Importing References from PubMed
To Save References to a Text File and Import Them

Follow the steps below to download your search results from PubMed as a text file and to import them into your EndNote library.

  1. Go to the PubMed Web site in your Web browser at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/.
  2. In the Search field, enter your search criteria. (To create an advanced search, click the Advanced button.)  To execute your search, click the Search button.
  3. Select the needed results and then click the Save button.
  4. Select PubMed from the Format menu.
  5. Click the Create File button. This will bring up a dialog box allowing you to save your selected references as a text file.
  6. Save the file to your computer. Check your browser's options for where files are saved. You may have choices that will allow you to customize the location.
  7. Open the library into which you want to import the references.
  8. From the File menu, select Import > File.
  9. Click the Choose button.
  10. Locate the file from PubMed you want to import. Select the file and click Open.
  11. Select Other Filters… from the Import Option list, then select the PubMed (NLM) filter from the list. (After using the PubMed filter once, it will automatically be added to your favorites list.)
  12. Select an option from the Duplicates list:
  • Import All: Imports all references, including duplicates.
  • Discard Duplicates: Imports all references except duplicates.
  • Import into Duplicates Library: Duplicate references are imported into a library called File-Dupl.enl, where ”File" is the name of the library into which you are importing.

By default, a reference is considered a duplicate when the Author, Year, Title, and Reference Type match a reference already in the library. See Duplicates Preferences if you would like to change the duplicates criteria.

  1. Select No Translation for the Text Translation option.
  2. Click Import to import the file. The references will appear in the Imported References temporary group.
To Import References with Direct Export
  1. Open the library into which you want to import the references.
  2. Go to the PubMed Web site in your Web browser at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/.
  3. In the Search field, enter your search criteria. (To create an advanced search, click the Advanced button.)  To execute your search, click the Search button.
  4. Select the needed results and then click the Send To button.
  5. Select Citation Manager from the list.
  6. Click the Create File button. This will save the references in a format that works with EndNote's Direct Export feature.
  7. The references should appear in the temporary Imported References group of your library. If the references do not appear in your library, go to your browser's download location and double-click the file ending with the .nbib extension. The .nbib extension indicates the PubMed file format compatible with Direct Export.

Note: Whether a file is recognized as being a Direct Export file type and opens in EndNote automatically can be affected by your browser and/or operating system settings for how file types are associated with programs. See Enabling Direct Export if PubMed files are not automatically added to your library with these Direct Export instructions.