What is Mendeley?
Mendeley is a research tool that allows you to build up your own library of references and PDFs. It
combines a desktop application and a public website. Although now owned by Elsevier, Mendeley is
committed to providing free storage of up to 2GB of files. More storage space is available to
individual or institutional subscribers, but Exeter has not yet signed up to the institutional version.
Getting started
To download the desktop tool, go to http://www.mendeley.com/download-mendeley-desktop/
and follow the instructions. The app has been customised for use with Windows, Mac, Linux and
iPads.
 The desktop tool extracts bibliographic data from articles and generates citations and
references. It also allows you to store and organise your articles into folders and search
across them.
Once it has installed you just need to click on the Mendeley icon on your desktop to open the
programme.
To create a free Mendeley account go to http://www.mendeley.com/. Enter your name and email
address and click on Sign-up & Download. Alternatively you can link up to your Facebook account.
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When you sign into your account you can access your research library (My Library) from any
computer. You can also search across Mendeley’s catalogue of Papers, set up Groups to
share them with other users and connect to other People in your research field.
Importing files and references into Mendeley Desktop
The easiest way to import files and references into Mendeley Desktop is to drag and drop them into
the content pane. You can do the same with folders of files or go to the Add Files option in
Mendeley Desktop to upload them.
Once you’ve added a file, it will appear in the My Library section of both Mendeley desktop and in
the web version
Importing with Mendeley Web Importer
If you want to import records direct from a web search, like this one on Google Scholar, you can
install Mendeley’s Web Importer on your toolbar (this works best with Chrome). To install the
Importer, go to http://www.mendeley.com/import/ and drag and drop the icon into your Internet
browser.
When you find a reference you want to add to your library click on the Import to Mendeley link on
your browser toolbar. If Mendeley Desktop is open the reference will be imported into your web
library. Click on the Sync icon to update
Mendeley will extract reference data from the files automatically and add the file to the My Library
section of your Mendeley desktop and web account. If Mendeley cannot create a reference from the
data available, a message will display in the right-hand side panel to flag that it needs checking. The
document will also be added to the Needs Review section of My library.
Importing references from another reference manager
If you already have a collection of references in another referencing manager such as Endnote or
Refworks, you can import them into Mendeley:
1. Export the references from Refworks (as a .txt file) or Endnote (as an .xml file) and save the
file on your computer.
2. In Mendeley desktop, go to File > Add Files, chose the exported file > Open
3. Your imported references should now appear in your Mendeley library.
Importing multiple references from a subscription database
Many subscription databases, including Business Source Complete and ProQuest, allow you to
export multiple records and import them into Mendeley.
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Select the references you want to export, then go to Folder View.
Click on Export
Select the option Direct Export in RIS Format and click on Save As
Select Mendeley desktop from Open with options and click on OK
Your imported references should now appear in Mendeley.
NOTE: This will only import the bibliographic details into Mendeley, although you can click on the
URL to read the article. If you want to store full text articles in Mendeley, save them in a folder on
your computer, then drag and drop the folder into the contents pane of Mendeley Desktop.
Using Mendeley to create citations and references in your assignment
Firstly, install the Mendeley Word & OpenOffice plug-in by going to Tools > Install MS Word Plugin
in Mendeley Desktop and follow the instructions.
Once installed, open Microsoft Word and go to the References tab. You will see the Mendeley CiteO-Matic menu.
For more information see these guides:
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Indiana University Libraries
London South Bank University