The Reference Panel

The Reference panel displays the contents of a reference, allows editing of the reference, and viewing and annotation of PDFs. Each part of the reference is stored in its own field; field names and data can be seen in the Edit panel. The Reference Type field displays the type of reference that you are viewing, such as journal article, book, or conference proceeding. Changing the Reference Type field will change the names of the fields displayed.

The first author’s last name, the year, and the EndNote record number appear at the top of the Reference panel in the title bar.

Note: Record numbers should not be considered permanent identifiers. The same record may have a different number if it is copied to another library or synced to another computer. See Record Numbers for more information.

Reference Panel Options

When you select a reference in the library, by default EndNote displays the Summary panel, showing a summary of the reference and a preview of the reference. The preview subpanel may only be displayed as a toolbar at the bottom of the panel, but you can drag it up to see both the summary and preview in the panel.

To edit the reference, select Edit in the Reference panel.

To see PDFs for the reference, select PDF in the Reference panel.

If you change the Reference panel option, your choice will be remembered when you next start EndNote. So if you select the Edit option in the Reference panel, then close EndNote, the Edit panel will be displayed the next time you open EndNote.

Reference Panel Controls
  • To open a context-sensitive menu, right-click anywhere in the Reference panel.
  • Press Ctrl+Alt+A to attach a file to the current reference.
  • To open a PDF in the default PDF application on your computer, in the Edit panel click the drop-down arrow for the PDF, then select the option to Open with… (the name of the application to open the PDF with will depend on the default PDF application for your computer).
  • Click the Attach File button in the Summary panel to attach a file such as a PDF, document, or text file.

See The Reference Panel for more detailed information about the Reference panel.

Related Topics

The Library Window

Important Points About Libraries

The Reference Panel

Working with PDFs