Skip to Main Content



EndNote & EndNote Web

Getting started with EndNote and EndNote Web

Need a Bibliography?

 

There are a number of ways to use EndNote and EndNote Web to create bibliographies fast and easy.

First, remember that when you use the Cite While You Write function described on this Guide's Using References tab, you automatically build your paper's reference list (or bibliography) in your paper as you insert inline citations into your Word document. You'll see the citations are also listed at the end of your paper, automatically creating your Reference list. Nothing could be simpler!

Stand-alone Bibliography

But what if there is no paper, or you just want to generate a "stand-alone" bibliography or a quick reading list using references you've collected in EndNote or EndNote Web?
Here's how:

 

In EndNote Web:

  • Choose Format tab at the top of your EndNote Web screen, then Bibliography . Choose the references or Group that will comprise your bibliography or reading list.
  • Under Bibliographic Style, use the drop-down menu to select the citation style you wish to use.
  • Select File Format - html, text, or rich text - depending on your needs. For example, if your citation style uses indents or italics, you'll want to preserve that formatting by choosing RTF (rich text), or choose html if you'll be posting your bibliography on the web. Then choose Save, E-mail, or Preview & Print . Your instant bibliography is done!

If you chose Save, you should find your file in your computer's downloads directory with a name such asexportlist.html, exportlist.rtf, exportlist.txt- depending on which file type you chose. Move or open and save the document where you wish.

 

In EndNote:

Method #1:

  • To create a quick bibliography or reading list, you can click Tools on EndNote's top menu bar, and choose Cite While You Write, then Insert Selected Citation(s) into a Word document.
  • Choose Format Bibliography (again, from Tools ) and you'll be able to use the pop-up window and its tabs to choose the citation style ("output style") you want to use, the font face and size you want, line spacing, a name for your bibliography or reading list, and more. Fast and easy!

Method #2: Alternatively, you can Export your bibliography from EndNote to your computer. In EndNote, select the references of interest. From top menu, choose File, then Export . Choose file type (rich text is a good choice to preserve formatting, plus it's Word compatible), and where you want to save your file (i.e., Desktop). Click Save and you're done!

Subject Bibliographies in EndNote

Power Users: EndNote also allows you to create a Subject Bibliography, which is a more specialized type of bibliography (and one that involves a few more steps to create). Unlike a simple bibliography or reference list, a Subject Bibliography can help you analyze trends among the references you've collected.

Why would you want to do that? If you're working with a great number of citations from the same authors, the same journals, or need to know how many citations you have from specific years (which may be a useful way to gauge scholarly interest in a particular research topic), a Subject Bibliography will help you organize and count how many instances there are of those authors, or journals, or publication years (or whatever field(s) you chose to include) in the citations you select.

In EndNote: Go to Tools and select Subject Bibliography. Select the Field(s) you want to use to organize your Subject Bibliography. Obvious fields of interest might be author, year, journal title, or keywords you may have added, and so on. You can easily choose what's important to your need.

Then choose your citation style ("Output Style"), layout, and fine-tune the Selected Terms (from your Field selections) that will be used to organize your references.

When you've finished your preferences, click Print Preview, or Print, or Save the bibliography to your computer. You now have a useful Subject Bibliography to help you analyze your references.