Skip to Main Content

Reference Management

Mendeley Logo        You can add items to your Reference Manager Library in the following ways:

  • Drag and drop a PDF file
  • Upload PDFs from your computer
  • Use Mendeley Web Importer - A button in your browser that will let you add in two clicks.
  • Save to Mendeley from LibrarySearch
  • Save RIS files from a database and import to Mendeley.
  • Manually enter items
  • Import your items from another reference manager to Mendeley.

See instructions for each way to add references below, or see an overview in the half hour Introduction to Mendeley video.

Drag and drop a PDF file

If you have a full text PDF already on your computer, you can drag and drop it into the middle of your Reference Manager Library.
Mendeley will automatically take the metadata from the PDF and create a library entry.

Upload PDFs from your computer

Click on Add New > Files from your Computer.

Browse your computer, and select the PDF(s) you want to add to your library. Mendeley will automatically harvest the data from each PDF and add it to your library. You can also edit the items in your library to add more details.
 

Image of adding a new item in Mendeley Reference Manager

 

Use Mendeley Web Importer

Mendeley Web Importer is an extension for your web browser, which will allow you to quickly add references to your library while you are browsing online (and may also include the full text PDF). Available for Chrome or Firefox, download Mendeley Web Importer here.

Save to Mendeley from LibrarySearch

When you find an item in Edinburgh Napier's LibrarySearch, click on the article and then Send to > Mendeley to send the details straight to your Mendeley library.

Image of adding an item from LibrarySearch to Mendeley

Save RIS files from a database and import to Mendeley

In many databases (or Google Scholar), you may find an option to save a reference to the RIS or RefMan format. This will download a .ris file to your computer. Then click Add New > Import Library > RIS files to add the details to your Mendeley library.
You'll need to download and add PDFs yourself.

 

Manually enter items

If all else fails, you can type the details of the article or book in yourself. Click Add New > Add entry manually and enter the details.
You can also search for items here using a unique identifier (ArXivID, DOI or PMID), and then add the details.

Image of how to add an entry manually to Mendeley Reference Manager

NOTE: If you use this option to reference personal work, interviews etc, Mendeley will automatically share/save the reference online. If you don't want this to happen, ensure you un-tick the option "Share this reference anonymously with Mendeley Web Catalog".

Import your items from another reference manager to Mendeley

You can transfer your whole library from another reference management to Mendeley.

1. Use the Export option within the other software to extract your references in BibTeX, EndNote XML or RIS file format.

2. In Mendeley Reference Manager, click Add new > Import Library and choose the file to add it to your Mendeley library.

Note that you will need to add the PDF files to each reference separately.