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Gerstein Science Information Centre

EndNote (Desktop version)

How to use a citation management program to organize your references and create in-text citations and bibliographies for your papers

Exporting References: OVID

On this page, you will find instructions on how to export references from the OVID databases and into your EndNote library.

NOTE:  The Export / Import Filters recommended here work best with EndNote (desktop) and with the U of T databases. Use Chrome or Firefox for best results.


What's On This Page:

Exporting References: OVID Medline

Direct Export into EndNote

Indirect Export into EndNote

Other Ovid Databases (Embase, PsycINFO etc.)

 

Direct Export into EndNote

To export a list of citations directly from an OVID database, into EndNote (desktop):

  1. Step 1- Search for your topic in one of the many OVID databases (e.g. Medline, Embase, Psycinfo; for full list, see below).
  2. Step 2- Select your citations by completing either step 2a, 2b, or 2c, as indicated in the picture below:
    1. Check off the boxes located on the left of each citation
    2. OR Check off the All checkbox located in the upper left corner of your search results
    3. OR Type in a Range of References in the Range box located in the upper left corner of your search results


Note: several databases have a maximum number of citations that you can download at one time. This number differs depending on the database (e.g. the maximum export for OVID databases is 2000 citations at once).

BATCH EXPORTING for exports over 2000 results: *If you want to export more than 2000 citations, you must export in batches of 2000 at a time, as you cannot export over 2000 at once. The option to 'select all' will not work for exports over 2000; you will get an error message. 

Instead, type in a range for each export (e.g. 1-2000, followed by 2001-4000, and so forth). 

  1. Step 3- Choose Export, which is located in the upper right corner of your search results beside Print, and Email.

  1. Step 4- A pop-up box will appear called Export Citation(s). In this box, click the arrow under Format, located to the right of the dropdown menu.

  1. Step 5- Scroll through the dropdown menu and select EndNote.

  1. Step 6- Next, select the arrow the arrow located to the right of the dropdown menu under Fields. Scroll through the dropdown to select Complete Reference.

Note: if there is an error exporting the full reference, try Citation, Abstract, Subject Headings.

  1. Step 7- In the bottom right-hand corner of the Export Citation(s) pop-up box, click the blue Export button.

  1. Step 8- A Dialogue Box will pop up. In this Dialogue Box, click the arrow on the right side of the "Open with" dropdown.
  2. Step 9- Click the arrow, and scroll down to choose Research Soft Direct Export Helper. Then click the OK button at the bottom of the pop up box.

  1. Step 10- If another Dialogue Box opens choose EndNote.
  2. Once you have completed the above steps, your citations will be exported from the OVID database, and will automatically be added to the Unfiled Folder in EndNote.

Indirect Export into EndNote

Alternatively, you can save a copy of your chosen citations as a separate file before importing them into EndNote:

Note: For best results use the Google Chrome browser.

1) Find and Save Citations as an RIS File

  1. Step 1- Search for your topic in one of the many OVID databases.
  2. Step 2- Select your citations by following step 2 of the instructions for "Direct Export Into EndNote", which is listed in the previous section, above.

NOTE:

BATCH EXPORTING for exports over 2000 results: *If you want to export more than 2000 citations, you must export in batches of 2000 at a time, as you cannot export over 2000 at once. The option to 'select all' will not work for exports over 2000; you will get an error message. 

Instead, type in a range for each export (e.g. 1-2000, followed by 2001-4000, and so forth).

  1. Step 3- Click Export which is located in the upper right corner of your search results beside Print, and Email.
  2. Step 4- An Export Citation(s) box will appear.
  3. Step 5- In this pop-up box, click the arrow of the dropdown under Format. Scroll down and choose RIS, as highlighted in the picture below.

  1. Step 6- In the Fields section located under the previous Format section, choose the dropdown arrow and select Complete Reference.

  1. Step 7- Click the blue Export button in the bottom right corner of the pop-up box.

  1. Step 8- Save this export as a .ris file to your computer.

Note: If you have encountered any issues, try switching to the Google Chrome browser.

2) Import Citations as RIS Files into EndNote

  1. Step 1- Open EndNote X8
  2. Step 2-  Go to File in the top left hand corner of EndNote. Scroll down and click Import. Then click File, to open a file.

  1. Step 3- Browse for and open the .ris file you had just saved on your computer according to the instructions in the "Find and Save Citations as an RIS File" section above. A pop-up box called Import File will appear.

  2. Step 4- In this pop-up box, select the arrow beside the Import Option dropdown. In this dropdown, scroll through and select Medline (OvidSP)
  3. Step 5- Select the arrow for the dropdown beside Text Translation. Scroll down and choose Unicode UTF-8

  1. Step 6- Ensure sure you have: attached the .ris file of your references, changed Import Option to MEDLINE (OvidSP), and changed Text Translation to Unicode (UTF-8) by following steps 3 – 5 above 

  1. Step 7- Click Import button at the bottom of the pop-up box. Your references will appear in your Imported References folder, which is located in the left-hand side menu in EndNote X8.

 

Other OVID Databases

A-I J-Z
  • AMED - Allied and Complementary Medicine
  • A-V Online
  • Books@OVID
  • CAB Abstracts
  • Embase
  • Health and Psychological Instruments
  • Healthstar
  • Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals
  • International Index to TV Periodicals
  • International Pharmaceutical Abstracts
  • International Political Science Abstracts International Index to Film Periodicals
  • Journals@OVID Full Text
  • Mental Measurements Yearbook
  • Social Work Abstracts
  • PsycINFO
  • Transport Database
  • Zoological Record