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Exporting from RefWorks to Mendeley

Users may can move all of their references from RefWorks to Mendeley using the steps below. This export does not move attachments.

  1. Export your references either all together, or one folder at a time.
  2. In your RefWorks database, navigate to References > All references OR If you are exporting one folder at a time, navigate to References > [Folder name] and repeat steps below for each folder.
  3. Click Create Bibliography
  4. In the Create Bibliography window, select All in List; choose Local Bibliographic Software (Endnote,..) as the output style; and select the TEXT file type. Press the Create Bibliography button.
  5. A new browser window will appear with all the references in your account (or all references from the folder you selected) formated in the RIS export format. Save the page as export.ris (or whatever you want to call it, but make sure to use the RIS extension).
  6. To maintain your folder structure in Mendeley, create folders equivalent to those in your RefWorks account. In Mendeley, click on the folder name so that it is highlighted. This way, your saved .ris file will be imported into that folder. If you are not keeping your folders, you can import the file anywhere in your Mendeley account and they will be added to All Documents.
  7. In Mendeley navigate to File > Import > RIS – Research Information Systems (RIS*) and choose the saved .ris file.