Mendeley - Citation Management Software: Getting Started

Mendeley is a free desktop and cloud application that helps you manage your research. Also known as a reference or citation manager, it has built-in tools to help you read and annotate articles. Mendeley allows you to organize PDFs, other documents, and citations into folders and collaborate with other researchers. It backs up your research library and syncs to the web and smart phone or tablet devices. It is also a social network for scholars across the globe with an online research library that you can use to discover research papers.

Setting Up Mendeley

1. Go to mendeley.com.

2. Create a Mendeley Account by clicking on Create Free Account. Do this by entering your email address. Create your password. DO NOT use the Sign-in via your Organization. 

3. Download the Mendeley Reference Manager.

4. Once you download the Reference Manager, go to Tools and download Mendeley Cite for Word.

5. Next go to Tools and download the Mendeley Web Importer.

Notes for Mac Users:

• The new Mendeley Reference Manager software (2020) is not compatible with macOS 10.15 (Catalina). Neither is the Desktop Word Plugin. You will have to use Mendeley Cite.

Mendeley was created in 2008 as a startup and bought by Elsevier in 2013.

Thanks to IUPUI University Library for allowing UO Libraries to adapt their Mendeley Guide under a Creative Commons license.

This guide has a Creative Commons BY-NC License.

This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.