EndNote Desktop: X9 & 20: Cite While You Write in Word

If you do not see the Cite While You Write option in your Add-ins, you may need to reconfigure your EndNote installation settings.

Note: If you are using an older version of Word on a Mac, you may want to visit the page on Mac Users for alternate instructions.

Inserting Citations

Note that before you can insert a citation into a Word document, you must have the document and the desired EndNote library open on your computer. You can then insert the citation from the Word or EndNote interfaces.

To insert a citation from within Word:

Insert Citation

  1. Click on the EndNote menu tab in the Word toolbar.
  2. Click Insert Citation and choose Insert Citation. from the drop-down menu.
  3. The EndNote Find & Insert My References dialog box will appear. In the text box at the top of the dialog box, enter text (author's last name, year, title, keyword) to search for the reference in your library. Or if you want to search through all articles in your library, insert an asterisk (*). Click the Find button.
  4. In the results of your search, click on the reference that you want to cite to highlight it. To highlight multiple references, hold down the Ctrl key while you click on references.
  5. Once you have selected your references, click on the Insert button. The selected references will be inserted into your Word document and displayed as defined by the current Output Style.

To insert a citation from within EndNote:

  1. In EndNote, highlight the references that you wish to cite. To highlight multiple references, hold down the Ctrl key while you click on references.
  2. Once you have selected your references, click on the Insert Citation button in the toolbar along the top. The selected references will be inserted into your Word document.

Note: Save your Word document after inserting citations.

1. Insert Citation: Insert the selected citation into your Word document.

2: Format Bibliography: Make edits to the bibliography in your World document.

Note: If you have to create an annotated bibliography, it's a good idea to remove field codes and then paste your annotations in the bibliography. Otherwise, EndNote will think your notes are "errors" and will delete them when Instant Formatting is on, or when you click "Update Citations and Bibliography."

3. Go to Word Processor: Bring your Word document to the front of your screen.