EndNote Guide

First, log in to EndNote. Direct exports may not work unless you are already logged in. While I haven’t tested this on every EBSCO database, my example for Academic Search Complete most likely applies to all other EBSCO databases. If you find these instructions are unsuitable for a particular EBSCO database, please let me know and I’ll add an example for that database.

These instructions apply to importing a single article from an EBSCO database. Scroll down to find instructions for importing multiple articles at once.

1. From the article record page, click on “Export” in the “Tools” menu on the far right side of the page.
2. Select “Direct Export to EndNote Web”.
   1. This method is the easiest, but it does not work with all browsers and configurations on all platforms.
   2.  It might require logging in to EndNote again (even if you previously logged in).
   3. If it works, you will get a results page in EndNote with a success message.
3. If that didn’t work, start over and select “Direct Export in RIS Format”.
   1. Save the resulting .ris file to your computer. You might want to rename it to something more appropriate than the system generated filename.
   2. Make note of where you saved the file, because you will need to find it in the next step.
   3. Switch to EndNote and hover your mouse over the heading “Collect”. A submenu will appear.
   4. Click on “Import References” in the submenu.
   5. Click the “Browse” button to locate the .ris file you saved in the last step.
   6. Change the “Import Option” to “RefMan RIS”.
   7. Select the folder you wish to save the reference to. Click “Import”.
   8. If it works, a results page in EndNote will open with a success message.
4. The PDF of the article is not included in the export/import process. You will need to upload PDFs individually.
   1. Switch back to the item record in EBSCO.
   2. From the item record page, look for the PDF Full Text in the far left menu. Click on it.
   3. Depending on how your browser is configured, you will either be prompted to download and save the PDF, or the PDF may download without these prompts. In either case, you will need to know where the file is saved and its filename. If unsure, check recent downloads in your browser.
      1. I recommend renaming the file with a more appropriate filename than the default generated by the system.
   4. Switch back to EndNote and navigate to the folder and record for the article using the “My References” menu on the far left of the screen.
   5. With the item record open, look for the heading “Attachments”. You may need to scroll down, or do a find-in-page. Click the heading to expand the contents.
   6. Click on the paperclip icon labeled “Attach files”. Follow the prompts to locate and upload the PDF to the item record.

1. From the search results list, add items to a folder by clicking on the blue folder to the right of the title of each record (you can also do this from within individual item records). The folder will turn yellow, indicating the item has been added to the default folder. (Note: this folder is temporary and will disappear if/when your session ends. If you need to save your references for longer, you can create a personal account on EBSCO and save search results to your own custom folders.)
2. From the “Folder has items” menu on the right side of the search results page, click on “Go to: Folder View”.
3. Select all articles that you want to export to EndNote using the checkboxes to the left of each article title. You can select all items on the page using the checkbox at the top of that same column.
4. Click “Export”.
5. Select “Direct Export to EndNote Web”.
   1. This method is the easiest, but it doesn’t work with all browsers and configurations on all platforms.
   2.  It might require logging in to EndNote again (even if you previously logged in).
   3. If it works, a results page in EndNote will open with a success message.
6. If that didn’t work, start over and select “Direct Export in RIS Format”.
   1. Save the resulting .ris file to your computer. You might want to rename it to something more appropriate than the system generated filename.
   2. Make note of where you saved the file, because you will need to find it in the next step.
   3. Switch to EndNote and hover your mouse over the heading “Collect”. A submenu will appear.
   4. Click on “Import References” in the submenu.
   5. Click the “Browse” button to locate the .ris file you saved in the last step.
   6. Change the “Import Option” to “RefMan RIS”.
   7. Select the folder you wish to save the reference to. Click “Import”.
   8. If it works, you will get a results page with a success message.
7. For each item imported, add PDFs one by one as outlined in “One article”, #4, above.