Getting Started

with Mendeley
Created by: Mendeley
Last updated: August 2009
www.mendeley.com

1.

Creating your library ............................................................................................................... 2

Add PDFs to Mendeley ............................................................................................................ 2
Import/export BibTeX, RIS, and EndNote files .................................................................... 2
Document details lookup (Crossref, PubMed, and ArXiv) ................................................... 3
Google Scholar Search ............................................................................................................. 3
One click Web Importer .......................................................................................................... 4
Watch folders to automatically add PDFs.............................................................................. 4

2.

Managing your documents and references ............................................................................ 5

Merge duplicate author names, tags, or publications ........................................................... 5
Documents can be marked read/unread ............................................................................... 5
Favorites ................................................................................................................................... 6
Search as you type ................................................................................................................... 6
Annotate PDFs ..........................................................................................................................7
Multiple level undo in document details .................................................................................7
Tag and edit multiple documents at once .............................................................................. 8
File Organizer........................................................................................................................... 8

3.

Sharing and citing references ................................................................................................. 9

Public collections (reading lists) ............................................................................................. 9
Shared collections .................................................................................................................. 10
Word and OpenOffice plug-in ............................................................................................... 11
Cite in Google documents (and other editors)...................................................................... 12

4.

Support .................................................................................................................................... 12

1. Creating your library

Add PDFs to Mendeley
You can add PDFs to Mendeley by clicking the Add Document button on the far left of the
toolbar. Alternatively, you can drag and drop PDFs into the content pane (marked red below).
Mendeley will then attempt to detect the document details (bibliographic data).
Any documents whose details Mendeley is uncertain about will be added to the
Needs Review collection for manual verification.

Import/export BibTeX, RIS, and EndNote files

Switching from other reference management software to Mendeley is simple, just select:
File

Add Files

to import BibTeX, RIS, and EndNote XML alongside PDFs.

You can also export your reference database in those formats from Mendeley, just select
File

Export

and select your preferred export format.

Document details lookup (Crossref, PubMed, and ArXiv)

You can also lookup document details from Crossref, PubMed, and ArXiv. Just fill in the
document ID in the respective field and click the magnifying glass icon next to it to get the
details for those documents. These fields are located in the Document Details tab.

Google Scholar Search

You can lookup document details with Google Scholar in Mendeley:
1. Input the correct document title
2. Click search
and Mendeley will try to complete the missing data from Google Scholar. (Note: The lookup
works only for imported PDF files and not for manually added entries.)

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One click Web Importer

You can import references with a single click from the services listed below. To install the
Web Importer and to find out how to use it just select:
Tools

Install Web Importer

ACM Portal

Google BookSearch

PubMed

Amazon

Google Scholar

RePEc

APS

IACR ePrints

ScienceDirect

APA PsycNET

IEEE Xplore

SpringerLink

arXiv

IngentaConnect

Wikipedia

CiteseerX

ISI Web of Knowledge

Wiley InterScience

CiteULike

JSTOR

Copac

NASA ADS

WorldCat
Zetoc

EBSCO

PLoS

and growing.

Watch folders to automatically add PDFs

When you place a document in a watched folder, it will be automatically added to Mendeley
so you can annotate, cite, and browse its references instantly. Adding files to Mendeley using
watched folders makes it easier to add multiple papers in one go and keep them where you
want on your computer.

2. Managing your documents and references

Merge duplicate author names, tags, or publications
In the filter by authors/tags/publications pane, click a name you
recognize has been duplicated or is incorrect, and drag & drop
it onto the correct one to rename it.

E.g. if I have two documents tagged psychiatry and

psiychiatry, dragging the latter one onto the former will
rename the incorrect entry.

Documents can be marked read/unread

Keep track of your unread papers. When you add documents to Mendeley, they are marked
unread using the small green dot. If you open them within the Mendeley PDF viewer they will
be marked read. Or simply click on the green dot to toggle read/unread.

Favorites
You can mark your favorite documents (or documents you keep track of) with the star icon.
Simply click to star, and click again to unstar. All favorite documents will appear in the
Favorites collection, so you can refer back to them with one click.

Search as you type

Smart search in documents highlights the search term as you type, so you can find what
you're looking for fast. Just type into the search bar and watch Mendeley find matching terms
in the document.

Annotate PDFs
You can add highlights and annotations to documents in Mendeley's PDF viewer. Click on
Highlight Text or Add Note to get started. In order to share these annotations you will need
to export a PDF (please note that your annotations won't appear in the PDF document unless
you export them).

Multiple level undo in document details

You can undo recent changes to your document details or annotations by clicking Undo in
the usual place. Select the following option in the drop down menu:

Edit

Undo

or Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z for Mac)

Tag and edit multiple documents at once

When you want to tag or add details for
more than one document in one go:
1. Select the documents you want to edit
at once by pressing Ctrl + left clicking
the documents you want to select
2. Notice the batch editing confirmation
message

3. Input your data

The data can be tags, notes, or other
document details such as the publication
name.

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E.g. in the example below the entered tags

will be applied to all selected documents.

File Organizer
Mendeley's file organizer can automatically rename your PDFs and file them in a clear folder
structure, making it easier to find your files outside of Mendeley. You can find it here:
Tools

Options: File Organizer tab

or for Mac choose Mendeley

Preferences

In the tab, select:

1. Organize my files: to make a copy of
all documents added to Mendeley to
one folder

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2. Sort files into subfolders: to create a

folder structure based on selected
document details
3. Rename document files: to rename
the often non-descriptive names of
your PDFs to file names that are more
meaningful, including the author,
journal, year, and title

File Organizer tab

3. Sharing and citing references

Public collections (reading lists)
Public collections allow you to publish a reading list of references. The public collection
behaves like a feed, so you can share a list of documents with subscribed users and over the
web:
1. Create Collection and type name
2. Edit Settings (next to collection name)
3. (optional) Tick Sync attached files if you want to synchronize your PDFs, so that you
can have access to these files privately on Mendeley Web (but they will not be made
publicly accessible)
4. Set collection as public so users can see the public collection on your profile on
Mendeley Web
5. Add Documents to collection to publish them on Mendeley Web
6. Sync Library to make your collection visible on the web. Mendeley will then generate a
Web link for the public collection which you can share with others.
Note: If you have subscribed to someone else's public collection and make changes to it or
the document details you receive, the creator will not see your changes. In order to make
changes visible to all subscribers of the collection you will need to create a shared collection,
instead of a public collection.

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Shared collections
Shared collections contain documents which you can share with up to ten participants. This
is a convenient way of tagging documents collaboratively and creating a shared literature
collection between research colleagues.
1. Create Collection and type name
2. Edit Settings (next to collection name)
3. (optional) Tick Sync attached files if you want other members to have access to any
attached PDFs
4. Invite Members to the shared collection from your contacts list
5. Add Documents to the collection to share with members
6. Sync Library to apply the changes

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Word and OpenOffice plug-in

Once you have your documents in Mendeley, you can cite and reference them within Word
and OpenOffice with ease. The Mendeley Word & OpenOffice plug-in integrates Mendeley
into these word processors. Once installed you will have tool bar buttons that will allow you to
cite a document, generate a bibliography, or manually edit any entry, saving you time and
effort when you write.
Currently the Word plug-in is only available for Windows. Mac support is coming soon.
When you are creating a paper and you want to cite a document from your Mendeley Library:

1. Click Insert Citation in the Mendeley tool bar

2. Select the document in Mendeley Desktop, and click Send Citation to Word. You also
can cite multiple documents. Just hold the Ctrl key (or the Cmd on Mac) and left click the
documents you want to cite.
3. Select the citation style in the drop down menu in your word processor

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This will now send the citation to Word:

You can now generate a bibliography by clicking Insert Bibliography:

Cite in Google documents (and other editors)

You can also add citations in other text editors, such as Google Docs. Just select the paper
you want to cite in Mendeley Desktop and click:
Edit

Copy Citation

and paste it into the document you are composing. Alternatively, you can drag & drop the
paper from the Mendeley Desktop window to the document, and a reference in the currently
selected citation style will be added there.

4. Support
If you would like to request a feature or
report a bug in Mendeley, please visit

http://feedback.mendeley.com
or send an e-mail to

[email protected]
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