Mendeley

Note: MCPHS Libraries is no longer updating this guide. For up-to-date and detailed guidance on how to use Mendeley consider Elsevier's Mendeley Guide, or the MIT Libraries Mendeley Guide.

Using Mendeley is a way for you to collect, manage and organization citations for all the articles, books and other sources you find. You can use it to create Reference Lists and do in-text citations - a great way to save time during your research process. As a tool, it's great for building a academic collaboration network, and is a crowd-sourced database with a layer of social information research. This guide will walk you through setting up and using Mendeley, as well as some specific tips and strategies.

As you become an expert user, keep in mind that's only one of the skill sets you need to be a good writer. Among other things, you'll want to check your formatting and citations using style guide resources (e.g the APA Publication Manual and Purdue OWL). You'll also want to practice how to acknowledge your sources and show respect for their work through paraphrasing, quoting, and other techniques. 

1. Go to Mendeley's website to set up your free account. 
2. Click on Create Account (in the top, right-hand corner) and follow the prompts.
3. You now have a Mendeley account! 

To get the most out of Mendeley, you'll want to:

1. Set up the Web Importer browser extension.
2. Set up your profile (for collaboration and networking purposes). 

If you encounter any issues with setting up your account, use Mendeley's support site to find an answer or contact support.

If Mendeley isn't meeting your citation management needs try one of these other options. Just remember to organize them somehow - your future self will thank you!

Much of the content on this guide was re-used from a guide Mendeley developed.