Document Actions
Introduction to RefWorks
This tutorial covers the basic functions of the reference manager software, RefWorks. The terms "references" and "citations" are used interchangeably in the tutorial.
Table of Contents
1. How can RefWorks help you?
RefWorks is your one-stop shop for using references in your research papers. With
RefWorks you can…
• Keep track of the references you find
• Add these references to your paper
• Build a reference list within your paper
2. Learning outcomes of this tutorial
After working through this tutorial, you will know how to . . .
• access RefWorks
• create folders
• add references to folders
• import references to folders,
• import website citations to folders using RefGrab-It
• edit and display references
• create parenthetical citations and bibliographies using Write-N-Cite.
If you have further questions, visit a UNT librarian or go to Ask A Librarian on the UNT Libraries homepage at www.library.unt.edu.
3. Accessing RefWorks
A. Go to the UNT Libraries homepage at www.library.unt.edu.
B. Select Electronic Resources from the left-hand column.
C. Select the letter R from the top of the next screen.
D. Scroll down the R resources and select RefWorks.
E. Before you can use RefWorks, you must establish your individual account. Select Sign up for an individual account.
F. When you sign up, enter your EUID for your Login Name and your Eaglemail password for your Password. Submit the registration and you will receive an email from RefWorks telling you the UNT Group Code, which you will need for remote access.
E. After signing up, you only need to enter your EUID and password when using RefWorks on-campus. If off-campus, you’ll also need to enter your Group Code, so hang on to that email from RefWorks.
F. Your account resides on the RefWorks server as long as you are an enrolled student or employee of UNT.
4. Creating folders for your references
A. The default page is All References, which will be a library of all references that you add or import to the software. The references can be sorted using the drop-down menu at the top right.
B. Folders are used to organize your citations in RefWorks. There is a Folders function on the RefWorks toolbar.
C. Go to Folders and select Create New Folder. Name your folder and click OK.
D. Go to Folders, and then View to see your list of folders.
E. You can rename, delete or clear your folders by going to Folders – Organize Folders.
5. Adding references to your folders
A. Go to References on the toolbar, and then select Add New Reference. Enter the citation and Save Reference, unless you are adding multiple references, then select Save and Add New.
B. Most of the time you’ll want to import citations from databases that you are searching. Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, EBSCOHost, WilsonWeb and other database interfaces are compatible with RefWorks, so you can export citations from them directly into your RefWorks account.
- For example, go to Academic Search Complete in EBSCOHost and do a search for your topic. Open a record that is of interest to you.
-
Select the Export icon from the top right of the record; it looks like a document with a green arrow on top of it. Then select “Direct Export to RefWorks” on the Export Manager screen.
- The citation will be imported into the Last Imported Folder. From there, you can a) add it to one or more folders, b) add it to My List, and c) delete it from the Last Imported Folder. The citation is automatically added to All References.
- You can add notes to the reference, such as the important pages in the document, by using the Edit function.
- WARNING: If you delete a reference from All References, it will also be deleted from all folders!
6. Adding website references to your folders using RefGrab-It
(not available at Libraries’ public computers)
A. You will need to download RefGrab-It to your home computer. Go to Tools – RefGrab-It for the download directions. A button will be added to your browser’s toolbar.
B. Navigate to a website of interest; click on the RefGrab-It button. A RefWorks window will open and show you the information you grabbed. If you want to save the reference, click on Import at the bottom of the window.
C. The website reference is added to All References.
7. Editing and displaying references
A. You can easily add or delete information from a reference by going to the All References or Folder view and selecting Edit at the far right of a reference listing. **This is a good place to insert notes about the information you want to cite from each reference.**
B. Selecting View at the top right of the Edit Reference screen allows you to see the newly edited reference.
C. When you are in the All References or Folder views, you can pick a display format for the references. To the right of All References, there is a drop-down menu that defaults to Standard View. Select the arrow to choose One Line/Cite View or Full View.
8. Using Write and Cite to create in-text citations and bibliographies
(available at the Libraries’ public computers; after you open Word, launch Write-N-Cite from the shortcut in the Office folder)
A. You will need to download Write and Cite to your home computer. Go to Tools – Write-N-Cite for the download directions and download it to your desktop.
B. Open Word, and then open Write-N-Cite by clicking the icon on your desktop. You will have to log in using your RefWorks username and password. To keep your reference list as the top window, select the “Always on top” option at the top left of the Write-N-Cite window. The top bar on the window tells you to which Word document Write-N-Cite is linked. You can change this by opening or moving to another Word document
C. Inserting in-text references
- Start typing your document and when you come to a location
where you want to insert a parenthetical reference, place your cursor
there.
- Move to the Write-N-Cite window and select Cite to the left of the correct reference. The software inserts a code for the reference, which will be completed when you finish the document.
- If you want an additional citation in the same location, select Cite to the left of the next desired reference.
D. Creating a bibliography
- When you are done typing your document, go to the Write-N-Cite window and select Bibliography from the toolbar.
- Select the select the writing style manual you use from the drop-down menu.
- Click on the Create Bibliography button.
- Voila! Write-N-Cite creates a new Word document with the prefix Final-. The parenthetical references have been inserted and the bibliography created.
9. Learning more about RefWorks
A. Try the Tutorials under Help on the RefWorks toolbar.
B. Attend the RefWorks for Graduate Students workshop at the Willis Library. Go to http://www.library.unt.edu/usereducation/library-workshops to see this semester’s schedule. Graduate student status is not required.
C. Visit a UNT Librarian. Go to http://www.library.unt.edu/ris/ask-a-librarian to see the many ways you can ask a UNT librarian a question.
10. Did this tutorial help you?
Please send your comments and suggestions for this tutorial to Erin O'Toole, Science and Technology Librarian, at eotoole@library.unt.edu.