Getting Started with Mendeley

Mendeley is a free citation manager and academic social network that enables you to manage citations and PDFs using a desktop client or through your account on mendeley.com. Mendeley also includes plugins for Word or Open Office, so you can easily create citations and/or bibliographies as you write your papers. Mendeley users can connect with other researchers in their field and discover what they are reading.

1.  Get started by creating an account. Make sure to use your ETSU email. This will give you access to 100 GB of storage. DO NOT CREATE AN ACCOUNT USING THE  link. This will cause problems with trying to work on and offline.

2.  Create your profile.

3.  Download the Mendeley Desktop.

4.  Install the Mendeley Web Importer.

5.  Install the Mendeley MS Word Plugin.

Use the Mendeley Desktop to build and organize your collection of references and documents, which you can sync with the web and mobile versions. Drag & drop PDF files into the Desktop to instantly create references. Annotate PDFs with highlights and sticky notes as you read them.

Features of the Mendeley Desktop - help guides on how to use the features of Mendeley Desktop

Install the Web Importer.

With the Mendeley Web Importer, you can easily save references and PDF files into your personal library.

You just need to be viewing an article or a list of references in the browser. This can mean that you're looking at an actual PDF file, an article entry in an online catalog, or even a list of search results. The Mendeley Web Importer will scan the page for metadata, and provide you with a list of the results it finds.

To begin the import process, click on the red Mendeley button next to the address bar in Chrome, or click the 'Save to Mendeley' bookmarklet in your Bookmarks/Favorites if you're using another browser. Depending on the number of results the Importer finds, you'll be provided with a list of different items, or specific details of a single item. You can then review the details, and even make manual corrections within the Importer itself, before choosing to add the references to your personal Mendeley library.

The Citation Plugin allows you to quickly and easily cite materials that you’ve added to your Mendeley library.  

• It is a free, simple plugin for Microsoft Word (Windows, Mac) or Libre Office (All platforms).

• Allows you to quickly and easily insert styled citations to reference materials from your Mendeley Library.

• Automatically generates a bibliography for your paper using all the materials you’ve cited.

Ensure your word processor is closed before attempting to install the plugin.

Open the Tools Menu and select the appropriate option. Mendeley will detect which word processor(s) you have installed, so the options available to you may vary.

The citation tool installs very quickly and will confirm once it finishes.

Using the Citation Plug-in

Guide template provided, with permission, by West Virginia University's Health Sciences Library.