Skip to Main Content

Mendeley Basics

A guide to the basic uses of the Mendeley citation manager.

Inserting Citations Within Word

Download the Cite add-in. You will see Mendeley Cite on the Reference tab, on the right-hand side.

Mendeley Cite add-in on the Reference tab in Word.

Place your cursor exactly where you want the citation to go in your Word document.

On the References tab, click the Mendeley Cite icon in the upper right, & sign in to your Mendeley account. Thie Mendeley Cite panel opens on the right.

Word document with the Mendeley Cite panel open, showing references and tabs

Search for a reference in your library through the Mendeley Cite Search box, then one or more references using the check box,. When you're done, click the Insert button.

You can change the output style by using the Citation Style tab.

Create a Bibliography

You can insert a bibliography any time after you have begun to enter citations in your Word document.

  • Open Mendeley Cite
  • place your cursor where you want the bibliography to go.
  • Click the More tab in Mendeley Cite & choose Insert Bibliography.

Editing a Citation

To edit a reference, for example, to add a specific page number to an in-text citation, highlight the citation(s) to be edited in Word., which will then make that citation(s) appear in Mendeley Cite.

In the Edit Reference window that opens, make your changes (adding a page number if the output style that you're selected supports that, adding a prefix--such as "c.f."--or a suffix--such as "emphasis added", or suppress the author), & click the Done button.

Adding a Custom Bibliographic Style

  • Create new style https://www.mendeley.com/guides/csl-editor/01-overview-csl-editor
    • Copy URL for new style (it will have a Zotero link)
  • In MS Word, open Mendeley Cite
    • On Citation Settings tab, click Change citation style
    • Scroll down to the bottom of the tab & select Add a custom style
    • Paste the URL in the Enter custom style URL box
  • The style is now available for use.