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Mendeley (English): Home

A manual of the reference program Mendeley. Here you will find what Mendeley is, how to install it and how Mendeley works.

What is Mendeley?

Mendeley is a reference manager. With a reference manager you can easily your resources:

  • Save
  • Organize
  • Retrieve
  • Import/Export

It works largely automatically, which saves you a lot of time compared to processing your sources manually via Word.

This Libguide explains all the steps, where to find and install the software on your computer, how to enter sources and how to organize the sources in Mendeley. You will also learn how to process sources in your Word file and create a bibliography.

There are other reference managers besides Mendeley, such as Endnote and Zotero, but they are either not free (Endnote) or the free version offers significantly less storage space (Zotero). Of course, you are free to choose which reference manager to use. This Libguide explains Mendeley, but all reference managers work in much the same way.

In brief: How does it work?

Mendeley is a simple program in which you can process your sources in your Word file in a few steps.

  1. You will find a reference on the internet. You can import it to Mendeley via the Mendeley Web Importer
  2. The reference is in your Mendeley Library. Here you can edit it and save it in a folder.
  3. You can easily place the reference in your document via Mendeley Cite in Word. You can also customize the reference style here.

Use the tabs above to get an explanation per step.

Mendeley Desktop and Mendeley Reference Manager

Mendeley has two variants, Mendeley Desktop and Mendeley Reference Manager. Mendeley Reference manager is used in this Libguide. The libraries prefer this version.

Mendeley Desktop is the outdated version. This is no longer updated and is therefore not our preference. Mendeley Reference Manager is the latest version, still receives regular updates and offers fine functionalities.

Parts of Mendeley

In addition to the Mendeley application, there are additional tools that you need to use Mendeley. Below you can read what parts there are and what you can use them for.

Mendeley Reference Manager
The Mendeley Reference Manager is the most important part. In the Mendeley Reference Manager you collect your references in a Library. Within the library you can create folders, organize references, create tags, link files and make notes.
The Mendeley Reference Manager can be used both online and as an application on your computer.
An account is required to use the Reference Manager. You can create an account with your email address. We recommend that you use your own email address and not your school email. That way you can still use your account after you graduate.

Mendeley Web Importer
The Mendeley Web Importer is a browser extension that you install in the browser. The Web Importer allows you to place resources in the Mendeley Library. When you are on the resource page, the Web Importer detects the page and displays the resources found. From the list you select the correct references and you can add them to your Library or a folder within your Library.

Mendeley Cite
The Mendeley Cite is an extension that is installed in Word. After installation, the extension is located under the References/References tab. In the Word plugin you will find the references that are in the Library of the Mendeley Reference Manager. Here you can also filter to display the references of a folder. After selecting the sources, you can place them in the text. They are then placed at the cursor location. You can also place the source list in the document via this plugin.
In Mendeley Cite there is a Citation Style tab. Here you can change the style in which you want the references displayed. The most commonly used style is the APA style. To learn more about this reference style, visit the APA Libguide.