STEM Education

EndNote has no limitations on the number of EndNote libraries to be created and used but multiple libraries are difficult to maintain. You can organize all the references in a single EndNote Library by creating separate groups for different projects and subjects.

PDF(s) could be inserted to EndNote library to create citation given that the Digital Object Identifier (DOI)* information is available in the PDF.

*Make sure the PDF is not a scanned image file. EndNote is not able to read the DOI if the PDF is scanned in as an image. Also, the format of the DOI should be displayed as a text tag of "doi:" or a URL starting with http://dx.doi.org/.

To insert PDF to EndNote to create citation,

• open EndNote Library, click File and Import, then click File and select the PDF (or click Folder to add a folder of PDFs)
• Set Import Option to PDF or Multi-Filter (Special), and click Import

• Go to Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com.hk)
• Click Settings

• Click Search results, under Bibliography manager, select the option Show links to import citations into and choose EndNote in the drop down box
• Click on the Save button

• After searching on Google Scholar, click on Import into EndNote to add the citation to EndNote
• Open or save the .enw file. The reference will be imported to EndNote Library

EndNote provides “Capture reference” plug-in for extracting reference information from webpages to EndNote Library. The plug-in can be downloaded from EndNote online account.

To install the plug-in,

• Register for an EndNote online account or sign into EndNote online account
• Select Downloads and drag the Capture Reference to your bookmarks toolbar. For internet explorer, right-click the plug-in icon and select Add to Favorites to add it to the Favorites bar.

To add citations from a web page with the plug-in,

• Go to the web page and click the Capture Reference button in the bookmarks toolbar
• The Capture Reference window will open, select to save the citation to the EndNote library on your desktop or on your EndNote online account
• Edit the citation information before saving it to the EndNote library

(For Mac)

• Go to Finder.

• Locate the .ris at Downloads folder, right click the .ris file and choose Open With and then select Other.

• Select the EndNote 20 software in Applications and then select the relevant EndNote library e.g. EndNote Library is saved at Desktop. Ensure the option Always open with is selected before clicking Open.

(For Windows)

• Locate the .ris at Downloads folder, right click the .ris file and select Open With and then click on Choose another app.

• Select EndNote 20, or click on More apps if you cannot see EndNote in the options list.

• Ensure the option Always use this app to open .ris files is selected before clicking OK.

In APA 7th, when two authors (both are the first authors of the work) have the same surname, initials for the authors are added to the in-text citations to tell readers they are different people from two publications. The below examples are created in EndNote and the initials of the authors have been added along with the surnames to the in-text citations automatically.

In-text citation

(P. G. Bruce, 1995)

(C. Bruce, 2001)

Reference list

Bruce, C. (2001). Faculty-librarian partnerships in Australian higher education: Critical dimensions. Reference Services Review, 29(2), 106-115. https://doi.org/10.1108/00907320110394146

Bruce, P. G. (1995). Structure and electrochemistry of polymer electrolytes. Electrochimica Acta, 40(13), 2077-2085. https://doi.org/10.1016/0013-4686(95)00144-4

To differentiate references from different sources by the same author in the same year, a lower case letter would be inserted after the year of publication of the work automatically in EndNote. See examples below.

In-text citation

(Bruce, 2001a)

(Bruce, 2001b)

Reference list

Bruce, C. (2001a). Faculty-librarian partnerships in Australian higher education: Critical dimensions. Reference Services Review, 29(2), 106-115. https://doi.org/10.1108/00907320110394146

Bruce, C. (2001b). Interpreting the scope of their literature reviews: Significant differences in research students' concerns. New Library World, 102(4/5), 158-166. https://doi.org/10.1108/03074800110390653

When multiple studies and researches from more than one source support the same idea, you can reference the sources in the same in-text citation parenthesis. Order the citations of the works alphabetically (in the same order as they appear in the reference list).

The below in-text citation is created in EndNote by selecting multiple citations in EndNote Library (click Ctrl to make multiple selections) and insert the “selected citations” in Word at once.

In-text citation

Two studies (Bruce, 2001; Zemlin, 1998) have concluded that…

When a book citation is added to EndNote from FIND@HKUL, the reference would be added as the reference type “Book” by default. But you can create a citation for a book chapter of the book by editing the citation information of the record in EndNote. Double click the citation record and select Edit to start editing:

• The image on the left below shows the citation information of the book in EndNote when it is added from FIND@HKUL with the citation information for a book.
• Refer to the image on the right below, change the reference type from Book to Book Section using the drop-down menu. This allows you to input the author name(s) and editor name(s) in separate fields to make them appear in the citation (this is required for citing a book chapter from an edited book in APA 7th). In the field Author, input the author name(s) of the book chapter (get this information from the table of content of the book). In the field Editor, input the editor name(s) of the book.
• In the field Title, input the title of the book chapter while for the field Book Title, input the title of the book.
• For the field Pages, input the page ranges of the chapter from the book.
• After editing, click the Save button.

The preview of the book chapter citation generated in EndNote

Sometimes, EndNote may not format the citations correctly when the citations are added from FIND@HKUL and library databases, and therefore, it is important to “preview” the citations in EndNote and make necessary changes before inserting them to MS Word.

Online resources such as Academic Writer (the official online resource created by the American Psychological Association for writing in APA style) and APA Formatting and Style Guide (maintained by Purdue University's Online Writing Lab), provide guidelines in formatting citations in APA 7th.

Below is an example of incorrect formatting of an online journal article in APA 7th added from FIND@HKUL to EndNote. In APA style, when referring to the article title, capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a title and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns. From the example below, the first letters of all the words in the article title are capitalized when the citation is added from FIND@HKUL to Endnote.

► Double click the citation and select Edit. Look for the Title field, change the capitalization of the article title and click Save to save the changes made. In MS Word, click Update Citations and Bibliography to update the citations if needed.

Another example is a print book added from FIND@HKUL to EndNote. In APA style, when referring to a book with an edition other than the first, the edition number of the book should be added to the citation. From the example below, the word “ed.” is repeated two times when the citation is added from FIND@HKUL to EndNote. 

► Double click the citation and select Edit. Look for the Edition field, delete the extra “ed.” and click Save to save the changes made. In MS Word, click Update Citations and Bibliography to update the citations if needed.

(For Mac)

Way 1: Check for updates in Word. In MS Word, click HELP and select Check for Updates.

Way 2: Close all the Microsoft Office applications (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, etc.).

• In EndNote, click EndNote 20 and select Customizer...
• See if the box Cite While You Write is checked. Uncheck and re-check the box of the Cite While You Write
• Click next until the Customizer is finished 

Way 3: Re-install the software by following the EndNote installation guide

Way 4: Quit MS Word and add the tools manually by following the steps provided in the Knowledgebase article here

(For Windows)

Option 1: Check for updates in Word.

Option 2:

• In Word, click File and select Options
• Select Add-ins
• Change the “Manage” options from COMP add-ins to Disabled items and then click Go
• If there is any EndNote item(s) listed as Disabled items, highlight and click Enable and then click Ok.

Option 3:

• In Word, click on File and select Options
• Select Add-ins and change the Manage options to COM Add-ins and click Go
• Check if EndNote Cite While You Write is ticked and click OK

Option 4:

• In Word, click on File and select Options
• Select Trust Center and click Trust Center Settings...

• Select Add-ins
• Make sure Disable all Application Add-ins (may impair functionality) is unticked and click OK

Option 5: Re-install the software by following the EndNote installation guide

Sometimes, this issue occurs if the instant formatting option is turned off. To enable instant formatting,

• In MS Word, select the EndNote 20 tab
• Click the pull-down menu to turn on the Instant Formatting
• Click Update Citations and Bibliography

The problem may also be due to the new Security & Privacy setting of the Mac (Mojave OSX) which prevents EndNote from being able to automate. Follow the steps HERE to fix it.

The problem is due to the installation of the Mendeley plug-in in MS Word. Follow the steps below to remove the Mendeley plug-in in MS Word.

• Quit Word and Outlook
• Open Mendeley Desktop. Under Tools, select Uninstall MS Word Plugin
• When you see the message "The Word Plugin was uninstalled", click OK

If the problem persists, follow the steps on this page When inserting a citation from EndNote X8 or X9 I get the error: 'Cannot edit range' to remove the Mendeley Word add-in completely.

Mojave includes new Security & Privacy functions which can prevent EndNote from being able to correctly automate. To fix this,

• Go to the Apple menu and click System Preferences
• Select Security & Privacy and choose the Privacy tab
• Click the Automation options
• Make sure both Microsoft Word and EndNote X9 are turned on

It was due to the compatibility issue between the MacOS Catalina and EndNote for Mac version X9.2 or before. Please reinstall version X9.3.1 from HERE to solve the problem (you are advised to backup your EndNote Library beforehand).

It is a known problem that the .ris file cannot be directly exported with the Safari browser on a Mac OSX system. Try exporting the .ris using a Mozilla-based browser instead (see http://www.firefox.com/).

When the Cite-While-You-Write plugin is set to link with the EndNote online account, it may keep popping up to ask for your online account login details (no matter you have or haven’t registered for EndNote online account). Follow the steps below to make changes to the setting.

• In Word, select the EndNote tab and click Preferences
• The box EndNote 20 Cite While You Write Preferences is shown
• Select Application and make sure the option EndNote is selected

You are recommended to create citation with the EndNote Cite-While-You-Write plug-in in MS Word. But still, EndNote can be used to generate in-text citation and reference list in Google Doc. The process is not as straight forward as it is in MS Word. You may follow the steps from the guide Using Endnote with Google Docs by the James Cook University Library. You have to repeat the same steps for each citation added to the Google Doc. 

There are two ways to transfer an EndNote library on a second pc (EndNote should be installed on the second pc).

a. Create a compressed library and move it to a second pc

b. Use the EndNote online sync function

a. Create a compressed library and move it to a second pc

When an EndNote library is created, it comes with two files: .enl and .data. To transfer an EndNote library on a second pc, you have to move the two files together - the easiest way is to create a compressed library.

• Open the EndNote Library you want to move. Select File and choose Compress Library (.enlx)
• Select the option With File Attachments to make sure the PDFs are also transferred
• Choose the folder/drive to store your compressed backup copy and click Save. A compressed back up copy (.enlx) will look like this

• Move the compressed back up copy to a USB or cloud storage to transfer to the second pc.

On your second pc,

• Launch EndNote, click File and select Open Library
• Navigate to the USB drive or cloud drive you stored the compressed backup and click the .enlx file.
  The transferred EndNote Library (comprising .enl and .data) will be saved to the folder where you stored the backup .enlx

b. Use the EndNote online sync function

The EndNote Sync feature can also help transfer an EndNote library to a second pc. Registration of the EndNote online account is required for the Sync function.

• Open the EndNote library on your desktop that you want to sync with the EndNote online account. Select Edit and then Preferences and click Sync
• Click Enable Sync

►If you have not already had an EndNote online account, click the Sign Up button. Fill in the information as required.

►If you  have an EndNote online account*, enter the login details to start the sync process

* If you have previously saved references on your EndNote online library, references from your EndNote desktop and EndNote online library will be merged (and duplicates will be created) once the sync process starts. Therefore, before clicking the Sync icon, make sure the references in the online library are not duplicates to the EndNote library on your desktop. (If there are duplicates, delete them and empty the trash file before syncing).

• If the Sync process doesn’t start, click the Sync icon to activate it.

On your second pc,

• Launch EndNote, click File and select New to create a new empty library
• Fill in the same information for the sync preferences as you did for the EndNote Library on your first pc. (Select Edit and then Preferences and choose the Sync tab and click Enable Sync to fill in the login details for the EndNote online account)
• References from the EndNote online library should be shown at the new library on your second pc.

• Download APA 7th style
• Open the style file (.ens file) and it will be open in EndNote
• On the open style, click File and select Save As, edit the style name as APA 7th and click Save
• Click File and select Close Style
• Open your EndNote Library and go to Select Another Style. Choose “APA 7th” from the list