Graduate College Library Orientation

There are three main ways to get information into new RefWorks.  See the links to the left for information.

• Import citations from databases  
• Drag saved PDFs into RefWorks
• Create citations manually

Note: "Save to RefWorks"  is not fully functional yet.  It is an add-on tool in RefWorks that allows you to save information from the internet but we do not recommend using it at this point.

There will be times when you want to save an item to RefWorks and do not have the option to export the citation.  In that case, you can add your citation information manually.

To do so, start at the   +   sign in the toolbar and choose Create New Reference.

Choose the item type (journal article, book chapter, website, etc.) from the drop-down menu.  RefWorks defaults to Journal Article but there are many more options.

RefWorks will provide boxes for the appropriate fields and you can simply fill them it.  

You can do this as many times as needed.

ProQuest RefWorks allows you to import a PDF right into your RefWorks folder.  While this is a very handy function, you do need to check the citation.  Imported PDFs may have incomplete information, such as missing authors, page numbers, etc. 

There are two ways to import a PDF:   from a file in your computer, or a recently downloaded file that shows up as an icon at the bottom of your screen. 

Importing a PDF from a file (i.e. your "Downloads" folder):

• Open the RefWorks folder where you want to store the PDF        
• Click Add (top left area), then Upload Document  
• This will open your files in your computer.  Click on the PDF that you want to import. 
• RefWorks will import the PDF and will automatically read the attached metadata so it can fill in the necessary fields to make a complete citation.  IMPORTANT:  This is not reliably perfect;  make sure you proofread the resulting citation.
• This citation was imported into your folder (if you had it open) and it is also in your Last Imported folder.  If you weren’t in the right folder when you did this process, just move it from Last Imported to the correct folder.

Importing a PDF from a file icon:

• If you recently downloaded the PDF it may show up in a grey bar along the bottom of the screen.  If that is the case:
• Open the RefWorks folder where you want to store the PDF
• Click on the name of the PDF you wish to move (in the grey box is in the lower left corner).  Drag and drop the selected PDF onto the RefWorks window.  A big blue circle will appear that reads"Drop Files Here."  Drop them inside this circle (or close to it)  
• RefWorks will import the PDF and will automatically read the attached metadata so it can fill in the necessary fields to make a complete citation.  IMPORTANT:  This is not reliably perfect;  make sure you proofread the resulting citation.
• This citation was imported into your folder (if you had it open) and it is also in your Last Imported folder.  If you weren’t in the right folder when you did this process, just move it from Last Imported to the correct folder.