EndNote 21: Group Work and Managing Items

EndNote allows you to organize your references into groups, in as broad or as narrow a way as you would like. These can be basic groups, or smart groups. 

Creating a Basic Group:

To do this, select groups from the menu bar at the top, as below: 

Mac:

Windows:

These basic groups are maintained by manually adding references to the folders. Everything is still kept in the 'all references' folder; the basic group will have copies of these references.

Creating a Smart Group:

Smart groups allow you to automatically place any reference you already have, or future references, into a defined group that you choose. To create one, follow the instructions above, but choose smart group from the menu bar. In the example below, EndNote will put any references that contain the word 'vaccinations' into a smart group called 'Coronavirus'. 

You can choose from a large range of criteria for these smart groups, such as year, title, keywords, date, label, and much more, which means that you can make them as specific, or as broad, as you need them to be. As with basic groups, references will be kept in the 'all references folder', so you can delete and edit as required without having to worry about losing materials.

Creating a Combination Group:

This video below will show you how to use a combination group. These can be used to compare resources that you have in two or more basic or smart groups. 

Note:

The video below works through the process on EndNote 20, but creating combination groups works in exactly the same way on EndNote 21.

• Further information about groups and how to use them:
  • This link will take you to a page on EndNote's website that gives further text information and videos on using groups.

Viewing Items in EndNote:

You can view items, their associated reference data and if the full-text is available, a PDF of the material, in multiple ways. For example, from the side menu bar below, click on all references. This will show you everything you have in your library. 

Clicking on a resource will bring it up on the right-hand side of your library.

If we look at the ribbon on the top right-hand corner of the page, you can see there are three options. Firstly, you can look at the summary of the article under 'summary'. Secondly, 'edit' will show you the relevant citation material, and finally, 'PDF' will show you the full PDF if it is available. 

You can do so much more with groups on EndNote 21, such as sharing them with others to facilitate larger research projects. For more information, see the links below.

• Sharing Groups with Others:
  • More information on how to share groups with other people, hosted by Clarivate, the creators of EndNote.
• Video - Sharing Groups
  • A video explanation on how to share groups, created by Clarivate, the creators of EndNote.
• Video - Sharing A Library
  • A video explanation on how to share a library, created by Clarivate, the creators of EndNote.