How To Use Mendeley 2025 (Including Web Importer & Cite) - Full Tutorial With Examples

Mendeley Overview and Setup
📌 Mendeley is a free tool designed to automate and ensure the accuracy of referencing and citations in academic writing, saving significant time compared to manual formatting (e.g., APA or Harvard styles).
💻 To begin, users must register for a free account, install the Mendeley Web Importer browser plugin, and install the Mendeley Cite plugin for seamless integration with Microsoft Word.
☁️ While a desktop app exists, the web version is sufficient, ensuring all reference data is synchronized to the cloud, reducing potential synchronization hassles.

Managing the Mendeley Library
📚 The library interface allows organization via filters (e.g., All References, Favorites), Collections (custom folders for themes or variables), and Groups for sharing references with up to 25 collaborators.
📝 General thoughts not linked to a specific resource can be stored in the Notebook section as 'pages,' which can be exported as RTF files.
⭐ Resources can be marked as Favorites (using a star icon) for quick access or tagged with custom labels for advanced filtering.

Adding and Organizing References
📥 References can be added by manually inputting data, uploading PDF articles (which auto-populates fields and stores the PDF copy), using the Web Importer plugin on web pages, or searching within Mendeley’s dedicated search engine (similar to Google Scholar).
🆔 The manual entry process can be expedited by searching using identifiers like a DOI or PubMed ID to auto-populate the entry.
🗂️ Existing reference libraries from other software can be imported using BibTeX, EndNote, or RIS files.

In-Document Citation and Bibliography Generation
🔗 After installing Mendeley Cite in Word (found in the References or Add-ins tab), users must log in and select the required citation style (e.g., APA, Harvard) via Citation Settings; custom styles can also be added.
📍 To insert an in-text citation, place the cursor, tick the desired resource(s) in the right-hand sidebar, and click Insert.
📖 The final reference list (bibliography) is generated automatically by clicking the three-dot menu in the Mendeley plugin and selecting 'Insert bibliography,' ensuring all cited sources are perfectly formatted according to the chosen style.

Key Points & Insights
➡️ Utilize Mendeley Annotations to make notes specific to a resource, or use the Highlighter function to mark text sections in various colors within uploaded PDFs.
➡️ When using the Web Importer for general web pages, it is crucial to double-check the imported data for missing information.
➡️ Once the bibliography is generated, the only remaining manual task is often adjusting formatting details like line spacing (e.g., double spacing for APA/MLA).

📸 Video summarized with SummaryTube.com on Nov 07, 2025, 15:00 UTC