EndNote 101

What is Cite While You Write?

Cite While You Write (also known as CWYW) is a key feature of EndNote. It allows you to access EndNote from within Microsoft Word to insert citations into your Word documents.  You can insert citations anytime during your writing process. 

You can also use Cite While You Write to insert images (figures) from an EndNote library into your Word documents.

CWYW automatically builds a bibliography from the citations you insert. You can also create a list of figures.

What is a Citation?

A citation is a reference that appears in the text of your document. Typically it includes either the year of publication or a reference number. For example, the following is citation formatted in APA format:

(McInerney, 2002)

The same citation in numbered style looks like this:

[1]

A bibliography entry for this citation (in APA format) looks like:

McInerney, C. (2002). Knowledge management and the dynamic nature of knowledge. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 53(12), 1009-1018.

Requirements for using Cite While You Write

CWYW is compatible with the following versions of Microsoft Word: 

• Windows - Microsoft Word 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Office 365 (locally installed desktop version only)
• Mac - Microsoft Word 2016, 2019, 2021, and Office 365 (locally installed desktop version only)

It is important to install EndNote after you install Microsoft Word.  When you install EndNote, an EndNote tab is added to the top ribbon in Microsoft Word. This menu will not automatically appear if you install Word after EndNote.

You can insert citations as you write your document or you can wait and enter the citations after you finish writing.

1. Open your EndNote library.
2. Open your Word document.
3. In your Word document, position the cursor where you want to insert the first citation.
4. Do one of the following:
   1. Navigate to the EndNote 21 tab in your top ribbon.
   2. Click "Insert Citation"
   3. In the dialog box, enter keywords (such as the author or title) in the search box to locate your desired reference. EndNote searches all fields in its library records to find matches.
   4. Highlight or select the citation you wish to use in your Endnote library. 
   5. Click "Insert". Your desired in-text and corresponding reference list citation will automatically generate in your document. 

OR

1. Navigate to the EndNote 21 tab in your top ribbon.
2. Click "Go to EndNote". This will open your EndNote library.
3. Locate your desired reference and highlight or select it. 
4. Click the insert citation icon, designated by quotation marks.
5. Return to your Microsoft Word document. Your desired in-text and corresponding reference list citation will appear in your document. 

Changing Output Style

With CWYW, you can easily change the formatting of your citations by changing the output style. This can save you time if you are submitting articles to several publishers with different formatting requirements.

To select or change your output style:

1. Navigate to the EndNote 21 tab in your top ribbon.
2. Find "Style"
3. Select your desired citation style from the drop down menu (ex. APA 7th). 
4. You may change this style at any point, and your references will automatically update to your newly selected citation style.

If you cannot find your desired style within the drop down menu, click "Select Another Style.." This will generate a dialogue box containing hundreds additional options. If your desired style is listed, follow the instructions below to download and add a new style from EndNote. 

Installing Additional Output Styles in EndNote

Editing Citations

If you need to change (add to, modify, or delete) your formatted citations:

1. In your Word document, position the cursor on the citation you want to change.
2. Navigate to the EndNote 21 tab in your top ribbon.
3. Click "Edit & Manage Citation(s)".
4. In the dialog box, ensure the citation you want to change has been selected.
5. Using the drop down menu and fields under the "Edit Citation" tab within the dialog box, make any desired changes. This changes may include excluding the author from the in-text citation; excluding the year from the in-text citation; showing the citation only in the bibliography, adding prefixes, suffixes, or page numbers to your in-text citations; etc. 
6. Click "OK" to apply changes. 

Removing Citations

If you need to delete a citation from your document, do not using the backspace or delete key. Special EndNote codes associated with the citation may not be erased and as a result your document file could become corrupted. Instead:

1. In your Word document, position the cursor on the citation you want to remove.
2. Navigate to the EndNote 21 tab in your top ribbon.
3. Click "Edit & Manage Citation(s)".
4. In the dialog box, ensure the citation you want to change has been selected.
5. Click the drop down arrow beside "Edit Reference" (Windows) or the three dots (Mac).
6. Click "Remove Citation".
7. Click "OK" to apply changes. 

Inserting Images

CWYW allows you to insert images contained in an EndNote library into your Microsoft Word documents from within Word. These are called figures, and they are accompanied by figure citations. Figure citations are numbered sequentially and appear in parentheses.

The image itself appears either right below the citation or at the end of the document (in the figures list), depending on the formatting style you are currently using.

When you insert figure citations, EndNote automatically creates a figure list at the end of the document.

To insert images into your Word document:

1. Open your EndNote library.
2. Open your Word document.
3. In your Word document, position the cursor where you want to insert the image (figure citation).
4. Navigate to the EndNote 21 tab in your top ribbon.
5. Click the drop down arrow beside "Insert Citation" and select "Insert Figure". The Find Figures dialog box will appear.
6. In the dialogue box, enter keywords to bring up matching references that contain figures.
7. Click "Insert" to insert the figure and its caption into your Word document.

Deleting Images

If you inserted an image as a figure and then later decide to delete it, do the following:

1. Highlight the figure citation, including the parentheses, by clicking on it.
2. Press the Delete or Backspace key.
3. Navigate to the EndNote 21 tab in your top ribbon.
4. Click "Update Citations and Bibliography".
5. Note: If you try to delete the picture without deleting the figure citation, it will reappear the next time a figure list is generated.

Removing Field Codes

Journal publishers request that you remove EndNote’s field codes before submitting your manuscript. EndNote uses field codes to insert additional data into your document, and it interferes with the publisher’s software. To remove field codes:

1. Open your Word document.
2. Navigate to the EndNote 21 tab in your top ribbon.
3. Click "Convert Citations and Bibliography".
4. Click "Convert to Plain Text".

Word will prompt you to save this version of your paper with another name. You should do this so that you can edit the original version with the field codes intact in the future.