Independent Bibliographies and Exporting References

Introduction to Independent Bibliographies

There may be times when you want to create a bibliography without an associated paper. We call this an "independent bibliography" because EndNote does not generate the bibliography based on citations found in a paper—instead, the bibliography is generated independently of a paper.

Any one of the procedures described in this section can be used to create an independent bibliography. Each has its own advantages, so look for the option that best suits your needs:

• Drag-and-drop to instantly transfer a bibliography to a word processing document.
• Copy formatted references from a library and paste them into a word processing document.
• Export references from a library as RTF, Text Only, or HTML.
• Preview and/or Print references from EndNote.

Styles Determine the Look of the Bibliography

The appearance of your independent bibliography depends entirely on which EndNote style is selected. The styles determine what information is included in the bibliography, how it is arranged, and what punctuation and text styles are used.  Select a style that meets your needs before exporting, printing, or formatting references.

To select a style, select Output Styles from the Tools menu. You will see a list of "favorite" styles. This list is based on a short list of popular styles, with your personal favorites added as you use them. If you do not see the style you need in the favorites list, select Open Style Manager from the Tools > Output Styles submenu, and mark the styles you want added to the favorites list. For more information, see Adding Styles to the Output Styles Menu. For information about modifying styles, see Modifying Style Templates.

The Style Manager shows all the styles installed on your computer. By default, EndNote installs only the more popular styles, but you can install more. For more information, see Installing Additional Output Styles.

Introduction to Exporting References

EndNote can export references in formats that can be imported into databases or other bibliographic applications. The process is the much the same as exporting references in an independent bibliography, but the style used must be one that can be imported into the other program. See Exporting References as an Independent Bibliography and Exporting References for Database Import.