EndNote

In order to search a database from within EndNote, you will have to set up connection files for each database that you plan to search. If you have not already done so, please consult the Connection Files box on the Getting Started tab.

Remember, if you want to use EndNote connection files to search databases from off campus, you must connect using the Technology Services VPN Protocol.

Because the EndNote search interface has limited functionality, it is more useful for known item searches than it is for more exploratory searches.

 

Add Citations Manually

If all else fails, you can always enter a new reference manually.

1. Click on the New Reference icon in the toolbar, or type CTRL+n.

New Reference icon

 

2. When the New Reference window pops up, select the Reference Type for the item you want to add, and then enter as much information as you have. Warning: EndNote can be a bit finicky about how the information is entered, and if it doesn't like it then the citation may not behave properly when you need to enter it in a paper or export it to another database.

Select Reference Type