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Reference Manager and Citation Generator

This guide includes content adapted with permission from the University Library System, University of Pittsburgh.

IMPORTANT: As of November 2020, Mendeley is moving away from networking aspects of the platform in favor of a more focused approach to reference management. See announcement and blog post. Researcher profiles, feed, and public groups are being deactivated.

What is Mendeley?

​Mendeley is a free reference manager that can help you organize your research. There is a 2GB limit to this product.

Use Mendeley to:

  • Automatically generate bibliographies
  • Easily import papers from other research software
  • Access your papers from anywhere online

Use Mendeley Reference Manager on the device you use most often; log in to Mendeley Web from any other device with internet access and sync your work to your Desktop account!

Downloading Mendeley and Exporting References

Mendeley -- Get started by creating a free Mendeley Web account using your email account and downloading the software from the Mendeley website. There is no longer support or updates to Mendeley Desktop. 

There are three easy steps to make the upgrade to Mendeley Reference Manager:

  1. Sync your existing library in Mendeley Desktop
  2. Download and install Mendeley Reference Manager
  3. Open the new reference manager, and sign in using your existing Mendeley credentials

In both cases, it is highly recommended that you download the following tools:

Mendeley Web Importer

Screengrab of Mendeley Web ImporterMendeley Web Importer allows you to easily add publications to your Mendeley Library. Simply click on the Mendeley icon located on your browser, and select add to My Library, or one of your collections. If the Mendeley icon doesn't appear automatically, select the Puzzle icon (for Extensions), and pin Mendeley extension. You can also add any of the referenced publications, or the PDFs if available.

 

Creating a Bibliography

First, install the MS Word plug in:

  1. Open Mendeley Reference Manager
  2. Select Tools from the toolbar
  3. Choose Install MS Word Plugin

Once installed, the plugin will be available every time you open a Word Document.

Once the citation plugin has been installed, citations can easily be added to documents in many word processing systems.  To insert a citation using Microsoft Word:

  1. Place you cursor exactly where the citation will be used.
  2. Select the References tab and locate the Mendeley Cite-O-Matic options.
  3. Click the Insert Citation button and search for references by author, title, or year from your library.  References can also be added from groups.
  4. After a reference has been selected, click OK.  The reference will appear in your selected area.
  5. After a citation has been inserted, you may change the citation style using the drop down box titled Style.

Create a Bibliography

After at least one citation has been added to your document, select the Insert Bibliography option add the bibliography.  If more citations are added, click the Refresh option to update the bibliography.

IFPRI is a CGIAR Research Center