Carefully check the details of each file you add to your library in the "Info. Panel". It is important that you review and edit the details (title, author, etc.) for your entries. This will ensure your Works Cited pages and Bibliographies are generated correctly. And, be sure the document “Type” (Journal Article, Book Section, etc.) is correct for the document or citation you are importing.
Add new - Use this to add new citations to your Mendeley library.
All References - Select this to return to your personal library in Mendeley Reference Manager.
Smart Collections - Mendeley automatically organizes aspects of your library into smart collections.
Custom Collections - Keep your citations organized in custom collections.
Private Groups - Any private groups you join or create will be listed under this heading.
No longer relevant.
Search - Use this field to search your Mendeley library.
Library table - All of the citations in your selected collection or group will be visible here.
Action panel - Select the check box next to a citation in the library table to bring up the action panel.
Info panel - Select a citation in the library table to view the details (type of file, author, title, date of publication, publisher, page range, abstract etc.) in the info panel.
Library - Select ‘Library’ to return to the main library view.
Notebook - Use Notebook to keep all your thoughts in one place.
Sync - Mendeley automatically syncs any changes you make to the cloud. This means that your work is always saved and available on other devices.
Profile - Use this drop down to access your online profile page, access support or sign out of your account.
Highlight the citation in your library. The Info Panel opens. Check the details for accuracy and add information that may be missing.
Mendeley.com automatically organizes your citations into smart collections.
Recently Read - Displays the citations for PDFs opened in the last 30 days.
Favorites - ‘Star’ a citation to automatically add it to your ‘Favorites’ collection.
Custom collections offer a way to quickly filter the view of your library. Adding a citation to a collection in your reference library does not relocate the citation, but instead acts as a label. This means that any citation added to a collection will still appear in ‘All References’. If you delete a collection the citations inside will still be available in ‘All References’.
The action panel allows you to organize multiple citations. Select the check box next to a citation and the action panel will open at the bottom of the screen. Using the action panel you can:
The reference search allows you to quickly retrieve your citations. Enter a search term in the search field then press enter and your reference manager will return results based on the citation title, author, year or source. The search tool also is context-specific so will return results based on the collection you are currently viewing. You can use this to quickly pinpoint specific citations. To search your entire library ensure that ‘All References’ is selected.
All Mendeley users are able to create a limited number of private groups. Mendeley users with a free account can create and own 5 private groups. There's no limit on the number of private groups free users can join, however each private group created by a free account can only have a maximum of 25 members.
The amount of storage space available to a private group is determined by the account of the group owner. All full-text documents shared with the group contribute to the file size limit, so you should monitor the volume of materials being added by members in order to ensure this limit is not exceeded. For free users, the storage space limit is 2GB.
Note that the amount of storage space associated with your account includes both documents that are stored in your personal library in addition to any documents associated with private groups you own.
You can modify the name of your group by right clicking on the group in the left-hand panel - useful if you want to re-purpose a group.
Each user's entry on the Members tab of your group will contain a dropdown menu which looks like a traditional user icon. You can use this menu to modify a user's status and rights within your group.
Use the menu to promote users to give them the ability to administrate the group or demote to remove those permissions. You can also use the menu option 'Remove from group' if you want to remove a specific member from the group.
If you want to delete a group, you can simply right click on the group name in the left-hand panel of the reference library and choose 'Delete group'. Only the group owner can delete a group.
If you want to leave a group you own, you will first have to transfer ownership to a member that has admin rights in the group. Once you confirm the action you will be removed from the group.
PDFs opened from a private group will be marked with '(Shared)' in the reading tab. This will help you differentiate between a shared PDF and one from your personal library. There are multiple ways to add citations to a private group in the reference manager:
Select the citation you want to move by selecting the checkboxes per citation
Select 'Organize' from the action panel
Select the 'Add to Private Group' option
In the displayed panel, mark the checkbox of your chosen group and select 'Add.
With private groups, if you add a citation from your library which also contains the original document, other members of the private group will also be able to download and read that material.
Once a document has been shared with a private group, all members have the ability to download and read that item. The collaboration process is enhanced by a number of features allowing you to work together with group members.
By accessing the shared document through the private group you can highlight or add notes to draw your collaborator's attention to a particularly relevant section, or to provide further details as required. All comments will also contain a record of the user who made it and when it was made, to help you make sense of the notes. The annotations tab of the right-hand panel in the reference manager provides an overview of all the comments made within a document, you can also jump to the specific annotation a collaborator has made by clicking a specific comment.
