Skip to Main Content

EndNote 21 for Mac

EndNote is bibliographic management software that allows users to manage citations in personal libraries and create bibliographies in a number of available journal or writing styles. This guide will help you perform basic tasks using EndNote 21 for Mac

Groups

Groups make it easy to break a large library into subsets for later viewing. A group simply points to a subset of references that already exist in the library.

Some groups are automatically generated (All References, Unfiled, Trash, Recently Added, Copied References, Imported References and Search Results) and some are manually-created (Custom, Smart). This section is concerned with manually-created Custom Groups.

  • Custom Groups are manually created by the user to help organize the library; you can drag-and-drop to copy individual references into a custom group. Custom Groups are listed alphabetically (click the Groups header to toggle between ascending and descending order).
  • Smart Groups use search criteria to dynamically update groups as existing references are edited or new references are added to the library. For more on Smart Groups, see the EndNote Help section from within the EndNote program.

Custom Groups

Create a Custom Group

  • Method 1: From the Groups menu, choose Create Group.
  • Method 2: Right click (or CONTROL-click) in the Groups pane of the Library window to display a contextual menu and select Create Group.
  • Method 3: Select references in a reference list, then either right click over the references or go to the Groups menu, and choose Add References To>Create Group.

Enter a group name that is anywhere from 1 to 255 characters in length. There are no restrictions on the characters you can use in a group name. It is possible to give two different groups the same name.

You are limited to 500 custom and smart groups per library. Once you reach that limit, you must delete a group before you can add a new one.

Add References to a Custom Group

  • First, select the references you want to add to the group. You can select several references at a time using the COMMAND and/or SHIFT keys.
  • Add the references to a group. You have several methods available: 
    • Drag and drop the selected references onto an existing custom group name in the left pane of the Library window.
    • From the Groups menu, select Add References To and then select either the name of an existing custom group or Create Group.
    • Right click (or CONTROL-click) on the reference list to display a contextual menu, select Add References To, and then select either the name of an existing custom group or Create Group.
  • Click the name of the group in the Groups pane to see the references that appear in that group.

You can remove references from any of your custom groups or online search groups. The references will still be in your library and appear under All References, they just will not appear in that particular custom group.

For more on Custom Groups search the EndNote Help section from within the EndNote program.

The following video demonstrates how to create Custom Groups  in Endnote 20 for Windows. The steps are the same in Endnote 21 for iOS.

Smart Groups

Smart Groups use search criteria to dynamically update groups as existing references are edited or new references are added to the library.  You can create a maximum of 500 Custom Groups and Smart Groups (combined) in a single library. For more on Smart Groups, see the EndNote Help section from within the EndNote program or the video below.

Group Sets

Group Sets are groups of Groups. You can create a maximum of 5,000 Group Sets in a single library.

Tags

Endnote 21's new tagging feature can be used as an alternative organization system to groups or to further classify citations within a group.

Create a Tag

  1. In the left-hand column of your Endnote library, click the + icon next to MY TAGS. 
  2. Enter the name of the tag and select one of the seven available colors.
  3. Click Create Tag.

Assign a Tag to a Reference

Option 1: Drag & drop (allows you to tag multiple references at once)

  1. Select the desired reference(s).
  2. Place your cursor over the reference(s), left-click, and drag your cursor to the desired tag in the left-hand menu. 

Option 2: Right-click (tag one reference at a time)

  1. Right-click on the reference you wish to tag, and select Manage Tags.
  2. Click on the desired tag(s) in the bottom box or click Create tag and follow the prompts to create a new tag.
  3. Click OK.