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Reference Tools: 1. Saving Citations in RefWorks

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. Using "Save to RefWorks" for Online Work
  3. Import from Databases
  4. Adding Citations Manually

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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.

Using "Save to RefWorks" for Online Work

RefWorks has an easy to use tool that installs in any web browser called the Save to RefWorks button.  The Save to RefWorks button grabs information from any web page – in some cases a complete article – and adds it to your RefWorks library. 

To add the Save to RefWorks button to your browser, click on the More icon  and select Tools.   Simply drag the Save to RefWorks button to your browser.  Once you’ve installed it, go to any web page and click the Save to RefWorks button to capture the information.

To use "Save to RefWorks:

  1. When you are on a web page you want to grab information from, just click on the Save to RefWorks 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. If multiple works are listed, you select the resource(s) you want and "Save to RefWorks."
  4. You can view the citations in your "Last Imported" folder or simply close the sidebar and get back to searching.

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

Import from Databases

If you are importing citations from databases without a "Direct RefWorks Export" or the "Save to RefWorks" browser tool, 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 labeled 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 + >> Import References.
    RefWorks Import Link under References
  5. Drop and drag the file into RefWorks. 
    Import Options
  6. RefWorks will verify the source of the citations, then import. When finished, it 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.
    Import Verification

Adding Citations Manually

You can also directly enter the citation information into RefWorks.

  1. Log into your RefWorks account. Pull down the Add (+) menu and select "Create New Reference".
    Create Citation
  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. You can also drag and drop a PDF file. RefWorks will attempt to determine the citation information from the information encoded into the PDF.