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Endnote Desktop

Endnote desktop tutorials and support

Attaching the Full Text PDFs to your References

There are 4 ways to add the papers to your references in Endnote.  The first two methods retrospectively add full text to references already within Endnote.  You can also use Endnote Click when searching for literature on the web which brings in a single reference at a time plus the .pdf (where we have a subscription).  Lastly, if you already have a large folder of .pdfs but no references in Endnote, you can sometimes (depending on the quality of data in the .pdf) upload files from which references will be generated:

You can use this option when you already have the .pdf saved somewhere on your computer.  Add an attachment to an existing reference in Endnote by:

  • clicking the reference > clicking 'Attach File' in the top right hand side pane

  • locate the file from the relevant folder in your computer

  • file attachments show as a paperclip icon and files can be accessed via the right hand panel

You can tell Endnote to look for .pdfs it can find on the web via a DOI look up (this has about 50% success rate) but is good for picking up .pdfs for lots of references at once.

  • Select the references in your library or group with Ctrl+A (or, 'Edit' > 'Select All')

  • Click 'References' > 'Find Full Text'

  • Endnote will now search externally to find a .pdf match for your reference.  You can follow the progress in the 'Find Full Text' left hand menu.

  • Any .pdfs that Endnote can find will automatically attach themselves to the relevant reference as a paperclip icon.

Send both the .pdf and the reference details straight into Endnote with one click!

EndNote Click (formely Kopernio) browser extension | SFU Library

Endnote Click is a separate, free, browser extension tool that you can sign up for (if you also have an Endnote Online account or Web of Science personal account e.g. to save your Web of Science searches, then use the same email address/password in your Endnote Click set up).  It works when you are on a journal article page e.g. Science Direct, Nature, PLoS, Taylor & Francis, Wiley etc. and pops up on your screen with a link to the .pdf.  

It also has its own .pdf store ('locker') so it can be used without access to Endnote as a place to store full text article .pdfs although it is not a referencing tool on its own.

Endnote Click links in with University of Plymouth's Library subscriptions and will find the 'best quality' .pdf for you: a library subscription version or an Open Access version.  If there is no legal copy available (i.e. the article is behind a paywall and there is no Open Access version, you will be redirected to a Primo search for possible access via another provider or to the Library's Inter Library form in Primo).

It is possible to import .pdfs into EndNote with no corresponding references in your library - importing the .pdf automatically creates a reference!  For this to work, the .pdf must have machine readable DOI metadata and not be a photoscan of the paper.  If there is no metadata in the .pdf you will import the file against an empty reference record you will have to manually complete.  So this is not a recommended way to add .pdfs or references but can work if you are brand new to Endnote and already have a large folder of saved .pdfs you'd like to try to get into Endnote.

  • Ensure that the files to be imported are all saved within the same folder. 

  • Click 'File' > 'Import' > 'Folder'

  • Click 'Choose' and select the required folder from your computer

  • In the 'Import Option' field ensure that PDF is selected from the list of options.

  • Click 'Import'

  • Your new reference should be displayed in the Imported References folder.