Using RefWorks at Southern

1.      Getting Started

2.      RefWorks Compatability

3.      Navigating Around RefWorks

4.      Creating Your RefWorks Database
      Importing Data Directly
      Importing Data From Saved Text Files
      Converting References from Other Bibliographic Management Products (e.g. EndNote)
      Manually Entering References

5.      Importing from Online Catalogs or Databases

6.      Managing Your References
      Creating Folders
      Putting References into Folders
      Editing Individual References
      Globally Editing References
      Sorting References
      Duplicate Checking

7.      Finding References in Your RefWorks Database

8.      Creating Your Paper and Bibliography
      Format a Bibliography From a List of References
      Editing or Creating Your Output Style
      Write-N-Cite Paper
      Write-N-Cite Bibliography
      One Line/Cite View Paper
      One Line/Cite View Bibliography

9.      Import instructions for Specific Databases

Getting Started and accessing RefWorks

1.                  Go to http://www.refworks.com

2.                  If you don't already have a RefWorks account, Click on Sign up for an Individual Account. If you have an account and are on campus, login. If you are off campus go to step 5.

3.                  Enter your subscriber information by filling out the "New User Information for SCSU".

4.                  Click the Register button after you've filled out the information.

5.                  Remote Users (off campus) , accessing RefWorks from off site or from a non-registered IP address, must enter the institution's "Group Code" prior to entering the personal Login Name and Password.  Telephone the Reference Desk at 203-392-5732 for the "Group Code"

RefWorks Compatibility

Browsers

·                     Internet Explorer 5.0 or later

·                     Netscape 6.0 or later

Word Processors

·                     Word for Windows 2000 or later

·                     Word for Macintosh 98 or later

Mac Users - Write-N-Cite ONLY works with Word 2000 and up, Windows 98, ME, NT, 2000, and XP, and Internet Explorer 5.0 and up. If you are using a Mac you need to use the Oneline/Cite View tools.

Navigating Around RefWorks

References - a reference is the information about any source you use. It can be a book, journal article, web site, etc. Also called a bibliographic citation, or a citation.

Bibliography - The list of references at the end of your paper. There are many different formats for creating bibliography, RefWorks will out put in several hundred formats including the most popular, APA, MLA, and Chicago. Your professor will tell you what format to use. (FOOTNOTES:  For all options, use the word processor's footnote formatting feature, inserting references using the "Manuscript" steps described below) 

Import - Let's you automatically bring a reference(s) into your RefWorks account, usually from one of our online periodical databases, or the online catalog.

Manual Reference - Besides importing references, which eliminates the need to type in the reference, you can add references by hand. RefWorks provides templates based on the type of reference (article, book, etc.)

Folders - Allow you to organize your references based on whatever criteria you establish. Useful for separating your references by the papers you are writing. References can be in more than one folder and you can also see your entire list by choosing View, All References.

Export - Allows you to export your citations in several different formats. These formats can be read by other bibliographic management programs, including EndNote, thus you can export your RefWork data into other programs.

Getting Your References Into RefWorks

There are several ways to get your references into RefWorks.  Following are the three basic procedures:

Direct Import

1.                  Select the records you want to import from the database.

2.                  Under the save or export function within the online service, select or click onto RefWorks options.

3.                  If you also have your RefWorks account already open, the import will automatically begin.  If not, then you will be prompted to the RefWorks login page; after you login, the import will automatically begin.

4.                  When the import is complete, select View Last Imported Folder to review the imported records.

HELPFUL HINT: You should always check the accuracy and completeness of your reference upon every import.

Importing Data From Saved Text Files

1.                  References can be imported into RefWorks from a text file (txt.) created by saving references from a number of online database services or other bibliographic management programs.

2.                  Retrieve the results you want to export from the database service or bibliographic manager, and save them to a text file.  If the database vendor lists several different formats for saving the references, see the RefWorks Help file for further details on the appropriate selection.

3.                  Access your RefWorks account and click References from the drop-down menu; then select Import. 

4.                  On the subsequent menu, access the drop-down menu next to Import Filter / Data Source and click on the source of the data.

5.                  Click on the Database drop-down menu and select the source database.

6.                  Click on the Import References Into  menu and designate the specific folder where you want the imported references to be filed.  If you do not choose a folder, the references will automatically go into a folder titled Last Imported Folder.

7.                  Enter results file name into Import Data from the following Text File by browsing and selecting or manually typing in the file name.

8.                  Click on Import at the bottom of the screen.  When the import is complete, select View Last Imported Folder to review and modify the imported references.  When the import is complete, select View Last Imported Folder to review and modify the imported references.
to review or customize the imported records.

Helpful Hint: An up to date listing of all the online services and databases that are supported by RefWorks, can be found at www.refworks.com, under Import Filter List. 

Converting References from Other Bibliographic Management Products 

RefWorks is compatible with a number of other bibliographic management products.  You can easily convert an existing bibliographic management database such as EndNote into RefWorks.

For details related to importing data from specific individual bibliographic managemnt products, please refer to the online Help section of RefWorks.

Manually Entering References

1.                  Select References from the drop-down menu tool bar and then choose Add New Reference.

2.                  Start by selecting your bibliographic output style (e.g. APA, Chicago, MLA) under View required fields for.

3.                  Designate the type of reference you are entering (e.g. journal, book, or dissertation) under Ref Type.  Field names marked with a red asterisk (*) indicate required information needed to produce an accurate bibliography for the selected output style and reference type.  These fields are not required to save the actual reference in RefWorks.

4.                  Enter information in the boxes provided and click Save when finished.

Helpful Hint: Click on any red asterisk (*) to view style specific notes.  You can also check for style changes by clicking on More detailed information available here at the bottom of the page.  

.  Importing from Online Catalogs or Databases

You can use RefWorks as a search interface for a number of online resources. RefWorks provides access to a number of publicly available services such as NLM's (National Library of Medicine) PubMed as well as many universities' Online Catalogs.  Additionally, institutional subscribers may also provide access to subscription based online services (e.g. CSA, Ovid, or ProQuest) through RefWorks.

1.      From the Search drop-down menu, select Online Catalog or Database.

2.      Under Online Database to Search, select a database from the drop down menu.

3.      Select the Max. Number of References to Download from the drop-down menu.

4.      Enter terms in either the Quick Search for: or in the Advanced Search for: box.

5.      Click on Search to begin your search.  A new window will open displaying your search results.

6.      Select the references you wish to import into your RefWorks account and click Import.

Managing Your References

Creating Folders

1.      From the pull-down menu Folders, select Create New Folder.

2.      Enter a name in New Folder Name; click O.K. 

There is no limit on the number of folders you can create within your RefWorks account.

Helpful Hint:  The Last Import folder contains only references from your most recent data import that have not been filed in other folders.  References from imports prior to your last import not assigned to specific folders remain available in your primary database.

Putting References into Folders

1.      From the Search pull-down menu. do a search or look up to retrieve references already in your RefWorks database to put in a folder.

2.      Mark desired references from the search results page, then click the button titles Selected.  The  selected references feature works on a page-by-page basis; this means that you must add the manually selected references to the desired folder before moving to the next page.  Alternatively, you can mark All in List or all on a Page.

3.      Select folder from the Put in Folder drop-down menu. 

4.      References will automatically be added to the indicated folder.

Helpful Hint:  References can be assigned to more than one folder.

Editing Individual References

1.      Click the Edit link located at the top right corner of the reference.

2.      Edit any field(s) as necessary.

3.      Select Save Reference at top of the page.

Globally Editing References

1.      From the View drop-down menu, select All References or a folder of references.  You can also globally edit references from search results in RefWorks.

2.      Select the references you wish to edit.

3.      Click on Global Edit. 

4.      Choose the specific field to edit from the drop-down list.

5.      Type in the data you want to add to the field in the Change Field to: box.

6.      Select the appropriate option for handling the field - Append to Existing Data; Overwrite Existing Data (what you currently have in the field will be gone); Leave Existing Data Alone (if the field contains data the edit feature will skip over that particular reference).

7.      Click OK

Helpful Hint:  This feature is particularly useful for adding information to records imported from online databases missing key fields necessary for a specific bibliographic output style.

Sorting References

1.      From either the View or Folders pull-down menu, select a folder or group of references.

2.      Using the pull-down menu Sort by, located on top right hand side of the page, choose to view references by numerous fields.

Duplicate Checking

There are two ways to locate duplicate references.

1.      Exact Matches - checks for exact matches based upon the Author Names, Title, and Year of Publication fields.

2.      Close Matches - checks by comparing a combination of Author Names, Title, and Year of Publication.  This provides a loose comparison so it may result in a display of references that are not exact matches.
       From the View pull-down menu, select Duplicates
       Select Exact Match or Close Match.

Finding References in Your RefWorks Database

There are three ways to search your RefWorks database: Quick Search, Advanced Search and Look Up Indexes.

Quick Search

Use the Quick Search feature as a search of all fields.  To produce maximum results, all search terms entered are connected by the Boolean connector OR.  In addition, searches retrieve embedded terms - a search for "art" retrieves references with "heart," "part," etc.  The results of a Quick Search are always ranked by relevancy.

1.      Enter search terms in the Search RefWorks box.

2.      Click on GO.

3.      Results are displayed with the search terms highlighted.

Advanced Search

Use the Advanced Search for a specific search of your database, choosing the field in which you want to search: Author, Title, Periodical, Descriptor, Abstract, Pub year, Volume, or Ref ID.  The results of an Advanced Search are displayed alphabetically by author, with the search terms highlighted.

1.      Click on the Search drop down menu and select Advanced.

2.      Enter search terms and corresponding fields into the Advanced Search menu.

3.      Connect the terms by using the Boolean operators.

4.      Select All References or specific folders to search.

5.      Click on Search. 

Creating Your Paper and Bibliography

Format a Bibliography From a List of References

1.      From the menu, select the Bibliography button.

2.      Select an output format.

3.      Click on Format a Bibliography from a List of References.

4.      Select what file type to create.

5.      Select to format all of your references or only those from a specific folder.

6.      Click on Create Bibliography.

7.      A new window will open with your bibliography.

8.      Save your bibliography to your computer or disk.

Editing or Creating Your Output Style

RefWorks provides more than 250 output styles to choose from.  If one of these styles does not conform to your desired results, the Output Style Editor allows you to create custom output styles by either creating a completely new style or modifying an existing output style to suit your needs.

1.      Click on Bibliography.

  1. Click on Edit or New.

Access the Help menu for additional assistance in creating or editing new bibliographic output styles 

Write-N-Cite

Write-N-Cite is a utility allowing Microsoft Word and Internet Explorer users to cite references in a paper with the click of a button.  Users accessing RefWorks with Netscape or using Macintosh computers must use the One Line/Cite View Function.

Create a paper with in-text citations using the RefWorks Write-N-Cite feature.  

NOTE:  In order to use this feature, you must first down-load the Write-N-Cite utility from the Tools pull-down menu.  Write-N-Cite can then be launched within Microsoft Word by clicking the toolbar icon or by selecting it from the Tools drop down menu in Microsoft Word.

  1. Open a new blank document in Microsoft Word.
  2. Launch Write-N-Cite within Microsoft Word (see note above).
  3. Put the cursor in your Microsoft Word document where the reference should be inserted; click Cite next to the reference in the RefWorks screen.
  4. Save your Microsoft Word document when finished.

Write-N-Cite Bibliography

  1. Within Microsoft Word, launch Write-N-Cite.
  2. Click on Bibliography.
  3. Select the output style.
  4. Click on Create Bibliography.
  5. A new window will open with the re-formatted Microsoft Word document containing the bibliography.
  6. Save your Microsoft Word document.

One Line/Cite View Paper

  1. From any reference view (All References, a folder or search results), click on the One Line/Cite View link.
  2. Click on the Cite link next to the appropriate reference.  A Citation Viewer window will appear containing the citation in an abbreviated format. 
  3. To cite a second reference in the same location just click on the cite link by any other reference.  If you are using a Macintosh, you will need to click twice - the first click will activate the RefWorks program and the second will perform the Cite function.
  4. Once you have all of the references you need for a particular in-text citation, click on the Select Citation button.
  5. Perform a copy command or simply drag and drop the citation into your word processor document.
  6. Go to your word processor, click on the document where you want the citation inserted and Paste the citation.
  7. Be sure to clear the Citation Viewer window before creating you next citation.
  8. Click on the View link to see the entire reference and to access the Edit command if you want to make changes.

One Line/Cite View Bibliography

  1. Save the document you have just created before formatting the paper and the bibliography.
  2. Click on the Bibliography button from the Citation Viewer window or from within the RefWorks program.
  3. Select the Output Style you need and use the Format Paper and Bibliography option to browse for the document.
  4. Click on Create Bibliography.

NOTE on Footnotes: For all options, use the word processor's footnote formatting feature, inserting references using the "Write-N-Cite Paper or One Line/Cite View Paper steps described above.  

Import Instructions for Specific Databases

CSA

EBSCO

JSTOR

 

OCLC

Ovid

ProQuest

ScienceDirect

SilverPlatter

By Alba Reynaga
Please note that this tutorial includes text from the RefWorks help files