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Library Research Guides

Mendeley Basics

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: I signed into Mendeley using the institutional link & can no longer access my account. What should I do?

Answer: If you have used your .umich email for your Mendeley account, you will now be directed to sign in to Mendeley through the nomral U-M account.

Questions:  I created a Word document using Mendeley Desktop. What do I do now that I've switched to Mendeley Reference Manager (MRM)?

Answer:  Use Mendeley Cite (download from the Tools menu in MRM or from Mendeley.com), using the Other Options/Update from Library.

Question:  When I import references using the RIS, the PDF is not imported as well.

Answer:  PDFs cannot be added when importing references through RIS or XML. To attach a PDF to a reference, either import the reference with the Web Importer or manually attach the PDF to the reference after it has been added to your library.

Question:  The Microsoft Word plugin isn't working

Answer:  There are 2 things for you to do.

  1. Check that you have the latest version of Word (Help/Check for updates)
  2. Uninstall the Mendeley Word plugin, then restart your computer, & reinstall the Mendeley plugin
  3. If these actions don't solve your problem, contact Mendeley Support, using this link:  https://service.elsevier.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/23237/supporthub/mendeley/p/16075/#

Question:  I've received this error message:  Citation/Bibliography is wrongly placed in index area, please delete the placed citation/bibliography in index area

Answer:  Are you working in a Word document in-text citations or a bibliography inserted using a citation plugin from another reference manager, (such as EndNote or Zotero? Mendeley can't detect citations created in other reference managers.

  1. Click OK.
  2. Click the delete button until you can see the text that is being deleted. You should be at the "bad" reference.
  3. Delete the reference & reinsert it using Mendeley Cite.