Get the Most Out of Mendeley
Mendeley is a free desktop and online reference manager that allows you to organize, annotate,
discover and share PDF articles. With Mendeley you can back up your PDF articles and access them
online from any computer. It can also be used with Microsoft Word as a citation manager.
Downloading & Installing Desktop Application & Web Importer
Downloading Mendeley To download Mendeley, go to http://www.mendeley.com/ and click on the
“Sign up & Download” button. You will create an online account and download Mendeley Desktop to
your computer.
Installing the Web Importer After confirming your email address and logging into your online
account, click on the “Install Web Importer” link found in the Dashboard tab. Follow the online
instructions. Once installed, you’ll see a button that says “Import to Mendeley” on your browser. This
button will allow you to import information about articles via online databases and Web sites.
Adding Articles to Your Library
Upload a PDF Document
 Drag and drop a PDF article from your computer into Mendeley Desktop.
 Or, click Add Documents button (see image on right).
Using the Web Importer
 Find an article in one of the UT Libraries databases.
 Click on the “Import to Mendeley” button you installed in your browser (see
image below).
 Click the “Sync Library” button in Mendeley Desktop
When you add documents to your Mendeley library, Mendeley will attempt to extract the important
information. Uploaded documents will be added to the Needs Review folder until you look over the
information and mark it as correct. Imported documents are not automatically added to this folder.
Create a Group
Mendeley Groups allow you to share citations and notes for common interests. Groups can be public
or private. Private groups are great for group projects. In the left panel of the Mendeley desktop, you’ll
see a section for groups. Click on Create Group. You will be able to invite up to 10 people to a join
private group via e-mail once the group has been created.
©2012 by University of Texas Libraries
Get the Most Out of Mendeley
Citations
Download the Microsoft Word plugin to create citations and bibliographies as you write in Word. In
Mendeley, go to Tools>Install MS Word Plugin.
Start typing in Word. When you are ready to make a citation, go to the References tab.
1- Click on Insert Citation. A menu will appear and you can search for your reference here or
click on Go To Mendeley to find it in your library. Your in-text citation or footnote will appear
where your cursor is.
2- Select your citation style. Once you have a citation, select the citation style and it will
automatically format your citations. You can change the style at any time.
3- Click on Insert Bibliography and your citations will be added to a bibliography where your
cursor appears.
4- Refresh your citations to update your bibliography, style or reflect any changes you made to
your references in the Mendeley library. Remember to make any changes to your references in
Mendeley, not in Word.
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1
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1- Insert an in-text citation or footnote
2- Select citation style
3- Automatically create bibliography
4- Refresh citations and bibliography
Additional Resources
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Citation Tools, http://www.lib.utexas.edu/citations -- Learn what different citation managers
have to offer
Mendeley Getting Started Guide, http://www.mendeley.com/getting-started/-- Learn more
about Mendeley’s features. Also available on your Mendeley desktop.
Ask a Librarian, www.lib.utexas.edu/ask – Research help via chat, email, phone or in-person.
http://lib.utexas.edu/students/find/googlebooks.html
©2012 by University of Texas Libraries