Using RefWorks: a quick guide
What is RefWorks?
RefWorks is a bibliographic software package that enables you to:
 import references from databases or text files
 build up your own database of relevant references
 add correctly formatted citations to word documents
 build a bibliography
How do I register?
Go to the Library website www.imperial.ac.uk/library
From the menu bar select Subjects & Support > Reference Management (under ‘Help and
Guidance)> RefWorks>Creating an account and logging in
Click on the RefWorks link
Enter your College username and password in the boxes provided
You will now see the RefWorks registration screen.
You need to enter the following information:
 Enter your name & College email address
 Type of user
= Undergraduate/Postgraduate
 Focus area
= Choose most appropriate
 Click on Register
You will receive an email confirming your registration details
You are now ready to start using RefWorks!
How do I add references to my account?
There are 5 ways to do this:
1. Direct Export
2. Importing a saved file
3. RefGrab It
4. Adding book references from the Library Catalogue
5. Adding manually
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1. Direct Export
Some databases and resources allow you to export references directly into RefWorks, including
CSA Illumina, EBSCO, Ei Engineering Village, Web of Knowledge (Web of Science),
ScienceDirect, MetaLib and Google Scholar.
To export references from Ei Engineering Village:
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Conduct your search and tick the boxes next to the references you wish to export
Click on the Download button at the top/bottom of page
Select Refworks Direct Import option and click on Download
Log in to your RefWorks account when prompted to do so. The selected references will
be downloaded into your Refworks library.
Click on the View Last Imported Folder link to view the references.
2. Importing from a text file
With some databases you cannot export directly and instead you must save the references to a
text file and then import it into RefWorks. For this example we will use PubMed.
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Conduct your search and tick the boxes next to the references you wish to export
Click on the Display Settings link and select Medline from the Format list, and then
click the Apply button
Your references will be displayed in a tagged format. Save the file in a text (.txt) format
Log into your RefWorks account and from the References menu select Import
For Import Filter/Data Source select NLM PubMed
For Database select PubMed
Click Browse and locate your saved file
Click on Import
Your saved references will be imported into RefWorks
3. RefGrab It
RefGrab It allows you to import the details of a webpage into RefWorks. You can add RefGrab It
as a bookmarklet in your Favourites, or as a plug-in for your browser. RefGrab It is compatible
with Internet Explorer and Firefox.
N.B. you may need administrator rights to download the plug in.
To add the bookmarklet as a Favourite:
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Go to the RefWorks Tools menu and select RefGrab It
Right click on the RefGrab It bookmarklet link for your chosen browser
Click Add to Favourites (for IE) or Bookmark this link (for Firefox).
Open a new browser tab and navigate to the webpage you want
Click on Favourites then on RefGrab It
The main information on that webpage will appear in a RefWorks format
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Click on Import
Note that RefGrab It transfers minimal information, you may need to edit the reference
once you’ve imported it
N.B. your browser pop-up blocker may need to be turned off to use RefGrab It
4. Adding book references from the Library Catalogue
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From the RefWorks toolbar click on Search – Online catalog or database
Select Imperial College London from the drop down list
Type search terms from book title and/or author in search box and click Search button
Select item(s) to be imported and click Import button (can also select a Refworks folder)
Click on View last imported folder to see your reference(s)
5. Manually adding references
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From the RefWorks toolbar click on Reference – Add new reference
In the View Fields Used by box select your preferred style e.g. Imperial College London
- Harvard
Choose reference type e.g. Book, whole (you will see the available fields change)
Author names must be correctly written e.g. Smith, J. and a semi-colon must separate
additional author names
Fill in all the fields marked with green ticks as appropriate
Click Save Reference
How do I organise and search my references?
Creating Folders
You can create separate folders to keep copies of your references. Note that all references will
remain in All References list – references can be in more than 1 folder.
To create a folder:
 Place your cursor over the Folders tab and click on Create New Folder
 Enter folder name as required
 To add references to a folder select by ticking the boxes to the left of the reference, click
on the Put in folder drop down menu and choose the folder required from the list
 To create a temporary list of references (for the duration of the session only) click on Add
to My List
Descriptors
You can add descriptors – e.g. adding keywords to a reference – to identify references and help
you search for them later. Descriptors can be added to a selected reference when in Edit mode,
or to all references in a page or particular folder using Global Edit.
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Adding attachments
To add attachments to references you must be in Edit mode. Click on the Browse button next
to the Attachment box, select the document you wish to attach, click on Add Attachment
N.B. Each user has a maximum of 100Mb of server space for attachments. There is a limit of
20Mb per attachment.
Search options
You can search your database by author, descriptor, periodical or you can do an advanced
search.
Finding duplicate references
Occasionally you may add the same reference to your RefWorks account more than once.
RefWorks can help you identify and delete duplicate entries.
N.B. Be careful not to delete any references you’ve already inserted in documents using Write
N Cite as this can cause problems if you need to do further editing.
From the Tools menu select View Duplicates and select either Exact Match or Close Match
Exact Match looks for matching title, year & author and is case sensitive so would not match
Harrington, H. for Harrington, h.
Close Match looks for matching title, year & author and is not case sensitive so is more likely to
find more duplicate matches.
N.B. Once you delete a reference it will move into your Deleted References folder for 30 days.
It will then be removed from your library.
How do I create a reference list/bibliography?
There are two ways to create a bibliography or list of references using RefWorks.
1. You can use Write-N-Cite to insert in text citations as you write your essay which are then
used to create your reference list.
2. You can select all the references cited in your essay and either add them to a temporary list,
or put them into a folder. RefWorks can then generate a bibliography using this list.
Creating a reference list using Write-N-Cite
Write-N-Cite is a plug-in which can be downloaded from RefWorks – you’ll find it under the
Tools menu. All PCs in the Library and in most departmental clusters already have Write-N-Cite
pre-loaded.
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Double click on the Write-N-Cite icon on the desktop – click on Login via your
institution and log in using your College username and password
You will see the same information as in your main RefWorks database but in a different
format (Cite view)
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Open a document in Microsoft Word
Place your cursor where you want to cite a reference within the document
In the Write-N-Cite window click on Cite to the left of the reference you wish to insert
You will see that Write-N-Cite has added a link, within Word, to the reference
Reference example:
Peterson shows that the results previously submitted are invalid {{61 Peterson, S.
2005;}}.
Do not make any changes to the citations – these will appear in the correct format when you
create the reference list (bibliography).
To reformat the document and create the reference list, within Write-N-Cite:
 Click on Bibliography
 Select your preferred Output Style e.g. Imperial College London - Harvard
 Click on Create Bibliography
The document will now be formatted with the citations in the correct style. A reference list has
also been created at the end of your document. You may continue adding citations and
reformatting the document as necessary.
Creating a bibliography from a list
RefWorks can still generate a bibliography/reference list without using Write-N-Cite.
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Create a new folder containing all the references in your document, or add them to My
List
Click on the Bibliography tab
Select your preferred Output Style e.g. Imperial College London - Harvard
Select Format a Bibliography from a List of References
Under File Type to Create select Word for Windows
Select References from Folder and the folder you want to format, or choose My List
Click on Create Bibliography
This will now format the references from that folder or list in a Word document.
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How do I share my references?
You can share references in your RefWorks database with other RefWorks users through
RefShare. You can choose to share a specific folder, or your entire database.
Sharing your references
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Go to the Folder - Share Folders or go to the Tools - Share References
Choose which option you want, Share Entire Database or Share Folder
On the Share Folder Options page you can setup various permissions for your shared
references
A URL is created for each shared folder or database. Email this link to other RefWorks
users to share your references
To stop sharing the database or folder click on the Remove Share button
Uploading shared references into your RefWorks database
When a fellow RefWorks user opts to share a folder or database with you, you will receive an
email. This may be from RefWorks, or the owner of the RefWorks database.
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Open the email and click on the URL. This will open the folder or database
Select which references you want to upload into RefWorks
Click on Export
Log into your RefWorks account
The new references will appear in the Last Imported Folder
How do I get help with RefWorks?
If you have any questions or require assistance using RefWorks please contact the library
helpdesk by email [email protected] or phone 020 7594 8820.
Visit the RefWorks pages on the Library website. Subjects & Support > Reference
Management > RefWorks
Attend a library training workshop on RefWorks. For a timetable visit the Subjects & Support >
Training Workshops web pages.
The RefWorks website also has guides, documents and online tutorials which you may find
useful http://www.refworks.com/content/path_learn/content.asp.
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