The core functions of all three programmes are essentially the same, that it, to simplify in-text citations and generating a reference list for your research paper, assignment or thesis/dissertation.
Technical Support
While Mendeley and Zotero are open source free-to-use platforms, EndNote is subscription based and with the subscription, we get an immense amount of technical support and access to instructional resources that are of greater quality than that of Mendeley or Zotero.
Cost
With the latter two programmes, however, your storage capacity is limited and you have to pay extra if you want or need additional storage. With EndNote, you essentially have unlimited storage.
Windows/Mac Compatibility
All three programmes are compatible with Windows and MacOS and with MS Word and MS Word Online. However, Mendeley and Zotero seem to have the edge when it comes to being compatible with open source word processors.
Availability on other platforms
All three programmes have a local desktop and online version available. However, EndNote also has an app for iPads, but not for Android just as yet.
Functionality
All three programmes have similar means of importing references, either through direct export from databases, adding them manually, importing PDFs that generate references if the necessary metadata is available. Mendeley has a very convenient, if somewhat unstable, web importer that makes importing multiple references from a website much easier. EndNote also has a web extension called EndNote Click, which works well on Google Scholar and some academic databases, like Web of Science and PubMed. But it still has a ways to go before it is as effective as Mendeley Web Importer. EndNote can also be connected to your institution, i.e. SU, and through that you can find the full text of references if we have access to them. This is not a fool-proof system either and it does not always find the PDFs, but it is a new feature of EndNote and is sure to improve in effectiveness.
Style editing is perhaps where EndNote outshines Mendeley and Zotero by far. EndNote has a simplified style editor that allows you to customise your referencing style to exactly fit the needs of your department, faculty or the journal you aim to publish in. EndNote also has an online library of 7000+ styles available, so before you decide to create a style for a journal, be sure to check there isn't one available already. Mendeley and Zotero make use of a Citation Style Language editor to create and edit styles and these are tricky, even for experienced users to navigate and use.
All three platforms have online search functionality that vary in effectiveness. Our advice remains that you should rather stick to using academic databases when you search for academic sources.
Mendeley does have one feature that is sorely missed in EndNote. That is its notebook. While you can make notes and annotations in PDFs on EndNote, with Mendeley you get a notebook where you can view and navigate through all the notes you have made in all of your PDFs. We're holding thumbs that EndNote will develop a similar feature soon. The benefit of EndNote being a subscription based platform is that they continuously need to innovate to maintain their client base, so we are certain that features that are currently lacking will soon be added.
Sharing and Collaboration
All three platforms have great sharing and collaboration options available. Unfortunately, with all three your team will all have to use the same platform since they are not cross-compatible. So if you use EndNote, your whole team will have to use it and this can make it difficult if you are collaborating with colleagues from other institutions who do not have access to EndNote. One thing that does make EndNote different to Mendeley or Zotero is that you can share your entire library with colleagues, or just the folders you want to share. With Mendeley and Zotero, you can only share folders.
Yes, we have an institutional subscription, which means that any student or staff member at SU can get EndNote. However, we still discourage undergraduates from using reference managers, since they first need to learn how to reference and cite properly before they can make optimal use of reference managers.
No, you do not have to switch over to EndNote, especially if you are in the advanced stages of your thesis/dissertation. It can be a tedious and distracting exercise to switch over to EndNote at the later stages, so we recommend that you rather finish your current research project before switching over.
Unlike EndNote for Windows, EndNote Mac does not prompt you to create a new library the first time you launch the software and you need to do it manually. To learn more on how to do that, check Step 15 in the installation instructions here.
Unfortunately, there is no way to replicate these folders and you will have to manually reorganise your references once you have imported your Mendeley library to EndNote.
Yes, you can either share your entire library, or specific folders (called Groups in EndNote) with colleagues. More about sharing with EndNote can be viewed in these PDFs:
Windows
MacOS
Yes absolutely. EndNote works perfectly well without internet access. The online library serves more as a backup of your data.
You can learn more about importing references here:
Windows
MacOS
You can learn more about importing references here:
Windows
MacOS
The single reference restoration feature introduces the ability to compare and restore previous versions of individual references to correct any accidental mishaps. And, if the unthinkable should happen and your library files get deleted or damaged, you can restore your library with our new data restoration function, ensuring your research is not lost.
* Stay Organized with Tags
Tags are customizable labels that let you organize your references however you'd like. You can add tags to references and customize the colour and name of the tags. You can add multiple tags to a reference and anyone who you share your library with can view a tag, making tags a great way to quickly and intuitively organize your references.
Note: Now Tags are available in EndNote Web (Refer below about the new interface) i.e. we will be able to create, edit, and manage the Tags on EndNote Web, just like a Desktop version. In addition, Tags that we have created on the Web will sync to the EndNote 21 Desktop, and vice-versa.
EndNote Web EndNote 21 Desktop
* New Exclusive EndNote Web Interface
With the newly redesigned EndNote Web, you can sync seamlessly between online, desktop, and iOS devices. The brand-new EndNote Web is available only to EndNote 21 customers for 3 years from the activation date.
* EndNote: Word Online CWYW
Our best-in-class Cite While You Write tool makes it easy to insert your EndNote references into Word Online. Cite While You Write automatically creates, formats, and reformats in-text citations and reference lists. EndNote 21 Cite While You Write for Word Online add-in now has a native integration with Word Online and is the perfect tool for collaboration with your research colleagues. It allows you to pool your references with your collaborators' references. Cite While You Write requires an EndNote Web account activated with EndNote 21. Cite Wile You Write has a direct integration with your EndNote 21 Web account. Refer here for more information.
* Cite While You Write in Google Docs™
CWYW is available for EndNote 21 customers in Google Docs™ via Google Workspace Marketplace, making it easier to write your next paper and to collaborate on documents with colleagues. Refer here for more information.
Click here to learn how to install the Desktop (EndNote 21/20...) Add-in to Word app
Click here for Office Add-in
Click here for Google Add-in
Click here for EndNote Online Add-in
Click here for Apple Pages
Click here for Windows LibreOffice
Click here for Windows OpenOffice
Click here for Windows WPS
As you start writing your document in Word, you may have the following questions:
How do I add a page number to my citations?
Please see the following Knowledge Base Article: EndNote: Adding Page Numbers to Citations
How do I remove a citation from the document?
Please see the following Knowledge Base Article: EndNote: Properly Removing a Formatted Citation
How do I create footnotes or endnotes?
Please see the following Knowledge Base Article: EndNote: Entering Citations into Word footnotes/endnotes
Why are my citations not starting with number 1, even though I am using a style that sorts the citations in order of appearance?
Please see the following Knowledge Base Article: EndNote: Citation numbers out of order
How can I change styles in the document?
Please see the following Knowledge Base Article: EndNote: Changing Output Styles Within a Document
How do I merge documents?
Please see the following Knowledge Base Article: EndNote: How to merge chapters into one document in Word
Can I use Track Changes in Word?
Please see the following Knowledge Base Article: EndNote: Issues with Track Changes
2. How can I create a standalone/independent bibliography?
For multiple-word last names, like Charles de Gaulle, enter the name with the last name first, such as:
de Gaulle, Charles
Entering a name this way ensures that both words "de" and "Gaulle will format as the last name.
Enter authors with titles, such as "Jr. or III, as Last, First, Title. For example, Alfred Smith
Smith, Alfred, Jr.
The text after the second comma will print exactly as entered.
1. How can I find an Output Style that is not included with EndNote?
If you do not see the style you want in the list of styles in EndNote Style Manager, check our website here first. Suppose the style is not listed on our website, then we do not have the output style you seek.
You might consider checking the EndNote Forum to see if anyone else has created the style you seek, or you can add a suggestion for the style to be created. Periodically we create newly requested styles and
post them on our website.
If you need a new style right away, you can create a new one or you can identify a similar style and modify it. The style editing guide can be found here: EndNote Windows and Mac: Style Editing Guide.
2. How can I add style to the EndNote Website?
To add style to our website, you would need to request the journal editor or librarian to submit a request here.
Note: Requests from individuals will not be processed here. The form needs to be submitted by journal editorial staff and professional staff supporting EndNote only.
3. Can I add more styles to my EndNote programme?
EndNote has over 6,000 bibliographic styles, however, the application only provides the most often-used output types. If you want to add additional styles, then refer here for more information and instructions.
4. Can I share a customized output style with a colleague?
EndNote allows us to modify any style and share it with others via email. You can refer here for instructions.
5. Why are the references automatically bulleted and misaligned?
Mostly it might be due to Word's Style setting rather than EndNote. Correcting the style settings should resolve this issue. For the steps, you can refer here.
6. Can I add or modify the style in the EndNote Online?
No. You cannot add or modify the style in the EndNote Online. If you have Basic EndNote Online, you have 21 styles to utilise and you can check the list here. However, if you are affiliated with any organization
via Web of Science, you can reach out to your EndNote Online admin to upload the style. You can find more information here.
7. Why are my Journal Names not abbreviated correctly?
You will need to check the term list of the Journals if the Abbreviation 1 or 2 is listed correctly. For the steps and instructions, you can refer here.
I have 500+ references on various topics. How can I categorise them?
You can use Smart Groups that help arrange the references by keywords, author, journal, and so on. When you add new references to the library, they will be filed automatically to the Smart Group based on the
settings. You can refer to this here for more information.
How can I move references to a folder/group in the EndNote library?
Groups make it easy to break a large library into subsets for later viewing. A group simply points to a subset of references that already exist in the library. There are various methods for transferring references to
certain groups. For the steps and more information, please click here.
How can I identify which groups the references belong to?
In EndNote, you can use the “Reference Summary” whereas the version before EndNote 20 is called "Record Summary". option to find the groups to which the references belong. To check this,
1. Highlight any reference in your EndNote library
2. In EndNote 20, go to the References tab then choose Reference Summary. In previous versions, you can also right-click on it to choose “Reference Summary”.
3. The information will display in the “Reference Summary” as the following:
How can I restore references from the Trash folder/group?
The references moved to the Trash folder can be restored to your EndNote library. The steps are outlined below:
Alternatively, you can drag and drop the references from Trash to a specific group or the All References group.
NOTE: References can be restored to the "All References" group only and not to Custom Groups.
Can I add references to the Group Sets?
You cannot add references to the Group Sets. Group Set helps to break down or combine more than one topic in a library. For instance, in a library name Master Library, there are groups divided by Fruits,
Animals and Plants. In each group set, you can create custom groups to help with your research.
How can I share a group with my colleague?
To share a group, your colleague and you need to have an EndNote Online account. Then, create a group that you would like to share and add references. For the instructions, please refer here.
1. What are the advantages of using the Sync feature?
2. How often is my EndNote library synced?
If you have enabled the Automatic Sync (Sync Automatically) option, then the library will sync every 15 minutes. EndNote will alert you if you attempt to close your library before it has synchronised. To enable
Sync Automatically, you may follow the steps below.
For Windows: Go to the Edit tab in the EndNote program and choose Preferences. Select Sync and check the box for “Sync Automatically”.
For macOS: Go to the EndNote menu beside the Apple icon and select Preferences or Settings. Choose Sync and check the box for “Sync Automatically”.
3. Why am I seeing the message "The username/password specified is not valid" during the sync/share process?
The errors above come up if the username and password for the EndNote online account are incorrect in the EndNote sync preference. Updating the correct credentials should resolve it. Refer here for
instructions.
4. How many libraries am I allowed to share?
EndNote allows you to share one library. The library you share will also be the library you may access online through EndNote Online or on your iPad/iPhone via the EndNote app. For the library-sharing process,
you can check it out here.
5. Is it possible to access a shared library from anywhere?
If you shared the library, then you may access it on your PC, EndNote Online, or your iPad/iPhone since the shared library is already synced with your online account. However, if you have been invited to access
someone else's library, then you can only do so from your desktop program.
6. What if I no longer wish to share my library?
You can easily control access to the library from the desktop version. Add, remove or provide read-only access by going to the File menu > Share.
7. What does the error message “Sync Client.Error.Unknown…” means?
When using the Sync feature you may see the following sync error Client.Error.Unknown along with the error message either
The above error messages could be due to a network connectivity issue between your computer and EndNote.
The first option to try to resolve the issue would be to quit EndNote and then reopen EndNote and try to sync again.
EndNote may be able to connect during the second attempt and the issue should be resolved.
If the error message persists then contact us for further assistance.
8. What does the error message “The size of the attachments exceeds the available space…” means?
The error message means that your sync has expired. Once you have registered for sync, your EndNote Online will transform from Basic to Premium. When EndNote Online is premium, you can sync unlimited
references and file attachments. However, the Premium web version is only available for 2 years and then the web account converts back to Basic. The Basic account can only hold 2 GB of attachment storage. If
you wish to continue with the Premium Online feature, you will have to re-register for sync with the EndNote desktop that is available at that moment. You can check out here for more information.
1. Can I convert a PDF into an EndNote reference?
Yes, if the PDF has a DOI then EndNote can convert the PDF file into an EndNote reference. You can refer here for more instructions.
2. Is it possible to set EndNote to import PDFs automatically?
Using the PDF Auto Import Folder option, we can import the PDFs automatically and whenever we add a new PDF to the folder. The PDF be imported into the library and you can check here for the steps.
3. Can I import a PDF folder?
Yes, you can import a group of PDFs by creating a new folder and gathering the PDFs in the respective folder. Next, you will have to choose the folder when importing and you can refer to the instructions from here.
4. How can I set up the Find Full-Text feature?
EndNote offers a “Find Full Text” feature that allows users to locate full text for citations by accessing several sources, including DOI (Digital Object Identifier), PubMed, Web of Science Group (WOSG) and the institution’s
Open URL setup. To help you with the setup, you may check here for more information and instructions.
5. Can I use the Ex Libris Alma Primo link resolver to configure the Find Full-Text feature?
EndNote can automatically locate and download full-text files by accessing several sources, including DOI (Digital Object Identifier), PubMed LinkOut, and Web of Science Full-Text Links. In addition, you can also obtain the
PDFs from Ex Libris and you may refer here for instructions.
As you build your library, you may run into the following questions:
How can I make a backup of my library?
Please see the following Knowledge Base Article: EndNote: Moving, backing up, or transferring libraries to another computer
How do I enter an author in a reference when the author is not a person?
Please see the following Knowledge Base Article: EndNote: Entering an institution or corporation as an author
How do I enter an author with a complex name?
Please see the following Knowledge Base Article: EndNote: How to enter complex author names
Why are my authors not displayed properly?
Please see the following Knowledge Base Article: EndNote: Records with more than one author do not show properly when formatted
How do I get Journal Names to abbreviate?
Please see the following Knowledge Base Article: EndNote: Generate full or abbreviated journal names
How can I add a field or make my own reference type?
Please see the following Knowledge Base Article: EndNote: Adding and Changing Reference Types
1. Can I move my libraries to another computer?
EndNote libraries created on the Mac or PC versions are cross-platform compatible and can be transferred to different computers. Refer here for instructions.
2. Can we transfer references from Mendeley/Zotero to EndNote?
References & associated PDFs can be transferred from one program to EndNote and we can also convert Zotero/Mendeley citations to EndNote citations.
Zotero
Mendeley
3. Why does my library often gets corrupted?
When the library is directly accessed from a Cloud Storage folder/Network drive/Shared server then it would easily get damaged. Refer here for more information.
4. Is it safe to have my EndNote library on a cloud folder such as OneDrive or iCloud?
EndNote is not designed for compatibility with any other cloud storage. While we can use the service to keep a backup copy or share a compressed copy of our database file(s), we do not recommend opening and/or using the database from that location. If you have the database files saved to any cloud storage, we recommend you copy the files to another location on your computer or remote drive before you open them. Other cloud storage services that would cause this issue include SharePoint, OneDrive, Box Sync, Google Drive, Dropbox and iCloud.
5. What is the maximum number of references I can maintain in my library?
EndNote X4.0.1 and later expand the upper size limit for one library to 999,999 records.
6. Can my libraries be merged?
If you want to combine your libraries then there are several options and each with its own set of steps. Refer here for further instructions.
7. How do I fix damaged libraries in EndNote?
Damaged libraries can be restored using two methods: Standard Recovery and Advanced Recovery. Each one follows a separate set of instructions. Refer here for further instructions.
1. Can I export my references to Excel?
EndNote library data can be exported to a tab-delimited file and then imported into Excel. Refer here for instructions.
2. Can I import a CSV file into my library?
EndNote does not have an import filter for CSV files but you can open a CSV file with Excel and then use the steps from the Knowledge Base article to turn the file into a tab-delimited file which can be imported into EndNote.
3. Can I download the references from the Google Scholar site?
We must configure Google Scholar to save references in an EndNote-compatible format. Refer here for instructions.
4. Can I export the references from the PubMed online database to my EndNote program?
You can follow the instructions from here for exporting the references from PubMed to the EndNote program.
5. Is there an issue with exporting to EndNote on a Mac?
There are known problems using Direct Export with Chrome and current Safari browsers on a macOS system. In most cases, instead of importing directly into EndNote™, the browser will instead save a file onto the Desktop. This is due to the way these browsers handle MIME types; they interfere with the ability to directly export from certain websites into EndNote.
Try accessing the website and exporting using a Mozilla-based browser instead (see http://www.firefox.com/). Mozilla-based browsers like Firefox allow you to specify how to handle the data when you initiate a direct export, permitting you to select the EndNote application.
NOTE: If you minimize your library before you try to export from Firefox it will not get imported. You need to leave the library open and not minimized for it to directly import into the open library.
6. Is it possible to export references from a document to my EndNote Library?
We can use the Export Travel Library command as long as the references (with active field codes) are cited from the EndNote (both desktop & online versions).
1. Open Word and go to the EndNote tab in the Ribbon then Export to EndNote and select Export Traveling Library (On Mac: EndNote tab > Tools > Export Traveling Library).
2. EndNote will ask whether you want to import to a new library or an existing library.
3. Click OK to import the references into the specified EndNote Library.
7. Can I export references from JabRef into EndNote?
You can follow the instructions from here for exporting the references from JabRef to the EndNote.
Please Note: The steps below will work with Mendeley Desktop only and cannot be used with the Mendeley Reference Manager or for documents used with Mendeley Cite.
In Mendeley:
Select the records you wish to export. You can click Edit > Select All if you want your entire database.
Click on the File menu > Export
Change Save As Type option to "RIS - Research Information Systems"
Pick a name and location for the file and Save.
You will end up with a file titled "My Collection.ris."
In EndNote:
Click the File menu > New to create a new library.
Click on the File menu > Import File.
Click Choose and browse to the "My Collection.ris" file you downloaded and click Open.
Change the Import option to Reference Manager (RIS).
Click Import.
This will import your Mendeley records into this new EndNote™ library.
You can also try the following steps instead:
In Mendeley:
Select the records you wish to export. You can click Edit > Select All if you want your entire database.
Click on the File menu > Export
Change Save As Type option to "EndNote XML"
Pick a name and location for the file and Save.
You will end up with a file titled "My Collection.xml" and a folder titled "My Collection.Data."
In EndNote:
Click the File menu > New to create a new library.
Click on the File menu > Import File.
Click Choose and browse to the "My Collection.xml" file you downloaded and click Open.
Change the Import option to EndNote generated XML.
Click Import.
Click the File menu > Exit
Open the "My Collection.Data" folder.
If there is a PDF folder, copy it to the new .Data folder created with your EndNote Library. If you created a library titled "My EndNote Library," there will be a "My EndNote Library.Data" folder.
When you open the library in EndNote again, you will have the working attachments.
Document Conversion:
In order to convert a document created using Mendeley's "Cite-O-Matic" tools, it needs to be formatted in a custom style. You will find a copy of the custom style in the Attachments section at the bottom of this article. Download the "Mendeley-to-Endnote-Title.csl" file. Now add the custom style to the Mendeley program.
Adding the custom style to the Mendeley program:
Open Mendeley and click View > Citation Style > More Styles.
Under the Installed tab, please drag and drop the custom style.
In Word follow the steps below:
Open Word, click the References tab, click on Style dropdown > More Styles.
Select Mendeley-to-Endnote-Title and click OK. Now references will display only the title in the open and close curly braces: {Title}.
Open the EndNote library and the document formatted using the "custom" style.
Save the modified document with a new name.
Windows: Press [Ctrl]+A on the keyboard to highlight everything.
macOS: Press [Command]+A on the keyboard to highlight everything.
Windows: Press [Ctrl]+6 (above the "T" and "Y" key) to remove any field codes.
macOS: Press [Command]+6 (above the "T" and "Y" key) to remove any field codes.
Remove any Bibliography present in the document.
Update the document with the appropriate style using the EndNote tools. See EndNote: Changing Output Styles Within a Document for more information.
Please note that you may get the "EndNote Select Matching Reference" dialog box when formatting the bibliography, please click at EndNote: Select Matching Reference for information on how to resolve this and in case if we get a Cannot Edit Range message then refer to this: EndNote: Cannot Edit Range or A COM exception has occurred
NOTE: Please contact support if you have trouble with the conversion.