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COMM 4371- Communication Law & Society: Importing Data

Importing Data into your RefWorks Account

There are different ways to import data to your RefWorks account the most common are:

  • Direct Import from Databases 
  • Save Citation from Databases into Text Files (.txt)
  • Capturing Web Page data through RefGrab-It
  • Manually Adding Reference
  • Adding Full Text to References

Adding References by Searching Online Databases

Adding References to RefWorks by Importing Text Files

Adding References to RefWorks from Web Pages using RefGrab-It

Adding References to RefWorks Manually

Finding Full Text and Saving File Attachments in RefWorks

Direct Import from Databases via Direct Export Function

Many databases including Encore (library catalog) provide a Direct Export function which allows you to add citations directly to your RefWorks account. Follow these steps:

  1. Login to RefWorks through the UTEP Library Databases portal in a separate tab.
  2. In the database Select, Mark, Tag or Save to folder the citations you want to add to RefWorks
  3. Locate the Save, Export, Dowload or Sent to link in the database (options differ across databases)
  4. Choose Direct Export to RefWorks or Save to RefWorks link.
  5. You will be taken to a pop up window by RefWorks which illustrate that it is importing references; wait for the import to be completed. If you did not logged in RefWorks in a separate tab you will be taken to the RefWorks login screen.
  6. Once importing finishes you can click on Edit Import Reference, Duplicate Checking Options or View Last Imported.
  7. Move your imported citations from the Last Imported folder into other folders you created for easy retrieval.

Below are some video tutorials on how to direct import citations from specific databases. For flash-free mobile and Apple devices click on

Export References from Encore 

Export References from EBSCO Databases


Export References from ScienceDirect

Export References from ProQuest Databases

Save Citation from Databases into Text Files (.txt)

Not all databases will have a direct export option in those cases you need to save the citations from the database  to your computer as a text (.txt) file and then import them into RefWorks.  You can also import citations from other citation management tools such as EndNote in this matter. 

  1. Mark, tag or save to folder the citations you want to add to RefWorks
  2. Click the Save, Download, Export or Send to link (options vary across databases)
  3. You will be prompted to save a text file (.txt) save the file on the computer
  4. Login to RefWorks through the Libary Database portal
  5. Under References menu select Import. in the drop-down menu select the source of the data and the resouce you are importing from.
  6. Click the Browse button to select the text file you saved the citations on
  7. Pop up window will illustrate that RefWorks is importing references , wait unil it finishes uploading.
  8. Click on View Last Imported Folder link and move the citation to other folder created for easy retrival.

Below is a video tutorial that illustrates how to save citations from PubMed as a text file and then importing the citations to RefWorks. For flash-free mobile and Apple devices click on

Export References from PubMed

Capturing Web Page Data through RefGrab-It

RefGrab-It works with your browser to capture bibliographic information from web pages giving you the option to import that data into your RefWorks account. To do so follow these steps:

  1. Login  to RefWorks through the Library Database portal
  2. Go to Tools and select RefGrab-It
  3. Follow the install information for the RefGrab-It bookmarklet  that is appropriate for your perferred browser
  4. Find a website that contains useful information to you
  5. Click on the RefGrab-It bookmarklet
  6. RefWorks should take you to a window that displays citation information for your website. Click on Import to add citation to your RefWorks account.
  7. Click on View Last Imported and move your citation to another folder for easy retrival.

Manually Adding References

You can manually add references to your RefWorks account by following these steps:

  1. Login to RefWorks through the Library Database Portal
  2. Click on New Reference button
  3. Select desired citation style from the drop down menu
  4. Choose the folder that you want to add your reference to
  5. Choose the reference type (book, website, journal article....)
  6. Type the information of your reference in the fields you can also add additional fields such as personal notes and abstracts
  7. Click on Save Reference and close the window

Adding Full Text to References

Adding full text to an existing reference:

  1. From within your RefWorks account find the reference you wish to add a full text file and click on the Edit icon
  2. In the Attachments field click the Browse button and select the file you wish to add
  3. Click on the Add Attachment button to attach the file to the RefWorks reference
  4. Click on Save Reference

Adding a full text to a new manually added reference:

  1. Click on New Reference button
  2. Type the appropriate bibliographic information into the form.
  3. On the Attachments field click the Browse button and select the file you wish to add
  4. Click on Save Reference

 

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