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DBMI Summer Interns: Advanced Literature Reviews: Evidence Synthesis Tools

Bibliographic Management Software

Use a citation management tool for collecting bibliographic records, for de-duplication, and for organizing the initial screening of systematic reviews. They are powerful, widely available and relatively inexpensive. Whether you use one of the listed products or one of many others, using a tool to collect the citation information for articles, books, or websites will pay off when it is time to write your paper.  These tools incorporate your citations into your manuscript - both in the text and in the bibliography - in the format of your choice.  Take the time to become proficient with one of these tools - it is time well spent.

EndNote Online

The Overview:  Collect -- Organize -- Format

Using bibliographic management programs, such as EndNote, to keep track of your references helps you organize them, link them to full text articles, and also share your "library" with others. The "Cite While You Write" feature allows you to quickly and easily format references, papers, bibliographies and other documents in the style of your choice - simply choose from the thousands of available styles. 

 

EndNote is one of the most popular programs used at UCSD and EndNote Online is the free, web, version of that program, though it does not have as many features as the purchased, desktop, version. EndNote Online is a web-based tool that can help manage your citations and properly format the references in papers and other documents.  It is:

  • Mac & PC friendly
  • Pulls in references from catalogs (i.e., UC Library Search) or from databases (e.g. PubMed, Sociological Abstracts, or Web of Science)
  • Works with MS Word and other word processors to properly insert references and format the bibliography or works cited list.
  • Sharable with colleagues in read only or read-write accessible mode.

   

Create Your Free Account

Use EndNote Web for free via the Libraries' subscription to the Web of Science database. 

Sign up option #1:

If using a UCSD connected computer, go to myendnoteweb.com to create your new account.  Once there,

1)  Click the link for Create an account.  

2)  Enter the email you want to use.

3)  Fill out the short registration form and Create your login ID and password.

Be sure to check out the password requirements.  Their requirments can be tricky.

4)  Read & Agree to their to their Agreement statement. 

5)  Your EndNote Web account is ready to use.

 

Sign up option #2

If you are already in the Web of Science database, you can sign up for an account from the link in there.  The EndNote link is included with the "Products" list, in the upper right side of the screen. Click it and enter your email address (it is best to use your @ucsd email address, and be connected to the campus VPN to keep your upgraded UC related access current).

Note:  Those who purchased EndNote for a computer have a more powerful EndNote Web account and can sign up within EndNote itself.

EndNote Basic vs Online

The difference is whether the account is associated with a UC Library subscription or not.  See EndNote's explanation on types of accounts.

Differences by the Numbers

  • EndNote Basic is free for anyone to use, EndNote Online is the slightly upgraded version that is available for UC campuses who subscribe to the Web of Science database.
  • Our UC version of EndNote Online has added functionality -- be sure to sign up when on campus or from the Web of Science databases.
    • Up to 2 GB of storage for attaching those hard to find PDFs.
    • Appearance of the "Get it at UC" button to easily connect to library subscriptions.
    • Access to over 3,000 citation styles AND, if what you need is not included, contact the UC San Diego EndNote Online administrator to add the one you need.
    • Many databases are directly exportable to UCSD's EndNote Online or easily allow references to be imported as well as having some databases (e.g. library catalogs) searchable from within EndNote Online.
  • EndNote Online associated with a purchased EndNote program has the greatest amount of functionality (data & file size) and can sync automatically with the desktop software.