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Citation Management Tools: PubMed

A quick guide to using citation management tools.

Adding Citations to My NCBI Biblography

To save citations to your My NCBI account, first be sure you're logged in. Select any articles you wish to save by clicking the checkbox to the left of the title. 

From there you'll need to [1] Click Send to and select [2] My Bibliography. Select [3] My Bibliography from the second box and hit [4] Add to Bibliography. This will send the citations for the articles you've selected to your My NCBI Bibliography.

To access your Bibliography, click on My NCBI in the upper right side of your screen.

Exporting Citations from PubMed to another Citation Manager:

 

Exporting citations when using PubMed isn't as simple as clicking the icons at the top of your page. In order to export citations, you need to select the article(s) you want by clicking the checkbox next to their title. 

Next you'll click the blue Send to option (labeled [1]) found on the upper right side of your search screen. 

This will open a popup box (make sure Popup Blocker is off). Select Citation manager from the drop-down menu [2]

Click Create File [3]. This will create an .nbib file that you can then import into the citation manager of your choice.

Exporting to Mendeley

To get these citations into Mendeley, follow these steps:

  • Open your Mendeley desktop app
  • Click File and select Import
  • Select BibTex (*.bib)
  • A popup will appear. Make sure you change the file type to All supported formats.
  • Locate and select your citation file, usually saved as an .nbib (ex: citations.nbib) and click Open. This will add the citations to your Mendeley library. 

Exporting to Zotero

To get your citations into Zotero, follow these steps:

  • Open your Zotero desktop app. 
  • Click File and select Import
  • Select A file (BibYex, RIS, Zotero, RDF, ect.) and click Next
  • Find your citations download from PubMed (normally downloads as "citations.nbib"). Select and click Open
  •  Select Copy files to the Zotero storage folder and click Next
  • When your import is complete, click Finish. Your citations should now appear in your Zotero library.

Exporting to EndNote

To get your citations into EndNote Basic:

  • Select the Collect tab, choose Import References
  • Under file: click Choose File and select the citation file from your computer
  • Under Import Option: Select PubMed (NLM) from the dropdown list
  • In the To box: select New Group or whatever folder you want to put the citations in.
  • Click Import

To get your citations into EndNote:

  • Select Import File under File
  • Choose your citations file
  • Under Import Options, choose Other Filters and use PubMed (NLM)
  • Under Duplicates, select the appropriate option
  • Click Import to add your citations.