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Reference Management: RefWorks

How to manage your references using software

Where to get help?

How can I get help with RefWorks?

See links below for various options for getting help and support with RefWorks.

Support from the Library

The University of Huddersfield librarians are always happy to help!

Support from ProQuest

ProQuest, the company that owns RefWorks, provides comprehensive guidance and technical support.

What is RefWorks?

RefWorks is a cloud-based tool that gives you an online library of references you can access from any web browser. You can store and manage your references online, and generate automatic citations and references to copy and paste.

There is also a plugin for Word, RefWorks Citation Manager (RCM), that allows you to insert citations and references automatically as you write. This plugin is already available in the University's Office365 version of Word.

The video below was made by ProQuest, the owners of RefWorks, to demonstrate the key features:

What is RefWorks Reference Manager? [YouTube link]

How do I access RefWorks?

Setting up a RefWorks account

Screenshot of RefWorks login box Under the "Sign In" button is a button labelled "Use login from my institution".The University of Huddersfield has a subscription to RefWorks. You do not automatically get an account; you must register first before you are able to use it.  

To sign up:

  • Go to RefWorks ProQuest.
  • Select ‘Use login from my institution’ and start typing ‘Huddersfield’. Select ‘University of Huddersfield’ from the list.
  • On the next screen, enter your institutional email address (@unimail.hud.ac.uk for undergraduates and @hud.ac.uk for staff and researchers) and click “Check”. On the next screen, click “Sign up”.
  • Confirm the activation link in the email sent to your email account.
  • The link will take you to RefWorks, where you can accept some cookies and fill in some profile information about your role at the University.

You’re now all signed up and ready to start adding things to your RefWorks library!


 

 

Saving items into RefWorks

Adding references from Library Search

You can save items from Library Search either individually, or in a group.

Individually

  • Next to the result, click on the three small dots, which is labelled ‘Show Actions Options’
  • In the menu that opens, Select the RefWorks button.
  • Follow the steps to import in RefWorks. You can either import it to your library, or sort it straight into a folder.

Screenshot of Library Search result screen. To the right of the item title is a menu with four icons: quotation marks, an email icon, a heart icon, and a three-dot menu or ellipsis. The ellipsis is selected and a black label underneath it reads "Show actions options"

 

Group save

  • Click the heart icon next to the result(s). It is labelled ‘Add this item’. This will save it into your Favourites folder in Library Search. 
  • Click as many items as you wish to save at the same time.

Screenshot of Library Search result screen. To the right of the item title is a menu with four icons: quotation marks, an email icon, a heart icon, and a three-dot menu or ellipsis. The heart is selected and a black label underneath it reads "Add this item"

  • Once you have selected all the items you wish to export, click the heart icon at the top right of the page, next to your name. It is labelled "Go to my favourites".

Screenshot of the top of the Library Search results page. On the black border at the top of the page, in the top right is a heart icon. A black label underneath it reads "Go to my favourites".

  • Select the item(s) you want to export to RefWorks by clicking the numbered box next to each item, or select all items you have saved by clicking the checkbox at the top left of the list.

Screenshot of the "My Favourites" page in Library Search. A checkbox to the left of the first item has been ticked. At the top left of the list of saved items is a checkbox labelled with the total number of items saved. At the very top of the screen, to the right of the "My Favourites" heading, there is a three-dot ellipsis menu, which has been circled in red.

  • Click the three-dot menu at the top of the list (to the right of the heart icon), then select the RefWorks button.
  • Follow the steps on screen to add to your RefWorks library and sort into folders if needed.

Adding references from other sources

You can export to RefWorks from Google Scholar, and other academic databases. Most scholarly databases will have an option to "export", "download", "cite", "reference", or similar language. RefWorks also has a web clipper to enable you to save webpages and other online content. See video below for instructions.

Creating citations and reference list

Creating citations and reference list

Note: The University of Huddersfield’s referencing style is APA 7th. RefWorks has a few slightly different versions of the style available. We recommend you choose the following:

APA 7th - Sentence Casing, DOI: https://doi.org/  

This style will automatically turn any titles into “sentence case” (only the first word of the title, and first word of a subtitle, starts with a capital letter). This will mean if there are proper nouns in the title then you will need to correct these back to having capital letters. 

RefWorks has two options to generate citations and references to copy and paste into your assignment. There is also a built-in referencing tool for Word, called RefWorks Citation Manager.

Screenshot of RefWorks, with the "Create Bibliography" menu item expanded. The top two options on the menu are "Create bibliography" and "Quick cite".

Quick cite

  • To create a citation, click on the ‘Create Bibliography’ button and select ‘Quick cite.’
  • Choose your APA 7th style (see note above) and click ‘Continue’.
  • Select the source you want to cite, and you can copy and paste it into your work.

Create bibliography

  • Click the check box next to each resource you want in your bibliography, or choose ‘Select All’. You can do this in your main library or in folders.
  • Click on ‘Create Bibliography’, then choose your APA 7th style (see note above).
  • This will generate your full bibliography in alphabetical order. You can then copy and paste it into your work. 

RefWorks Citation Manager (RCM)

RefWorks Citation Manager (RCM) is a plugin for Microsoft Word. It allows you to quickly insert and edit citations and is available for Word 2016 and above. It is already installed on University computers and laptops. If you are using the University of Huddersfield version of Office365, downloaded from your UniMail, RCM may also be pre-installed. 

  • In Microsoft Word, select "Add-Ins" from the Home tab on the ribbon.

Screenshot of Word menu ribbon, with the "Add-ins" option at the far right side circled in red.

  • If you are using the University’s Office365 licence, click “Admin Managed” and then click “RefWorks Citation Manager”. 

Screenshot of the Office Add-ins menu in Word, with the "Admin Managed" option selected.

  • If using your own version of Office365, click “Store” and search for RefWorks. Select RefWorks Citation Manager, and click 'Add' to Install. 
  • RCM will now be installed in your tool bar on Microsoft Word.

Click the RCM tab on the ribbon, and it will open a pane on the right side of the document. It will prompt you to sign in with your RefWorks account, which syncs your library, and your references will appear. You can use the institutional login option here, or sign in with a username and password if you have created one.

Screenshot of Word, with the RCM tab selected and the RefWorks menu open in a panel on the right hand side.

For instructions on using RCM in Word, see this video guide.

 

Other RefWorks tasks

For other common tasks within RefWorks, please see the links below.