Click on the links below for solutions to the most commonly asked questions by students, faculty, and staff:
In addition to support from ITS and the library, EndNote Support is also available to you.
There are also recorded webinars and short tutorials available that will take you through the essentials of using EndNote, and other commonly asked questions:
EndNote 20 is the newest version of EndNote. Currently, some of the tutorials and screenshots on this guide are reflective of EndNote X9 and others are reflective of EndNote 20. Use the tabs in the boxes to choose either EndNote X9 or EndNote 20 for either Mac or PC. Both programs provide similar experiences, but EndNote 20 has a significantly different interface than EndNote X9 so while much of the core of the software has stayed similar, it does look different. If you are having trouble with either program, please ask a librarian, visit EndNote's Support Site, or check out EndNote's YouTube Training Channel.
Faculty and staff can download EndNote through the ‘Software Downloads’ link in the Software & IT Support section of Services and Links on my.northeastern.edu. Students should follow the steps for downloading EndNote below.
EndNote can be very tricky to download correctly, and the Microsoft Word plugin only works with the desktop version of Microsoft Word, not Word 365. Because of this, you will have to download Microsoft Office if you do not already have it on your computer.
You have access to Microsoft Office for free through Northeastern. To download, follow the steps on this page to first sign into Office 365 and then Install Office. Troubleshooting tips for EndNote are below, but for any questions, please contact ITS.
For Macs (in particular Macbook Airs), please have your computer and Microsoft Word completely up to date with all software updates prior to attempting to download EndNote. Be sure to also have your Microsoft Word completely closed before starting the download process. If you do not follow these steps and perform the updates in advance of download, it is highly likely your download will not be successful.
For PCs, the same general recommendations apply, and the most common error is having EndNote ask for a license key. The easiest way to trouble shoot this error message is here.
Please review the above information before starting the following steps.
1. Run any updates on your computer, including updates for Microsoft Office.
2. If you do not have the desktop versions of Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, etc.), please download them.
3. Before downloading EndNote, be sure to close Microsoft Word. On a Mac, be sure to close it completely by going to the Word menu and clicking Quit Word, or using the keyboard shortcut 'command' + 'Q'.
4. Go to the Student Hub and log in.
5. Click Resources.
6. Under 'Software & IT Support', click 'Software Downloads'.
7. Select EndNote X9 or EndNote 20 for either Mac or PC. Note: If you wish to download the newest version of EndNote, please select EndNote 20.
8. Follow the prompts to complete download. For PCs, please be sure to follow the instructions exactly. If not, EndNote will ask you for a license key. If you receive that error message, please see troubleshooting instructions here.
The main trouble spot for most students is that the EndNote menu doesn't show up in your Microsoft Word. When you open up Microsoft Word, you should see an EndNote menu. It may look different depending on which version of Microsoft Word you have.
Mac (EndNote 20):
The main trouble spot for most students is that the EndNote menu doesn't show up in your Microsoft Word. When you open up Microsoft Word, you should see an EndNote menu. It may look different depending on which version of Microsoft Word you have.
PC:
The main trouble spot for most students is that the EndNote menu doesn't show up in your Microsoft Word. When you open up Microsoft Word, you should see an EndNote menu. It may look different depending on which version of Microsoft Word you have.
Mac (EndNote X9):
For a Mac, follow the instructions in the video below. The video below demonstrates this using EndNote 20, but you can find a video demonstrating this in EndNote X9 here.
For a PC, see the steps below. These should be the same for both EndNote X9 and EndNote 20:
Follow these steps to add in the EndNote plug-in (Cite While You Write) in Microsoft Word.
If you're having trouble, please reach out to either ITS or EndNote support directly. This article on adding the Cite While You Write plug-in into different versions of Microsoft Word may also be useful.
In EndNote, you'll arrange your references within 'libraries'. You can think of libraries as the equivalent to Word Documents. You can have multiple word documents for different assignments, projects, and purposes. EndNote is much the same way. You can create different libraries for different projects, classes, or content areas.
I recommend starting with one library, and focusing on organization within the library.
Open EndNote.
On a Mac, it will ask you to create and save a library when you first open the program. If not, you can go to File → New to create a new library (see photo below). While the interface will look different depending on the version of EndNote you use, the steps are the same to create a new library.
EndNote 20 (Mac):
In EndNote, you'll arrange your references within 'libraries'. You can think of libraries as the equivalent to Word Documents. You can have multiple word documents for different assignments, projects, and purposes. EndNote is much the same way. You can create different libraries for different projects, classes, or content areas.
I recommend starting with one library, and focusing on organization within the library.
Open EndNote.
When you first open EndNote on a PC, you may only see a blank gray screen to start with. Go to File -> New to create a library and then get started with your project.
In EndNote, you'll arrange your references within 'libraries'. You can think of libraries as the equivalent to Word Documents. You can have multiple word documents for different assignments, projects, and purposes. EndNote is much the same way. You can create different libraries for different projects, classes, or content areas.
I recommend starting with one library, and focusing on organization within the library.
Open EndNote.
On a Mac, it will ask you to create and save a library when you first open the program. If not, you can go to File → New to create a new library (see photo below). While the interface will look different depending on your version of EndNote, the steps are the same to create a new library.
In EndNote, you'll arrange your references within 'libraries'. You can think of libraries as the equivalent to Word Documents. You can have multiple word documents for different assignments, projects, and purposes. EndNote is much the same way. You can create different libraries for different projects, classes, or content areas.
I recommend starting with one library, and focusing on organization within the library.
Open EndNote.
On a PC, you'll only see a blank gray screen to start with when you first open EndNote. Go to File → New to create a library and then get started with your project (see photo below).
Groups can help you organize your references. You can create groups to organize your references by topic, by class, by project, or any other preference you may have. See below for instructions on how to create groups.
Mac: In your EndNote library, go to the menu Groups and select 'Create Group'.
A new group will be created in the 'My Group's section on the left hand side of the library. Name the group, and then you can drag and drop references into it for organization.
Groups can help you organize your references. You can create groups to organize your references by topic, by class, by project, or any other preference you may have. See below for instructions on how to create groups.
PC: In your EndNote library, go to the menu Groups and select 'Create Group'.
A new group will be created in the 'My Group's section on the left hand side of the library. Name the group, and then you can drag and drop references into it for organization.
Groups can help you organize your references. You can create groups to organize your references by topic, by class, by project, or any other preference you may have. See below for instructions on how to create groups.
Mac: In your EndNote library, go to the menu Groups and select 'Create Group'.
A new group will be created in the 'My Group's section on the left hand side of the library. Name the group, and then you can drag and drop references into it for organization.
Groups can help you organize your references. You can create groups to organize your references by topic, by class, by project, or any other preference you may have. See below for instructions on how to create groups.
PC: In your EndNote library, go to the menu Groups and select 'Create Group'. The steps for creating a group in EndNote 20 should be the same, although the interface will look different.
A new group will be created in the 'My Group's section on the left hand side of the library. Name the group, and then you can drag and drop references into it for organization.
One of the key components to using EndNote successfully is to be able to download citations from a database, such as PubMed, into EndNote. Watch the video below to see how to export a citation from PubMed into EndNote on either a Mac or a PC.
EndNote 20 (Mac & PC):
One of the key components to using EndNote successfully is to be able to download citations from a database, such as PubMed, into EndNote. Watch the video below to see how to export a citation from PubMed into EndNote on a Mac or a PC.
EndNote X9 (Mac):
One of the key components to using EndNote successfully is to be able to download citations from a database, such as PubMed, into EndNote. Watch the video below to see how to export a citation from PubMed into EndNote on either a PC.
EndNote X9 (PC):
You can find step by step instructions and screenshots for both Macs and PCs in this PDF tutorial. If you import a PDF into EndNote, it will create a new citation. If you already have a citation in EndNote and wish to attach a PDF, please watch the video below.
Yes! Watch the video below for more step by step instructions.
You can find step by step instructions and screenshots for both Macs and PCs in this PDF tutorial on EndNote X9. If you import a PDF into EndNote, it will create a new citation. If you already have a citation in EndNote and wish to attach a PDF, please watch the video below.
Yes! Watch the video below on how to attach PDFs to existing citations in your EndNote X9 library.
Creating in-text citations and bibliographies using EndNote will save you time. Watch the video below for a quick introduction to creating in-text citations and bibliographies. The Microsoft Word plug-in is the same for both EndNote X9 and EndNote 20.
As shown in the video above, your paper's citation style will be set to Annotated by default the first time you use the Cite While You Write tool in EndNote. Watch the video below to learn more about changing citation styles using EndNote. The Microsoft Word plug-in is the same for both EndNote X9 and EndNote 20.
Both EndNote X9 and EndNote 20 only include 500 citation styles by default, which means you may want to add an additional style in at some point. An example of this is the Journal of Bacteriology style, which isn't included by default, but can be added in.
Steps to install additional styles in both EndNote X9 and EndNote 20:
