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Citing Your Sources: 1. Saving Citations in RefWorks (Legacy)

Saving Citations in RefWorks

Adding the citations for articles and other resources you discover during your reseach to RefWorks is easy to do! As you add citations you will build your RefWorks library.

Here are 4 ways to add citations to RefWorks:

  1. Direct Export from Databases
  2. Import from Databases
  3. Adding Citations Manually
  4. Using RefGrab-It for Websites

RefWorks Logo

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Direct Export from Databases

Many databases provide a "direct export" function that allows you to add citations directly to your RefWorks account. To use direct export:

  1. Mark the citation(s) in your results list or save them to the folder.
  2. Find and click on the Save/Export/Send to link or icon in the database (these options are labelled differently across databases) and choose the "Direct Export to RefWorks" or "Save to RefWorks" option.
  3. The RefWorks login screen will appear. Login to your RefWorks account. RefWorks will then display the message "Importing references, please wait...", and when finished will display "Import completed - [x] reference(s) imported," and a View Last Imported Folder link. You can then move the citation(s) into a folder of your choice in RefWorks.

**TIP: When you view the citations in your Last Imported folder, check over the information to ensure that all required citation parts are included and properly formatted. If you see an error, for example, the title may appear in ALL CAPS, use the edit icon to fix it now. This will reduce the chance of errors later when you are creating in-text citations and bibliographies.

Import from Databases

If you are importing citations from databases without a "Direct RefWorks Export" you can still download the citations to a file and import manually into RefWorks. There are few more steps than the direct export, but is still much faster and easier than manually adding citations.

  1. Mark the citation(s) in your results list or save them to the folder.
  2. Find and click on the Save/Export/Send to link or icon in the database (these options are labelled differently across databases) and choose the "Citation Manager" or "Other File Formats" option.
  3. Save the file created by the database in a place you easily find it again.
  4. Login in to your RefWorks account and select References >> Import.
    RefWorks Import Link under References
  5. Select the Filer and Database appropriate for the source the citations originated in. Choose the file you saved and import. 
    Import Filters
  6. RefWorks will then display the message "Importing references, please wait...", and when finished will display "Import completed - [x] reference(s) imported," and a View Last Imported Folder link. You can then move the citation(s) into a folder of your choice in RefWorks.

**TIP: Here are setting for common databases that require manual import. When importing citations from these databases, use these options to ensure that all the citation informations get imported correctly.

For importing from PubMed
Filter = NLM PubMed
Database = PubMed
For importing from Web of Science
Filter = Thomson Reuters
Database = Web of Science

Adding Citations Manually

You can also directly enter the citation information into RefWorks.

  1. Log into your RefWorks account. Pull down the References menu and select "Add New."
  2. Check that the "Field ued by" style is the one you want and that the correct "Reference Type" is selected from the drop down.
  3. Input the information for your reference into the fields and save.

Using RefGrab-It for Websites

RefGrab-It is an optional feature for capturing bibliographic information from web pages. It is available as a bookmarklet that works with Internet Explorer and Firefox. To install RefGrab-It in your browser, follow the instructions under Tools >> RefGrab-It after logging in to your account.

Ref Grab It link under Tools

To use RefGrab-It:

  1. When you are on a web page you want to grab information from, just click on the RefGrab-It button in your toolbar or bookmark list.
  2. A pop-up or new tab will show you items on that page. If you do not see this pop-up or page, check your browser settings - it may be blocked.
  3. Select the resource and "Import to RefWorks."
  4. The RefWorks login screen will appear. Login to your RefWorks account. RefWorks will then display the message "Importing references, please wait...", and when finished will display "Import completed - [x] reference(s) imported," and a View Last Imported Folder link. You can then move the citation(s) into a folder of your choice in RefWorks.

**TIP: ALWAYS check the importede citation RefGrab-It creates. Sometimes fields are missing because the information has not been coded correctly by the web page. If so, edit your RefWorks citation manually to add all the information needed.