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EndNote 21 guide

Set up EndNote

How to use the EndNote reference management software

Create a new library

To create an EndNote library:

  1. In EndNote, open the "File" menu
  2. Select "New"
  3. Select a location on your computer's hard drive to store your library (such as the Documents folder). Do not store it on a cloud drive such as OneDrive, Dropbox or iCloud, or on a USB drive. These are fine to store backups but not working libraries, as they have a higher chance of corrupting your library.
  4. Give your library a unique name (i.e. not the default My EndNote Library) and click "Save".

This will create two files with the same name:

  • A library file (.enl)
  • A folder of data files (.data).

Both files need to be stored in the same location for EndNote to work correctly.

Note: We strongly recommended that you keep all your references together in one EndNote library, instead of creating multiple libraries. This will avoid problems when writing papers, syncing your references to EndNote Online or moving files between computers. Your references can then be divided into groups using EndNote's groups function:

Select a referencing style

EndNote comes pre-loaded with the more common referencing styles (referred to in EndNote as "output styles"). To select your required output style:

  1. Select the "Tools" drop down menu
  2. Hover over "Output Styles"
  3. Select your style from the list

If the style you need does not appear in the drop down list:

  1. Select "Open Style Manager"
  2. Select the style in the larger list of pre-loaded styles
  3. Exit the Style Manager window

Once you have added a reference, you can double-check the referencing style by looking in the "Preview" section of the Summary tab on the Reference panel.

To see a preview of the reference in that style:

  1. Double click on the Reference
  2. Select "Summary" in the panel on the right. The Reference preview will display on the bottom right in the display pane.

Tip: If you cannot see the preview: the display pane is configured like a table. Click on the line at the bottom and slide it up so you can see the preview section or click on the small arrow in the right bottom corner if the reference preview is not visible.

You can also add more then one preferred styles using the methods above, then select a style to preview at the bottom of the Summary window.

If your required referencing style is not provided as an option by EndNote, see "Download a referencing style" below for further instructions.

Add a list of abbreviated journal titles

Some referencing styles, such as Vancouver, require the use of specific journal title abbreviations. Other referencing styles require journal titles to be written in full, but journal titles may be imported in an abbreviated form when citations are exported from databases. EndNote can add standardised journal title abbreviations, and can convert abbreviated journal titles into full titles, by adding ‘terms lists’.

To upload a terms list to EndNote:

  1. Select "Library" from the top menu
  2. Hover over "Open Term Lists"
  3. Select "Journals Term List"
  4. If there are existing journals listed under the terms tab, select all the existing terms (use Ctrl+A), and click "Delete Term"
  5. Switch to the Lists tab and click "Import List…"
  6. Select relevant subjects from the list
  7. This will begin the import. Click "OK" when done
  8. You should now see all the journal abbreviations in the term list.

Download a referencing style

EndNote has over 4,500 output styles, around 500 of which are supplied with the software. If the style you need isn't supplied with EndNote, it may be possible to download it from the EndNote website or from other sources.

Download an output style from the EndNote website

  1. On the Output styles page on the EndNote website, enter the title of the style in the search box and click "Search"
  2. Select the "Download" link to the right of the relevant result, and save the download file
  3. Open the file you have downloaded. This will open the style in EndNote
  4. In EndNote, select "File" then "Save As"
  5. Remove the word "copy" and click "Save"
  6. Click "File", then "Close Style".

Tip: If you have trouble downloading a style, try a different browser.

Download an output style from other sources

Occasionally you may need to use a style that is not currently supplied with EndNote. This is more common for styles that are specific to Australia, such as AGLC or Crop & Pasture Science, or bibliographic styles from Australian journals.

We have provided detailed instructions for downloading the styles for the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC), Annotated Review, and Crop & Pasture Science styles in the following tabs. If you wish to use a style that is not listed here and is not available on the EndNote website:

  1. Download the style
  2. Open the file you have downloaded. This will open the style in EndNote
  3. In EndNote, select "File" then "Save As"
  4. Remove the word "copy" and click "Save"
  5. Click "File", then "Close Style".

Locate your downloaded style in EndNote

  1. In EndNote, select the "Tools" dropdown menu
  2. Hover over "Output Styles", then select "Open Style Manager". This will open the "EndNote Styles" pop up window
  3. Scroll through the list to find your downloaded style, and tick the box next to the style
  4. Close out of the "EndNote Styles" window

The downloaded style should now be available to select within your output styles. For help selecting the style, see the "Select a referencing style" section of this guide:

If you cannot find an output style using these methods, Ask our Librarians for help:

The AGLC referencing style is the standard style used in Australian legal literature, and is not supplied with EndNote 21. If you wish to use EndNote with AGLC style, you will need to download both a reference type table and the style itself from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Library.

There are three steps to setting up AGLC style in EndNote:

Step 1 - Install legal reference types

  1. From the UTS Library link above, right/control click on the "Reference Types Table.xml" link and select "Save link/target as". 
  2. Save the document to your computer's hard drive
  3. Open EndNote and select the "Edit" drop-down menu (Apple logoon a Mac click on "EndNote") 
  4. Select "Preferences". This will open a pop-up window
  5. Select "Reference Types"
  6. Select Import and locate the "Reference Types Table.xml" file on your computer
  7. Select "Open", "Apply", then "OK" (Apple logoon a Mac click on "Open", then "Save").

Step 2 - Install the AGLC style

  1. From the UTS Library link above, download the "AGLC4.ens" file
  2. Open the file once downloaded. If prompted, select "Open with EndNote"
  3. EndNote will start and the style window will open, showing you details of the style
  4. Click on "File", then "Save As"
  5. Ensure the name of the style is listed as AGLC4(UTS), and select "Save".

Step 3 - Select the AGLC style in EndNote

The downloaded style should now be available to select within your output styles. For help selecting the style, see the "Select a referencing style" section of this guide:

For more information on using the AGLC referencing style with EndNote, see the "Using EndNote with AGLC User Guide" from the UTS Library:

These instructions and files are created by the University of Technology Sydney Library.

The Annotated Review style is intended to make it easier to read your research notes and the abstracts for your references. If you wish to use the Annotated Review style, you will need to download it from the Texas A&M University Libraries:

There are two steps to setting up Annotated Review in EndNote.

Step 1 - Install the Annotated Review style

  1. Click on the "Annotated_Review.ens" link above to download the file
  2. Open the file once downloaded. If prompted, select "Open with EndNote"
  3. EndNote will start and the style window will open, showing you details of the style
  4. Click on "File", then "Save As"
  5. Ensure the name of the style is listed as Annotated_Review and select "Save".

Step 2 - Select the Annotated Review style in EndNote

The downloaded style should now be available to select within your output styles. For help selecting the style, see the "Select a referencing style" section of this guide:

Once the Annotated Review style has been selected in EndNote, the Summary pane will include research notes and abstracts.

For more information on using the Annotated Review style with EndNote, see the "Annotated Review Style" section of Texas A&M University Libraries' EndNote guide:

These instructions and files are created by the Texas A&M University Libraries.

The Crop & Pasture Science referencing style must be used when submitting a paper to the Crop & Pasture Science journal, and is also used when writing papers for some Agricultural Science units at Murdoch University. Your Unit Coordinator will advise you if you need to use the Crop & Pasture Science style.

The Crop & Pasture Science style is available to download from the EndNote website:

Use the "Crop and Pasture Science Output Style" link above to download the style, then follow the instructions in the "Download an output style" tab to install and select the style in EndNote.

If you need further assistance using the Crop & Pasture Science referencing style, see "Crop & Pasture Science Author Instructions" on the CSIRO Publishing website: