What is RefWorks?
RefWorks is an easy to use web-based citation manager available to the WU community that allows you to import and format your citations.
RefWorks can...
... create and manage citations of books, articles, videos, etc.
... import citations from databases and the WU Catalog.
... quickly create a bibliography in multiple formats (MLA, Chicago, APA, ...).
... help you easily share references with others.
Compare RefWorks to other citation managers (From the University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Contact Information
Contact your Subject Librarian for more information
Web site: http://www.refworks.com/
New! Alumni Access
RefWorks now offers access to alumni! Read more about it!
Creating your RefWorks account
Sign up for an Individual Account to begin using Refworks (No cost!)
About access and use off-campus
Currently enrolled students and faculty accessing RefWorks from off-campus must either use the group code (RWWUSTL) or authenticate through the library proxy server. To access RefWorks through the proxy server, you can:
- always access RefWorks from links on our library web pages
- create a bookmark or shortcut to the following address:
http://libproxy.wustl.edu/login?url=http://www.refworks.com/refworks/
Note: When logging in from off-campus via the proxy server, you will receive a security certificate error. Accept the exception/click OK (depending on your web browser) to continue to RefWorks.
Alumni accessing RefWorks from off-campus must use the group code -- RWWUSTL
Adding references to your account
There are a number of ways to add citations to your RefWorks account:
-
Use the direct export feature found in many databases
-
Import from saved text files
-
Add references manually
-
Convert to RefWorks from other bibliographic formatting programs including: EndNote, Reference Manager, Pro Cite, Papyrus
Importing from online databases
Many online databases make it simple to import citations into RefWorks. Below find information on importing from your favorite database.
- Import instructions for specific databases and vendors (i.e., EBSCOhost, Google Scholar, PubMed)
- Consult our Tips page for information on importing citations from BDSL
Importing from the WU Catalog
There are a couple of ways to get citations from the WU Catalog into your RefWorks account:
- Export the citations from the catalog, and import them into RefWorks (see below)
- Search the catalog directly within RefWorks. That's more straightforward, but there are fewer search options to locate what you want in the catalog: for example, you cannot do a search by publication year, even though the RefWorks Advanced search form offers it - the WU catalog software does not support it. The process is described on this RefWorks help page.
If you want to do the export/import process:
- Search the catalog to find the citations you want, and mark each one (click the Save Marked Records button on any results screen, or the Save Record button on the record for an individual item).
- Click the View Saved button, and then Export Saved button on the next screen.
- Choose Full Display for the format, and Local Disk for the 'Send List to' option, then click Submit. You can open the text file, or save it (someplace you can find it again!).
- Log in to your RefWorks account
- On the toolbar, choose References, then Import.
- Choose 'Washington University, St. Louis, MO' for the Import Filter/Data Source
- Choose 'Washington University Catalog (Full Display)' for the Database
- Then either Browse to your saved file (will be called export.txt), or copy the text from the text file, and paste it into the 'Import Data from the following Text' box and click the Import button.
- You can then View Last Imported Folder to see the citations you just imported.
Creating a bibliography and formatting a paper with footnotes or endnotes
There are four ways to create output in RefWorks. You can:
- Use Write-N-Cite to format your paper from within Word
- Use the One Line/Cite View to cite references
- Create a Reference List
- Use RefWorks to format your paper
Additional Help can be found within RefWorks under the terms Output and Formatting.
Using Write-N-Cite
Using the RefWorks Write-N-Cite (WNC) tool, you can easily cite references from your RefWorks library as you write your research paper or other document. First, you will need to follow these two steps.
Important tip: Using Write-N-Cite off-campus
Please log in with the Group Code (RWWUSTL) and your Log-in Name and Password when using Write-N-Cite off-campus. While you can try configuring WNC for the proxy server (below), this has been known to cause problems, and we don't recommend it.
If you want to configure Write-N-Cite for the proxy server:
For Windows:
- Select the Start Button-->Programs-->RefWorks-->WNC Configuration Utility
- Paste in the following URL:
http://libproxy.wustl.edu/login?url=http://www.refworks.com/refworks/ - Click OK
- WNC should now be configured. You will be prompted for your Log-in Name and Password when WNC starts
For Macs:
- Open Write-N-Cite--> From the toolbar at the top of the screen, select the Write-N-Cite menu (toolbar maybe hidden by the WNC window)-->Preferences--> Select Proxy
- Paste in the following URL:
http://libproxy.wustl.edu/login?url=http://www.refworks.com/refworks/ - Restart Write-N-Cite
- WNC should now be configured. You will be prompted for your Log-in Name and Password when WNC starts.
Reference Help Desk
Online Tutorials
RefWorks offers many handy webinars for your use day or night:
Description
Loading content... please wait




Loading content... please wait