Skip to main content
Dansk Deutsch Norsk Svenska

EndNote PDF import – automatic reference extraction & reference management

Updated
endnote2025_launch.jpg

Now available: AI-powered summaries, reference chat and smarter reference discovery. Read more here.

Summary:
EndNote’s PDF import feature lets researchers import, organise, annotate, and search research papers directly in their EndNote library. This streamlines reference management, automates citation creation via DOI extraction, and keeps all PDFs linked to their bibliographic data.

Benefits of importing PDFs into EndNote

1. Automatic Citation Extraction

  • Uses Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to auto-generate references (Title, Author, Year).
  • Reduces manual data entry for academic references.

2. Centralized PDF Organization

  • PDFs are stored and linked to their references in one library.
  • Supports both individual and batch imports.

3. Full-Text PDF Search

  • EndNote indexes PDF content for keyword and phrase searching.
  • Enables quick retrieval of relevant papers.

4. Built-in PDF Annotation Tools

  • Highlight important sections.
  • Add inline notes and comments for later reference.

How to import PDFs into EndNote

Single PDF import

  1. Open EndNote and select your library.
  2. Go to File > Import > File...
  3. Click Choose, select the PDF.
  4. Important: Under Import Option, select PDF.
  5. Click Import — EndNote will create a reference automatically (if DOI is detected).

Batch PDF import (folder)

  1. Go to File > Import > Folder...
  2. Click Choose, select the folder containing multiple PDFs.
  3. Important: Under Import Option, select PDF.
  4. Click Import — EndNote processes all files, creating references where possible.

Afterwards, edit reference metadata

  • Double-click the reference → go to the Edit tab.
  • Verify Author, Title, Year, and other fields.
  • Correct any missing or inaccurate data.

Attaching PDFs to existing references

  1. Select a reference in EndNote.
  2. Click +Attach file or go to References > File Attachments > Attach File.
  3. Select the PDF to link it.

Best practices for accurate metadata

  • Use publisher-provided PDFs with embedded DOI data.
  • Avoid scanned PDFs without OCR — they reduce DOI detection accuracy.
  • Run the Find Reference Updates in EndNote to fetch missing metadata.

 

Related articles