Skip to Main Content

Mendeley

This guide helps you step by step use Mendeley to manage your sources/references easily.

Add References

Sources can be added to Mendeley Manually or Imported from a database.

Manually

To add a reference manually, follow the steps below:

1. Click on Add new and select Add Manual Entry.

Add New Item

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Select the appropriate Reference Type of entry from the drop-down list.

3. Enter the author of your entry as: Last Name, First Name/Initial

4. Enter all the information that you have of the item and then click on Add entry.


Using DOI

If you know the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) of a source, you can look up the source and add it to your library. Just type-in the DOI and the system will import the metadata. Revise it, and then Add entry.

Adding PDFs

Add FilesSelect a group of PDF files, drag and drop then into your library. The references for these documents will be created automatically with their respective metadata. Or click on "Add new" and choose File(s) from computer. and select the files you wish to add.

 

The metadata is not always complete/correct. It is essential to check each entry and correct the mistakes and add missing information.

 

Importing from Google Scholar

A. Install Web Importer

 

On Mendeley Desktop, click Tools, select Install Web Importer and follow the instructions to finish the installation. 

It works best with Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. It does not work with any versions of Safari.


B. Import References Web Importer

1. On Google Scholar results page, click on Mendeley icon & Sign in. 
 

2. Tick the boxes next to the articles you would like to import.
 

3. Tick the box Add PDFs if available if you want to import them with the references.
 

 

4. To edit the reference before adding it to Mendeley, click on the title and edit any fields and then click on Add or Cancel edits if you decide otherwise. hhhh

 

5. Click Add  to add the references to your library. You can also choose to add them directly to a certain folder or group.
 

Each time you go to a new page you need to reopen the Web Importer.

You may need to sync your Mendeley Library for the new references to appear.

 

In order to access more PDFs, Mendeley recommends that you sign in to your institution’s proxy server when working remotely.

Importing from Databases

A. Most Databases

To insert references from a database into Mendeley, you need to "Export" them.

1. On your search results page, select the articles you wish to add and then find the "export" feature. In some databases you might find "Send to" instead of Export (i.e. PubMed).
 

2. The export options compatible with Mendeley are: BibTex (.bib), RIS (.ris), or XML. Choose one of them.


3. When prompted to save or open the file, save it to a location on your computer that you will remember.

Import references


4.
Click on the Add new icon in the top left corner then go to Import library.

 

5. Choose the type that fits the file that you downloaded and double-click on it. Your exported references are now added into your Mendeley library.

 


B. Scopus

Mendeley and Scopus are both owned by Elsevier, therefore you can send your Scopus search results directly to your Mendeley library:

1. Log in to Scopus using your Mendeley login.

 

2. Do your search and go to the results, select the articles you wish to export and click on Export.

Export references

 

3. Select Mendeley and click Export.

 

4. You will see a confirmation message at the top of your search results.

confirmation message

 

5. You may need to Sync your Mendeley Library for the new references to appear.