Citation Management Tools: Mendeley

Mendeley workshops are offered by request via consultation. Virtual workshops and consultations are available. Contact Rebecca Stuhr

Mendeley's Reference Manager, the most recent version of the Mendeley desktop application, requires an "add-on" for the Mendeley MS Word citation plugin. If you are using Microsoft 0365 provided through Penn, you will  want to find out about your ability to add this "add-on." Some Penn schools and centers are adding in the Zotero and Mendeley add-ons as a default. Your school may allow you to add the citation plugin yourself.  However, for most Penn Schools there is a workaround. The Libraries/SAS IT Help Desk can assist you with this process if you have questions: techcenter@upenn.edu 

Find the citation plugin add-in download for Mendeley Reference Manager at Mendeley.com : https://www.mendeley.com/download-desktop-new/

If you are Using Mendeley Desktop, the original application, which is still being supported, you simply open the Desktop application, go to the tools menu and toggle the "Install Mendeley MS Word plugin" that you will see on the dropdown. Open Word, and click on the "Reference" tab toward the top of your document. You should see "insert and edit citations" and "merge citaitons" with the Mendeley icon. You will also see "insert bibliography"--this does not have the icon, but it works together with "insert citations."

Alternative Instructions to use Mendeley Cite, Refworks Citation Manager, and SmartCite on Word for Mac:

• Ensure you are logged into Word with your PennO365 account.
• Click the "Insert" tab and then "Get Add-Ins". 
• Once the next window opens, you'll need to select "Admin Managed".
• You should be able to add that add-in to Word for Mac. 

On Windows:

• Ensure you are logged in to Word with your PennO365 account.
• Click the "Insert" tab and then "Store". 
• Once the next window opens, search the appropriate Add-In and click Add.

Go through a detailed Mendeley Tutorial covering both Mendeley Desktop and Mendeley Reference Manager

You cna open a free* Mendeley  account and download the Mendeley Desktop and/or the Mendeley Research Manager  appliations. The Mendeley Desktop (the original application) and Research Manager (the newest version of the application) are research tools that assist you at every stage of the research process, from gathering research to reading and annotating PDFs to organizing citations and creating bibliographies. Mendeley replicates features that are found in other citation management tools  (EndNote, RefWorks, Zotero) but has as its strengths: reference manager, PDF organizer, reading platform, and annotation tool.

Mendely provides a Microsoft Word integration citation tool plug-in.  You can save PDFs to your Mendeley Desktop and your Mendeley web library (web and desktop applications sync together) via a browser plug-in, Mendeley Web Importer.

Mendeley is compatible with Mac (through Mojave), Windows, and Linux. 

*Mendeley is a "freemium" service, which means the basic account, which provides 2 GB of storage, is free. You can access additional storage for a monthly fee starting at 4.99/month for 5 GB of storage. You can find more information on individual plans on the Mendeley Upgrade page.

There are several ways to add and edit your pdfs on your Mendeley account, including:

• Accessing your citations and pdfs on Mendeley Web
• Downloading the Mendeley Desktop Client
  • either Mendeley Desktop (still the most verstile version)
  • or Mendeley Reference Manager
    • If you are using Mac Catalina or higher, you will need to select the Mendeley Reference Manager
• Adding the Mendeley Web Importer to your browser

Support from Mendeley is most direct via the twitter feed: @mendeleysupport

Mendeley is discontinuing its mobile App as of March 15, 2021.