RefWorks  Tags: refworks citations bibliographies research  

Use these links to nativage through the FAQ on the right

Setup & Account

Importing & Exporting

Bibliographies & Write-n-Cite

RefGrab-It

Frequently Asked Questions

Email David Podboy (dpodboy@email.smith.edu) if your question isn't answered here

Setup & Account

• What is RefWorks? RefWorks is a web-based tool that assists in managing citations, creating bibliographies, and importing references from online databases.

• How do I access RefWorks from on campus? Go to the libraries' homepage www.smith.edu/libraries. Click on the RefWorks link in the gray bar at the bottom of the page. If this is your first time using RefWorks, click on "Sign up for an Individual Account" and create a login and password. RefWorks will then email you the username and password you created.

• How do I access RefWorks from off campus? Go to the libraries' homepage www.smith.edu/libraries. Click on the RefWorks link in the gray bar at the bottom of the page. You will be asked to authenticate with your with your Novell username and password. After you authenticate, you will get the RefWorks login screen as in #2 above.

• Can I add RefWorks to my bookmarks? To add RefWorks to your bookmarks, use this address: http://libproxy.smith.edu:2048/login?url=http://www.refworks.com/Refworks/login.asp?

• Can I open two accounts in RefWorks at the same time? Yes. Open your browser a second time by selecting it from the Program menu or by clicking on the icon on your desktop or task bar. [Do not open another window by selecting File, New, Window --this will only re-open the first RefWorks account.]

• Can a RefWorks account be shared by a group? Yes. An individual may create more than one account using the same email address, but with different usernames and passwords for each account. This can be useful when working on group projects. The username and password can be shared with other members of the group for one of the accounts. Each member can then log in to that RefWorks account to add, organize, or delete information. During the process, each group member can utilize the bibliographic resources from the group folder and then use RefWorks to format the bibliography according to the preferred style.

• Is there a limit to the size of my database? No. Your database may contain an unlimited number of references.

• Is there a limit to the data I can put in the notes and abstract fields? The notes, abstract, and user definable fields are limited to 1 gigabyte of information. Note that by adding large amounts of data to these fields, the program takes more time to display each reference.

• Where are my RefWorks bibliographies stored? Your bibliographic information is stored on the RefWorks server.

• How do I back up my citations? Select the Backup/Restore link under the References menu. Select Include References (for the database) and/or Include Output Styles (for outputs). Click on Perform Backup. Save the file when prompted. It should be saved as a .zip file. Please do not change the extension of the file as it is necessary to restore if you need to do so later. Although RefWorks backs up all databases on a regular basis, we recommend users do this as well. You may also export your references to a text file as a back up measure by choosing Export under the References menu.

• What happens when I graduate or leave Smith and no longer have access to RefWorks and my data? ITS has information on their page for graduating seniors. Note that if you go to another college or university, they may also have a RefWorks subscription. If not, you can purchase an individual subscription to RefWorks for $70 per year or, if you prefer, you can export your entire database in a format that is compatible with other bibliographic software. You can also export the data in a delimited format to use in some other type of database program. To purchase your own RefWorks subscription, simply contact RefWorks and they will inform you of the billing procedures. In advance of this transition, RefWorks also recommends doing a "backup" of your database, and then a "restore" to your new account. This will bring all folders, references, reference IDs and any custom output styles, so your new account will be exactly the same as their old account when you backed it up. You can also create your new account in the 30-day free trial area and RefWorks will just convert it behind the scenes to an individual subscription once payment information has been received.

Importing & Exporting

• How do I import citations from library databases or the Library Catalog into RefWorks? Some databases allow you to export your selected citations directly into your RefWorks account. Otherwise, you can save your search results as a text file on any of your local drives. See Database Import Instructions and/or "Import Overview" from the RefWorks site for more information.

• What if the database I need to use is not included in the RefWorks filters? RefWorks contains filters for many databases and information vendors. However, if you do not find a filter for a particular database, you may request that RefWorks create one for your database. While logged into your RefWorks account, click on "Request Filter/Format" in the Import screen. Keep in mind that it may not always be possible to create a filter for a particular database. This decision is usually that of the database vendor and not RefWorks.

• When I try to export citations from a database to RefWorks, nothing happens. What do I do? See if the popup window blocker is set on your browser. To do so in Firefox, go to Tools - Options - Content and see if the popup blocker is set. If set, you can add www.refworks.com as an exception. To check Internet Explorer, go to Tools - Options - Privacy and see if the popup blocker is set. If you've added the Google toolbar to Internet Explorer, the popup blocker may be set. Select Options. Go to Accessories - Options and turn off the Popup Blocker. If you continue to have problems with exporting citations to RefWorks, you may want to save your citations as text and use RefWorks to import.

• How can I export my bibliographic information? You may export all or some of your bibliographic information into another bibliographic management program such as EndNote, a comma-delimited file, or as a text or Word file (e.g. a formatted bibliography or citation list). You may also export your citations in RefWorks format, in order to share them with another RefWorks user who can then import the citations into their RefWorks account.

• My data doesn't always import correctly. What can I do? Make sure the data you are trying to import is in a tagged format. For example:

TI: Title
Reforming the circle: fragments of the social history of a vernacular African dance form.
AU: Author
James, Wendy
AF: AuthorAffiliation
Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford
SO: Source
Journal of African Cultural Studies; Jun2000, Vol. 13 Issue 1, p140, 13p

Go to the Import area of RefWorks and ensure that both the Import Filter/Data Source and Database have been selected correctly. If you don't see either All Databases or the specific database you are searching in the drop down list, we do not have a filter for that particular database. In this case the data may still import but it may not be imported into the correct fields and the source information will all go into the notes field. Selecting Multiple Databases will not work if the specific database you are importing is not in the list. If you selected the correct Data Source and Database but the data still comes in incorrectly, please contact the RefWorks support department at support@refworks.com. Attach a sample of the text file you are importing along with information on the source of the data.

• How do I import citations from EndNote, ProCite, Zotero, or Reference Manager? To import records into RefWorks from other citation software, see Converting Records from Other Bibliographic Management Programs.

• How do I export my RefWorks citations to EndNote? From RefWorks, go to the References menu and select Export. Choose the Bibliographic Software option and save the file to your computer In EndNote, go to the File menu and select Import. Locate the file and for "import option" choose "Reference Manager RIS."

• Is RefWorks compatible with Latex/BibTeX? Yes. RefWorks has a BibTex output format. After you've input your citations into RefWorks, select the Bibliography button and select BibTeX as the output format. Select Base Bibliography on Reference List and select RTF as the File Type to Create. Select Create Bibliography. You can then select all references or references from a particular folder. A separate RTF with your citations in BibTeX format will be created.

Bibliographies & Write-n-Cite

• Why does my bibliography have incorrect data included in the output document? The output format takes the data from a particular field and inserts it into the bibliography. If the data in the field is incorrect it will appear to be wrong in the output format. For instance, you may see a book title that has [Monograph] after it. Journal titles may also show an extra tag regarding volume numbers. The problem may be with the way the data is imported rather than with the output format. Always check that the data in the database is correct before formatting a bibliography. If it is incorrect, you may edit the data yourself.

• I want to write my paper off line. How do I print out a list of references with RefIDs? Create a folder and add all of the references you'll need for the paper. Next, Click on Export and select the folder to be printed. Select Citation List (which includes the refID, author, title, and year). Click Export to Text File. Once the file displays, use the browser's Print function to print the paper.

RefGrab-It

• What is RefGrab-It? RefGrab-It is a program that captures basic bibliographic information about websites and allows their import into RefWorks. RefGrab-It must be installed on your computer before it can be used. Installation instructions are located here and help instructions are located here.