Mendeley: Importing References

There are two main ways to import PDF files into Mendeley from the Mendeley Library page. 

1) Selecting the Add new button on the side bar of the Library page to directly upload PDFs from your files to the library.

2) Simply dragging PDF files into the Mendeley Library to your All References section or to specific folders.

There are also ways to export articles directly from your library search and on library database websites themselves.

After being directed to an article on a library database, you may see a red rectangular box with Mendeley's icon to the right of the screen that says View PDF.

Next, select the red box. This will redirect you to a PDF of the article. At the top right corner of the document reader, there is a menu with an option that says Add to Mendeley. Select this option to upload the PDF to your Mendeley Library. 

The image above shows the different icons in the document reader.

• The leftmost icon indicates what page number of the article you are currently on.
• To the right of the page numbers is a magnifying glass icon that states Search in article when you scroll over it. This magnifying glass icon allows you to search for specific terms throughout the article when you click on it.
• Next to the magnifying glass is a printer icon. This icon allows you to print the document when you click on it.
• To the right of the printer icon is a question mark surrounded by a circle. This icon redirects you to the Elsevier Enhanced Reading FAQs, which answer any questions you may have about navigating the document reader.
• To the right of the question mark icon is the final icon, a plus sign with the phrase Add to Mendeley right next to it. This last icon allows you to quickly add the source you are viewing to your Mendeley Library.

If you often download articles into a specific folder on your computer, you might want to use this option:

You can chose to watch any folder located on your desktop to import references from. Any PDFs located in this folder will be automatically imported to your Mendeley library into 'All References'. When you add any new PDFs to this folder, the files will be instantly imported into your library when you have an internet connection. Currently, you can have a single watched folder per device. The feature is only available for Mendeley Reference Manager Desktop.

When uploading documents from specific webpages, select the Mendeley Web Importer to export information about the webpage into your library. After opening the importer, you can organize where you would like to export the webpage information into your library (e.g. different folders).

The image above shows how the web importer appears when using it to export references to your library.

• After selecting the web-importer extension in the top-right of your browser's toolbar, a box with the title of Mendeley will appear to the top right of your screen. First, you will be prompted to sign in if you have not already.
• The box will then display the information about the source on the webpage and will state if a PDF is available to download into your Mendeley library.
• Next, towards the top of the box and below the title is a drop-list menu that allows you to add the webpage information to any desired folder in your library. 

When you find a source in Google Scholar that you might like to cite:

1. Have a Notepad or similar tool open.

2. In Google Scholar, select the "Cite link below the brief source information, then select BibTeX at the bottom of the Cite window.

3. Copy the BibTeX code into your Notepad file, and save it with a .bib extension.

4. You can put more than one BibTeX code in the Notepad file. Continue steps 1-3, saving the file occasionally.

When you're ready to upload the source information into Mendeley:

1. Sign in to Mendeley and open your Library.

2. Select the +Add new button on the left-hand side of the Library screen.

3. Select Import Library, then BibTeX (*.bib)

4. Locate the .bib file you created above, and upload it.

NOTE: Mendeley will not check for duplicates.

After you search for an article on the UP library website, and select the article title to view more information on how to access the article, you will see the following icons below the top of the page:

These icons are labeled as Permalink, Email, Citation, Export to RefWorks, Export to Mendeley, and Export RIS.

Select the Export RIS icon, and then UTF-8. Save this code in a .ris file using Notepad or similar tool, and use the Add new tool in your Mendeley library to import the .ris file. The process is very similar to that described in From Google Scholar, above.