Northwestern Elements

Click on one of the following titles to directly access that section.

• Import in Bulk Context

• Manually adding a bulk import

• Exporting Files from Google Scholar

• Export in Bulk

If the user has a well-curated library in a reference manager like EndNote or Google Scholar, the bibliography can be imported in bulk. Since this is considered manual entry it should only be used as a last resort, since the metadata for manually entered items is not always complete.

To save time adding your publications you can import them into the system using a RIS or BibTeX file. These common reference management file formats can be easily generated from most reference management tools and scholarly publication databases.

Once you have uploaded your file, our import process will analyse the contents of the file and automatically match the records to publication records already available within the system where possible.

Manually adding a bulk import from a BibTex or RIS File:

1. Click on the Menu icon in the top left corner.
   
2. Under "My Profile" locate the Tools list and click on Import Publications.
   
3. Click on browse to locate and select the file for upload, then click on Open —OR— click on the file in its current location, then drag and drop it into the outlined rectangle that says Drag file here.
   
4. Click on Upload, or click on the trash can icon to delete the file.
   
5. Once uploaded, the file is converted to a list of publication records. Each publication record falls into 1 of 3 categories, which contain specific action options. To access these options, click on the "˅" symbol to the right of each category, then select the desired action for each record. Click on Import to complete the process.
   
   New publications —
   a. Select Import as new to create a new publication based on the data from the file.
   b. Select Skip to ignore the record completely.
   
   Publications with no manual records —
   a. Select Just add link to ignore the record when importing (if not already linked to the matched publication, a link will be created).
   b. Select Import as new to create a new publication based on the data from your file.
   c. Select Supplement existing to add a manual record to the matched publication, using data from the file (if not already linked to the matched publication, a link will be created).
   d. Select Skip to ignore the record completely.
   
   Publications with editable manual records —
   a. Select Just add link to ignore the record when importing (if not already linked to the matched publication, a link will be created).
   b. Select Import as new to create a new publication based on the data from your file.
   c. Select Overwrite existing to update the manual record in the existing publication with the new data (if not already linked to the matched publication, a link will be created).
   d. Select Skip to ignore the record completely.
   

Exporting Files from Google Scholar to Elements:

1. Log in to Google Scholar to access the author page.
2. Check the box next to the article(s) that will be exported.
   
3. Click on Export and select “BibTeX."
   
4. The pop-out window will give two options, "Export selected articles" or "Export all my articles." Select the desired option, then right click on the Export button; from the dropdown options select Save as...
   
5. Depending on the browser, select a directory for easy access (e.g. Desktop), then click on Save.
   
6. Log in to Elements.
7. Click on the Menu icon in the top left corner. Under "My Profile" locate the Tools list and click on Import Publications.
   
8. Click on browse to locate and select the saved file from Google Scholar, then click on Open —OR— click on the saved file from Google Scholar in its current location, then drag and drop it into the outlined rectangle that says Drag file here.
   
9. Click on Upload, or click on the trash can icon to delete the file.
   
10. Once uploaded, the file is converted to a list of publication records. Each publication record falls into 1 of 3 categories, which contain specific action options. To access these options, click on the "˅" symbol to the right of each category, then select the desired action for each record. Click on Import to complete the process.
    
    New publications —
    a. Select Import as new to create a new publication based on the data from the file.
    b. Select Skip to ignore the record completely.
    
    Publications with no manual records —
    a. Select Just add link to ignore the record when importing (if not already linked to the matched publication, a link will be created).
    b. Select Import as new to create a new publication based on the data from your file.
    c. Select Supplement existing to add a manual record to the matched publication, using data from the file (if not already linked to the matched publication, a link will be created).
    d. Select Skip to ignore the record completely.
    
    Publications with editable manual records —
    a. Select Just add link to ignore the record when importing (if not already linked to the matched publication, a link will be created).
    b. Select Import as new to create a new publication based on the data from your file.
    c. Select Overwrite existing to update the manual record in the existing publication with the new data (if not already linked to the matched publication, a link will be created).
    d. Select Skip to ignore the record completely.
    

Exporting Publications list from Elements

Once logged in to Elements and impersonating (For Super Users only) the desired user

1. Click on the Menu icon in the top left corner.
   
2. Under "My Profile" locate the My Work list and click on Publications.
   
3. Make sure the publications view at the top of the page is toggled to CLAIMED.
4. Select all of the desired publications from the Claimed list (one by one or select all), then click on the EXPORT button.
   
5. In the resulting pop-out window, choose the desired format for the exported publications list. Once selected, the download of the file will begin.