Importing PDF Files to Create New References

This feature allows you to convert existing collections of PDF files into EndNote references with minimal typing or copying by extracting the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) from the PDF file. The system matches DOI information with data available from CrossRef (https://www.crossref.org/), capturing bibliographic content and creating new EndNote references.

To import a PDF file:

  1. Open the library into which you want to import the references.
  2. From the File menu, select Import > File.
  3. Click the Choose button.
  4. Locate the PDF file you want to import. Select the file and click Open.
  5. Select PDF from the Import Option list.
  6. 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.

Note: See Importing PDF Folders to Create New References for instructions on how to import multiple PDF files stored within a single folder.

Note: When performing the import function, if there are two DOIs found in the first two pages of a PDF document, EndNote will put at least one DOI in the DOI field for data extraction. The PDF is then attached and the file name is put in the Title field.

When the import is complete, the new record is stored in the temporary Imported References group, and will include bibliographic information given for the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) mined from the PDF file metadata, such as title, author, volume, issue, page, year, and DOI. You may be able to find more information for the record using the Find Reference Updates command.

The Imported References group is a temporary group that is replaced each time you import another set of references. It is removed when you exit EndNote (although the references remain in the library).

To return all of your references to the library display (including the newly imported ones), click the All References group.