ECE 362: Teaching and Learning Lab ECE Block

Citation management is keeping track of your sources and keeping them organized.  Staying organized is really important for larger projects and papers! 

There are many methods that people use to try to keep track of their sources when working on large projects, but the most efficient and robust is to use a type of software called a citation manager.  A citation manager helps you save sources as you find them, label and organize your sources, add important notes/annotations, and easily create citations and bibliographies directly in Word.  There are several citation managers available including Zotero, Endnote, and Mendeley.

As a student at Westminster, you have free access to Mendeley and that is the citation manager that we recommend.

 

In this guide, we'll show you how to

1. Create a Mendeley Account
2. Importing Citations into Mendeley
3. Downloading Mendeley Cite
4. Using Mendeley Cite in Microsoft Word

Please contact John Garrison if you have questions or need any help using Mendeley!

PLEASE NOTE:  If you have installed the Mendeley Desktop application and Word plug-in on your computer, these are no longer supported.  It is recommended that you first uninstall the Word plug-in (do this from the Tools menu in Mendeley Desktop) and then Mendeley Desktop.  To continue using Mendeley in Microsoft Word, download the Mendeley Cite add-in as described below.  You can view and edit your library from either Mendeley.com or the Reference Manager (see instructions below).  Please contact John Garrison with any questions.

Follow these steps to get started with Mendeley citation management:

1. Go to Mendeley.com and Create a Free Account. (please make sure to use your @westminster.edu email address for your account)

2. When you log in with your new account, you will be able to view and edit your Library of citations from this page or download an app to your computer called Reference Manager to use your Library. 

** Please note: As long as you have an internet connection, changes made to your Library will sync between the Library in your browser and the Library in Reference Manager.

Add citations to your Mendeley Library in any of the following ways:

1. Drag-and-drop article PDF into Library. (Mendeley.com or Reference Manager)
2. Download the Mendeley Web Importer browser extension.
3. Use direct database citation export tools (available in ScienceDirect and Scopus).
4. Download individual citations in .ris format and upload to your Library (use this in WISE, EBSCOhost, and other databases).

Option 1: Drag-and-drop article PDF into Library. (Mendeley.com or Reference Manager)

 

Option 2: Download the Mendeley Web Importer browser extension (using the Reference Manager app).

 

Option 3: Use direct database citation export tools (available in ScienceDirect and Scopus).

NOTE: If you are not signed in to Mendeley on your browser, Scopus will allow you to do so after selecting Export -> Mendeley

 

Option 4: Download individual citations in .ris format and upload to your Library (use this in WISE, EBSCOhost, and other databases).

Add citations from your Mendeley Library into your Word document, choose the citation style, and insert a bibliography.

Add citations to your Word document

1. Select the Mendeley Cite add-in on the References tab.
2. Search for the citation you want, or browse through a list of citations in your Library.
3. Check the box next to the citation(s) you want to add and click Insert __ Citation(s)

Choose the citation style

1. Click on Citation Style in the Mendeley Cite add-in top menu.
2. Browse through a list of citation styles OR click "Select another style..." to search for a different style.
3. Click Update Citation Style.

Insert a bibliography

1. Place your cursor where you would like to place the bibliography (for example: start a new page at the end of the document).
2. Click on More -> Insert Bibliography on the Mendeley Cite add-in top menu.