Mendeley, appointment management software, also called reference management software or bibliographic software, allows you to store and organize your resources and appointment information. You can create reference lists or bibliographies from stored items.

Bibliographic Citation Management

For the management of bibliographic citations you can choose from a wide variety of software, some free and others paid. Different programs offer different features and what works well for one student may not work well for another. When choosing, you have to decide which tool best suits you and your needs. After all, appointment management software should be a tool that makes your academic life easier.

While appointment management software can make your life easier, it’s not guaranteed to be perfect. The accuracy of your APA appointments is still your responsibility, so you’ll want to recheck the appointments to make sure they’re in the right APA style.

What is Mendeley?

Mendeley is a free reference manager that can help you store, organize, annotate, share, and cite references and research data. The Mendeley Web Importer allows you to import citations directly into Mendeley and, depending on the database/website you are visiting in your browser, you can also download and import the full-text PDFs into Mendeley, if your internet bandwidth is generous enough. In this regard, it allows:

Automatically generate bibliographies

Easily collaborate with other researchers online

Easily import documents from other research programs

Find relevant documents based on what you’re reading

Access your documents from anywhere online

You can also use Mendeley Web Importer to save citations from websites you’ve visited. To add the website citation to your Mendeley library, simply click the Mendeley extension icon in your web browser when you’re on the webpage. You may need to fill in the details on the website if Mendeley Web Importer cannot read the metadata from the website.

Versions of Mendeley

Desktop Version

Mendeley is available for free as a desktop software application, which you can download and install on your Windows, Mac or Linux computer. It is also available on Desktop@UCL and Desktop@UCL Anywhere computers. To insert references into a Microsoft Word or Libre Office document and generate a bibliography, you must use the desktop version.

Mendeley Web

It is a web-based application, which until a couple of months ago, granted access from a mobile application. However, the mobile apps available for Android and iOS devices stopped working and were removed from the App Store and Play Store on March 15, 2021. If you use the mobile apps, be sure to sync your library to the cloud before that date so that you can continue to access your references in the desktop or web version of Mendeley.

The Mendeley library can be synced across platforms, so you can access your Mendeley library from any device. With the free version you have 2GB of personal storage space. It is possible to pay for a premium plan that gives you more storage space. Please note that Mendeley is not accessible to screen readers. If you use a screen reader you may prefer to use EndNote or Zotero instead.

Advantages of Mendeley

Searching for articles using Mendeley Web

Has features for taking notes and annotating PDF documents

Create a network of contacts and connect with other academics in your field

Create in-text citations and reference lists

Disadvantages of Mendeley

Unable to link Mendeley to the Walden Library to find the full text (with an open URL resolution)

PDF needs to be manually added to the Mendeley library

Collection of references and verification of accuracy

Mendeley automatically identifies content, allowing you to add it to your library with a single click. Before you start collecting citations, it is important to understand how to check the accuracy of citations and how to make changes to references.

Checking the accuracy of citations

Although most of the citation information Mendeley captures will be correct, it is always a good idea to check the accuracy of each article’s metadata and then correct and/or add data. Note that “Mendeley will import the metadata accurately, but the metadata may not be accurate.”

After adding an appointment, launch Mendeley Standalone and choose the appointment you want to check and edit. Next, make the necessary changes to make sure the appointment information is correct with Mendeley Standalone.

Add references

The method you use will depend on how you work and manage your research. You can also add references to your Mendeley Web library.

Whenever possible, it is recommended to get references from online sources, such as databases or publisher websites.

Exporting online resources

Most databases will allow you to export your results to a reference management software.

Add references from the Mendeley web catalog

Find and save references that other Mendeley users have added to their libraries.

Add a reference manually

This is necessary in some cases where you cannot find the references from an online source.

Edit a reference

Always check the references to make sure they have been imported correctly and are error-free. If you need to modify any information in the reference, you can edit it.

Add PDFs

Automatically generate records in your library with the full text attached.

Add references from another reference management package

For example, if you were using EndNote and want to switch to Mendeley.

When importing references

Note that when you import references to Mendeley, the reference will be automatically inserted into the Mendeley repository that can be searched by other Mendeley users.

If you don’t want to include the reference in the Mendeley repository, you can follow these steps.

First, select the reference that you do not want to include in the Mendeley repository.

Then check the unpublished work – exclude from Mendeley Web Catalog option and the reference will not be included in the repository.

Organize the library

It’s important to keep your library organized so you can easily retrieve the references you need. In this section we’ll look at several essential activities to keep your library organized, and we’ll also look at how to share your Mendeley library with others.

Search your library

If your Mendeley library contains a lot of references, it’s helpful to be able to search it to retrieve specific references.

Use folders

Organize your references into folders to make them easier to find or to categorize them and help you in your research workflow.

Clear references

Full-text document management

Learn how to add files to references, view and annotate attached PDFs, and manage full-text settings.

Duplicate management

It’s important to make sure you don’t have duplicate references in your library.

Share references

Mendeley Groups

As Mendeley is web-based, it is a great tool for sharing references with others.

Always check your list of references

Mendeley allows you to quickly create reference lists in APA style.

As with any tool, there is room for errors. The information in the databases is not guaranteed to comply with APA standards, so the information in your Mendeley library may not be correct either.

You remain responsible for ensuring that the reference list created by Mendeley meets the requirements of the APA standards and is error-free.

Using Mendeley with Word

Mendeley lets you work with Word to insert citations and references from your library into your Word document. You can then format the document in the citation style of your choice, for example, Harvard, Vancouver, APA, etc.

New Mendeley version

Mendeley is currently developing a new service, called Mendeley Reference Manager, which is currently in beta.

Our specialists wait for you to contact them through the quote form or direct chat. We also have confidential communication channels such as WhatsApp and Messenger. And if you want to be aware of our innovative services and the different advantages of hiring us, follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

If this article was to your liking, do not forget to share it on your social networks.

You may also be interested in: Types of University Degrees

Sources Consulted

https://www.mendeley.com

https://www.elsevier.com

https://appsource.microsoft.com

Mendeley: Software for bibliographic citation management

Mendeley: Software for the Management of Bibliographic Citations. Photo: Unsplash. Credits: Zachary Nelson @zacharytnelson

Abrir chat
1
Scan the code
Bienvenido(a) a Online Tesis
Nuestros expertos estarán encantados de ayudarte con tu investigación ¡Contáctanos!