Getting started with Mendeley
Please note that many of Mendeley's best features will only work with a free account.
Without an account, you won't be able to:
- Share & annotate research papers collaboratively with colleagues and co-authors
- Back up & access your research papers online through your web browser
- Sync your research paper library across multiple computers (e.g. home, work, and laptop)
- Use improved automatic metadata extraction from PDFs and automatic DOI retrieval
- Discover stats about your own library and current research trends.
Choose your download:
Requires Windows XP or Vista. Size 10.7MB
Requires Mac OSX 10.4 or later. Size 22.8MB
Click here for all Linux packages
Requires Microsoft Word 2003/7. Size 14.3MB
ALPHA release! Please see known issues.
Setting up your library database
1a) Import your research papers
Click "Add Documents" to start building your library database:
- Automatic Document Recognition will try to extract the correct metadata automatically.
- Library File Import can read your existing EndNote XML, RIS, or BibTex files.
- Manual Entry lets you enter metadata manually.
1b) Review the extracted metadata
If you've chosen Automatic Document Recognition, there may be errors (but the more people that use Mendeley, the better the recognition becomes). Click on a library entry to view the metadata fields.
2) That's it - you have a digital library!
You can now use Mendeley Desktop to manage your papers as easily as MP3s:
- Full-text search, tag, share and collaboratively manage your research papers
- Add tags and notes to documents
- Create document groups to organize your papers
- Apply different citation styles
- Export your library to EndNote XML, RIS, or BibTex, or copy library entries formatted in the chosen citation style
- Cite documents in Microsoft Word and automatically create bibliographies
Using the networking and collaboration features
Create your account on Mendeley Web
You'll need a free account on Mendeley Web to back up your library online and to use the networking & collaboration features of Mendeley Desktop - signing up only takes a minute!
1) Connect to your colleagues on Mendeley Web
Find your colleagues using the Members tab and add them as as contacts. This enables you to:
- Follow their profile updates (new publications, conference travels, new awards etc.)
- Share research papers with them using Mendeley Desktop.
2) Share your research papers
In Mendeley Desktop, go to the Document Groups frame on the left and create a new Shared Group. Click the "Member" link to invite your Mendeley Web contacts into the Shared Group.
All documents in this group will now be accessible to all members of the Shared Group. You can tag and annotate the documents collaboratively!
3) Manage your library online
Once you have entered your account details in Mendeley Desktop, your library contents will be backed up to your private Mendeley Web account. You will then be able to manage your metadata online on Mendeley Web in "My Library".
You can also back-up your PDFs to your Mendeley Web account: In Mendeley Desktop, select "Settings > Preferences > General > Back-Up to Mendeley account:" and choose "Metadata and Files".
4) Complete your profile on Mendeley Web
Complete your public research profile to let other people know about your research interests, awards, publications, biography, or conference travels.
The easiest way of adding your publications to your profile is this: In Mendeley Desktop, simply drag & drop your publications to the document group "My Publications".
