Reference management with EndNote

By default, the last used EndNote library opens when the EndNote program is started. If you have moved the file to another location in the meantime, the library will not be found.
If you want to change the default setting, you can alternatively choose to open the EndNote library yourself when you start the program. To do this, use the Edit menu and select Libraries > When EndNote starts > Prompt to select a library:

Of course you can also start EndNote at any time by double clicking on the . enl file.

Inside the open EndNote Library, select File > Compressed Library (. enlx) from the menu. By default, the file attachments (the contents of the data directory) will be saved in the backup copy:

Next time you open the .enlx file, the EndNote Library and Data directory are extracted and the EndNote Library opens.

The database may be restored via the Data folder if it still exists. The procedure works as follows: 
You create an empty text document (file name.txt) in a text editor. The text document must have the same file name as the Data folder or the damaged EndNote Library.
You then modify this file using Windows Explorer by changing the txt file into a file with the file extension enl (for EndNote Library).
The new file must now be stored in the same location as the Data folder of the same name that still exists.
If you open the enl file in EndNote, the data in the Data folder (the Data folder usually contains all the necessary data) will be transferred back to the EndNote Library when you open it.

Revise the EndNote preferences to add a comment field to the references by default. EndNote provides individually definable custom fields that can be used for this purpose, among others.

Select the menu  Edit > Preferences > Reference Types > Modify Reference Types.

Then select one of the custom fields, enter "Comment" in the right column, click the Apply to All Reference Types button to make the comment field available for all reference types beyond Journal Articles (= default), and confirm your selection with OK.

The mask closes and you have to confirm again with OK.

To make the new comment field visible at a glance in the main view, select it under Edit > Preferences > Display Fields instead of a field that is not needed (e.g. Ranking) and enter the name of the field in the Heading column (e.g. "Comment").

If you have added your own annotations to PDF attachments, the quickest way to find these annotations is to limit your search to PDF Notes in the EndNote search area and enter your annotation as a search term in Contains. This will find the reference whose attachment contains the note you are looking for.

You can adjust the EndNote settings for the handling of PDF documents in such a way that the documents are automatically renamed during the EndNote import and receive e.g. author and year of publication as file names in the Data folder - instead of e.g. cryptic sequences of numbers. This setting makes it easier to search for PDFs in your Data folder.
In EndNote, select Edit > Preferences > PDF Handling and specify which file names the PDFs should receive on import (e.g. Author + Year + Title)

Operating system Windows

In order for the EndNote tools to appear in Word, an add-in is normally installed and activated automatically during the EndNote installation process. In case the add-in was not installed, one of the following interventions could solve the problem:

1. In Word under File > Options > Add-Ins check that under Manage: COM Add-Ins the EndNote Cite While You Write Add-In is active and activate it if necessary.
2. In Word under File > Options > Add-Ins check that under Manage: Deactivated elements, some EN components are deactivated and, if necessary, activated.
3. In Word, go to File > Options > Customize Ribbon > Customize Ribbon area > Activate EndNote if necessary
4. In Word, go to File > Options > Security Center > Security Center Settings > Add-ins > Disable all application add-ins option.
5. Install the latest update of EndNote. Starting with Word 2016 the update 7.5 is necessary. In EndNote: Help > Check for updates > Download and Install.
6. In Computer > C:\Programme\EndNote > start Configure EndNote.exe > the option configure EndNote components  should be active > choose  next: > Cite while you write add-in for MS office > next > finish

Operating system Mac OS

Compatibility of Word- and EndNote-Versions

What to do if the EndNote menu still does not appear after updates:

1. Quit Word and open EndNote program.
2. Click on the 'EndNote X...' menu and select "Customizer."
3. Check the box in front of the "Cite While You Write" option.
4. Click next until the Customizer is finished. Open a library and then open Word and check if you are able to see EndNote X7 tab in Word.

If the problem persists, please follow the instructions on this page.

To add a page number within a reference, right-click the reference in the text. Then choose Edit Citation(s) > More. You can then enter the corresponding page number(s) in the Suffix field.

The page number(s) should be preceded by a comma and spaces and S. or p./pp.

In a similar way, you can delete individual references that are no longer required in the context of text editing. Right-click the reference you want to edit and choose Edit Citation(s) > More > Edit Reference > Remove Citation.

If you want to delete or move entire text passages with formatted references, you can do so provided that you have only used references from ONE EndNote Library.

Alternatively, you can decide to waive the immediate formatting of references and bibliography during the writing process. To do this, turn off Instant Formatting in the EndNote menu.

You format the finished document at the end by switching instant formatting back on. This generates the bibliography.

Editing of font size and font type for the bibliography

From within Word, choose Bibliography > Layout from the EndNote menu:

Unification of the writing of journal titles

All journal names from the EndNote references are automatically collected in a Journals Term List, which is the basis for the formatting in the bibliography. This list can be opened via the menu Tools > Open Term Lists > Journals Term List. The Full Journal column contains the contents of the "Journal" field of the references, the Abbreviation 1 column contains the information from the "Alternate Journal" field of the references.

Depending on the research source from which the bibliographic information was taken over to EndNote, the assignment of the fields in the references varies.
Citing references from different literature databases (PubMed, Web of Science, ...) can lead to an inconsistent presentation in the bibliography.
You can edit the Journal Term List manually: by opening the Journal Term List, selecting the relevant Journal Names and editing or moving the entries within the list.

Alternative

Alternatively, if you are quoting from many different journals, you can proceed as follows in order to reduce the amount of manual processing required

Select and delete the possibly already existing Journals Term List completely.
To do this, select the menu Tools > Open Term Lists > Journals Term List > "Ctrl A" (to mark all references) > Delete

Now import the term list "Medicine" supplied by EndNote. In EndNote, select Tools > Define Term Lists > Import List > Journals > Medical.txt (this file is located in C > Programs > EndNote > Term Lists).

As mentioned above, the Journals Term List is the basis for formatting the bibliography. The respective Output Style (citation style) determines which variant of the spelling is selected from the list. After opening the Output Style via Edit > Output Styles > Edit xy you will find the available options under Journal Names: Use full journal name, Abbreviation or Don't replace. If the Journals Term List is structured consistently as described above, you can now uniformly select whether complete titles or abbreviations should appear in the bibliography. If you choose Don't replace, however, the information from the "Journal" fields of the references will always appear (not recommended).