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EndNote 20

This guide provides basic information on using EndNote Desktop (citation management tool)
Organize your References

It is highly recommended to create only One EndNote Library and use groups to organize your references.
There are different types of groups in EndNote:

  • Custom Groups     ► Allows you to add references manually
  • Smart Groups        ► Automatically move references into a group based on search parameters already set
  • Combined Groups ► Groups created from two or more groups existing in your library 

When working on several projects, you may want to organize your references into categories (assignments, courses, topics, etc.) 

You can use Groups to organize your references into categories and Group Sets to manage the groups you create. 

Groups and Group Sets appear on the left panel and they can be renamed or deleted as needed.  

How to create Group Sets and Groups:

To avoid ending up with a large number of groups start by creating Group Sets.

  • From the Groups menu, select Create Group Set  OR right click on My Groups in the Group panel.

  • Name your group set. 
  • Now you can add custom groups, smart groups or combination of groups to your Group Set.
  • Use your mouse to drag and drop the groups you want to put in this group set.

I. Custom Groups

These groups allow you to add references manually.

  • From the Groups menu, select Create Group 
    OR right click on My Groups in the Group panel 

  • Name your group

  • Select the references you want to put in your group, then drag and drop them into your group

II. Smart Groups

  • From the Groups menu, select Create Smart Group OR right click on My Groups in the Group panel

  • Name your Smart Group.(Use a descriptive name)

  • To add your own descriptors or subject keywords, select Any Field from the drop down menu and type in your keyword/s. You may also add a year or date range.

  • Click Create.

 - Each time you add a reference to the library, EndNote updates the smart group automatically.   
 - Smart groups are dynamically updated by applying search criteria to each reference as it is added or updated.
  

Recommendations and Notes

  • Create only ONE EndNote Library and use Groups to organize your references.
  • A Group Set can includes a combination of custom groups, smart groups and combined groups. 
  • Each reference may be assigned to one or more groups.
  • Deleting a Group or Group Set from your library does not delete the references it contains. 
  • Deleting a reference from a Group or Group Set does not delete the reference from your library. 
  • Deleting  a reference from the All References folder, will also delete the reference from the group.