When I started my Ph.D, a colleague introduced me to Endnote, I learn ed the basic by my self and then took a course offered by the University. Then, I wondered how I could have graduated my master without this amazing tool, and how much time I would have wasted during my Ph.D without it.
EndNote is a commercial reference management software package, used to manage bibliographies and references when writing essays and articles. It is produced by Thomson Reuters.
EndNote groups citations into “libraries” with the file extension *.enl and a corresponding *.data folder.
There are several ways to add a reference to a library: manually, exporting, importing, connecting from EndNote. The program presents the user with a window containing a drop-down menu to select the type of reference they require (book, newspaper article, film, congressional legislation, etc.), and fields ranging from the general
(author, title, year) to those specific to the kind of reference (ISBNnumber, abstract, reporter’s name, running time, etc.)
Most bibliographic databases allow users to export references to their EndNote libraries. This enables the user to select multiple citations and saves the user from having to manually enter the citation information and the abstracts.
There are some databases (e.g. PubMed) in which the user needs to select citations, select a specific format, and save them as .txt files.
By then going to EndNote, the user can then import the citations into the EndNote software. It is also possible to search library catalogs and free databases such as PubMed from within the EndNote software program itself.
<= Official tutorial video