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Mendeley: Build Your Research Library

This guide will help you use the online citation, research management, and collaboration tool Mendeley.

Mendeley Desktop -- Installing the Mendeley Plug-In

Mendeley makes it a lot easier to insert properly formatted citations throughout a paper and will automatically generate a bibliography for you.

Click this link for help to Install the Citation Plug-In. This plug-in allows you to insert citations and bibliographies into your Microsoft Word (including Word 2016), LibreOffice, or BibTeX document via the Mendeley Desktop. Look for the Install link in the Tools menu of Mendeley Desktop. 

Insert Citations and Create Bibliographies with Citation Plug-In 

Once you have installed the citation plugin, you are ready to add citations to documents in MS Word or other word processing software. To insert a citation using Microsoft Word:

  • Place your cursor where you want the citation.
  • Depending on your version of MS Word: Select the References tab and locate the Mendeley Cite-O-Matic options (PC); or look for the Mendeley toolbar or Mendeley menu (Mac).
  • Click the Insert Citation button and search for references by author, title, or year from your Mendeley Library. References can also be added from Groups - just change the drop-down menu from My Library to one of your Groups.
  • After a reference has been selected, you have the option to add another reference to the same citation. When done, click OK.  
  • After a citation has been inserted, you may change the citation style using the Style drop-down box. Mendeley supports over 7000 citation styles - check to see that your citation syle is supported here.

Cite-o-matic

MS Word floating mendeley toolbar

 

 

Mendeley Menu on Mac

If you are using the citation plugin, after at least one citation has been added to your document, place your cursor where you want your bibliography, then select the Insert Bibliography option. Click the Refresh option to update the bibliography as you add more citations.