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RefWorks - Citation Manager for Microsoft Word

The purpose of this guide is to introduce researchers to the wonderful world of RefWorks!

Getting Started

Refworks Citation Manager is a Microsoft Office plug-in that allows users to directly insert in-text citations and a bibliography into Microsoft Word. To install Refworks Citation Manager, open Microsoft Word, click on the Insert tab and then click on the Store icon in the ‘Add-ins’ box. Search for ‘RefWorks’ in the search field. Click the ‘Add’ button.

RefWorks Citation Manager Installation

Each time you open Microsoft Word, you will have to manually open up Refworks add-in. But since you have already added the add-in, you can now find by going to the ‘Insert’ tab, then clicking on ‘My Add-ins’.

The add-in appears in Microsoft Words as a sidebar on the right-hand side.

Log into Refworks Citation Manager with the same username and password you use for Refworks.

The default setting is to display all your references in an “All References” folder. To quickly find your article, it is recommended that you sort all references into folders in Refworks before using Refworks Citation Manager.

You can also filter your references by date added, date accessed, date published, title, author, and Ref ID.

Creating In-Text Citations

To insert an in-text citation, place your cursor after the desired quote or paraphrase. Find the desired resource in Refworks Citation Manager.

Again, it is easier to find citations quickly if you organize them into folders in Refworks. You can also find citations with the search functionality.

Once you find the desired resource, you can insert the in-text citation by either clicking on ‘Quick Cite’ or by clicking on ‘Preview and Edit’.

As the names suggest, ‘Quick Cite’ immediately inserts the in-text citation. It will also automatically insert the resource into the bibliography. The bibliography is automatically generated at the bottom of your writing. However, if you haven’t hit enter a few times, your bibliography will be created attached to your paragraph (see example below).

To prevent this from happening, hit ‘Enter’ on your keyboard after the in-text citation.

‘Preview and Edit’ functionality allows you to preview the citation before clicking on ‘Insert’, but does not allow you to directly edit the citation. It has a few limited features such as functionality to insert as a footnote, replace page citations, and including (or not) authors and dates.

If you need to directly edit a citation, you will need to go to Refworks online. However, to sync Refworks online with Refworks citation manager, you might need to completely close Microsoft Word before opening it again. This is why we recommend that as you upload or use the ‘Save to Refworks’ bookmark, you always check to make sure the citation is being added properly. It is easier to edit as you add than to edit later when you are writing your paper.

Changing Citation Style

To change citation style, click on the menu icon, then click on “Change citation style”.

Choose the desired citation style in the pull-down menu.

Click on ‘Update’ to update all in-text citations and bibliography with your new citation style.

Guide Information

Last Updated: Sep 4, 2024 2:22 PM
URL: https://libguides.pcom.edu/refworks