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Using EndNote with LaTeX

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If using LaTeX to prepare documents,  EndNote can still be used to capture, store and organize details of references all in one place. Details of a source need only be captured once to be used in multiple ways. A list of selected references can easily be exported to create a BibTeX file for use with a LaTeX document. 

Exporting a BibTeX (.bib) file from your  EndNote Library

  1. In  EndNote, select the records required. From top menus, go to File>Export
  2. Choose a file name (no spaces); add .bib to the end (the file will then be recognized as a BibTeX file by your LaTeX editor)
  3. Select a BibTeX export output style (see below for more information)
    latex1.jpg 
  4. Save the .bib file in the same folder as the LaTeX document

Note: The current official BibTeX Export output style supplied with  EndNote does not export the Notes field information from the  EndNote records. This can often be an issue as the notes field in BibTeX records is used to provide additional information that cannot be placed elsewhere. A custom output style file BibTeX (Imperial College).ens is attached to this article – this output style exports the Notes field of  EndNote records into the notes field in the BibTeX file.

Importing a BibTeX (.bib) file into your  EndNote library

  1. From top menus, go to File>Import>File
  2. Choose the .bib file you wish to import
  3. Select a BibTeX import filter (see below for more information). If the input filter you require is not displaying, then select Other Filters… to see more options
  4. Click on Import

Note: BibTeX files may contain records originating from many different sources leading to some variation in the data structure. The current official BibTeX input filter is unable to cope with this. A substantially improved custom input filter BibTeX (Imperial College).enf is attached to this article.
Please note: this filter is not 100% perfect, and checking/editing records is recommended, particularly for BibTeX records that are not @article or @book.

Potential issues

If the  EndNote records have been created by automatically importing from sources such as databases and journal websites. This can create issues when generating references during the typesetting of your LaTeX document. Some examples:

  1. The presence of special LaTeX characters such as %, $ etc. This may result in errors during the compilation of your LaTeX document. You may find it useful to use your LaTeX editor to Find and Replace such occurrences e.g. replace & with \& as part of your work process
  2. Notes field –for  EndNote records imported from sources such as databases, the information contained in this field is often unnecessary. We recommend removing this content to then allow the use of the field to improve reference quality in LaTeX. The Global edit feature in  EndNote can be used to clear information from selected fields in selected records (Tools>Change/Move/Copy Fields)
  3. If the  EndNote record contains both a URL and a DOI, both may display in the reference list (depending on the reference format chosen). You may choose to omit one or the other from the  EndNote records
  4. URLs in records imported from bibliographic databases (e.g. Web of Science Core Collection) may be links to the database record rather than links to the actual documents. We recommend replacing it with the document URL. 
  5. Retaining capitalization. Some bibliography styles strip out capitalization in fields such as the title field; this can be a problem if you want to preserve e.g. acronyms. To preserve capitalization, edit the BibTeX file and enclose the specific text (whole not partial words) in curly brackets:
    e.g. title={Study of incompressible {MHD} flow in a circular pipe with transverse magnetic field using a spectral/finite element solver},