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EndNote Basic: Editing References

Learn how to use EndNote Basic to manage your references.

About This Page

The quality and completeness of reference information varies from database to database.  You may need to edit the information in your references (for example, to spell out the full journal name instead of an abbreviated name) or add missing information.  You may also add your own research notes, or attach full-text pdfs.  The information on this page explains how to do all of these tasks.

Editing a Reference

1.   To edit a reference, click on the title.


2.   In this example, the journal name is abbreviated, and we are editing it to reflect the full name.  Click on the field to be changed.


3.   Make the necessary changes, then click outside the box.


4.   If you scroll down to the bottom of the screen, there is a Research Notes field.  You may want to enter your own notes about the reference here.


5.   Click on the Save button, then scroll to the top and click on Return to List.

Editing the Author Field

In order to generate properly formatted citations, you may need to edit the author field.

Enter the last name, followed by a comma, then the first name(s) or initials (separated by periods or a space).


Do NOT enter the last name followed by the initials, with no punctuation.


It is important to add a comma at the end of corporate author names.

Video: Entering Author Names

More tips for entering author names, including how to handle corporate authors that have commas within their names.

Attaching Full Text PDFs

You may want to attach files to your references so that you have easy access to the full text. 

1.   You need to have the full-text pdf file saved on your computer, so retrieve the full text of your reference from the database in the usual way, and make note of where you have saved it.

2.   In EndNote Basic, click on the title of the reference.

3.   Scroll down to the Attachments section and click on Attach files.


4.   In the pop-up box, click on Browse and locate the saved pdf file on your computer.  Click on Upload.


5.   After the upload is complete, close the box.

6.   Now you can access the full text by clicking on the paperclip icon.


You may view and manage all of your attachments in the Organize tab under Manage Attachments.