Citation Management

Exporting Tips

Green export file icon.
  • If you want to maintain the same RefWorks folder structure in your new citation manager:
    • Export each folder from RefWorks one at a time
    • Save each exported file with the same name as the original RefWorks folder for easy identification
  • File attachments (e.g. PDFs) will not be exported from RefWorks with your citations. To keep your file attachments:
    • Save all attachments to your computer
    • Import them separately into your new citation manager (e.g., Zotero). You can drag and drop PDFs to attach them to a citation)

 

Exporting from Legacy (Old) RefWorks

  1. Log into Legacy (Old) RefWorks
  2. There are 2 exporting options:
    1. Export all of your references at once (your folder structure will not be preserved):
      1. Click on the References tab
      2. Select All in list

Screenshot of the legacy version of RefWorks with red arrows pointing to the References tab and the All in List option.

  1. Export one folder at a time (your folder structure will be preserved): 
    1. Click on the Organize & Share Folders tab
    2. Select a folder from the list

Screenshot of the legacy version of RefWorks with red arrows pointing to the Organize & Shar Folders tab and one of the folders in the list below..

  1. Click References, and then Export from the top navigation bar

Screenshot of the legacy version of RefWorks with red arrows pointing to the References menu tab and the export option in the dropdown menu..

  1. Choose the following options:
    1. References to include: All in list (if you are exporting all references at once) OR [folder name] (if you are exporting one folder at a time)
      • Note: If your export fails, export references in several batches of less than 200 each
    2. Select export format: Bibliographic Software
  2. Click Export References
  3. Your exported references will open in a separate browser window/tab and will resemble a text file
  4. In the separate browser window/tab, right click, select Save Page As, and save the page as a text (.txt) file
  5. Make note of where you save the file
  6. If exporting one folder at a time, repeat the above steps for each folder

Migrating to Zotero

  1. Open Zotero 
  2. Click File, then Import

Screenshot of Zotero with red arrow pointing to the Import option in the File dropdown menu.

  1. In the “Where do you want to import from” window, select A file and click Next

Screenshot of the Zotero import feature with red arrow pointing to the "A file" option.

  1. Select the exported RefWorks file from your downloads folder, and click Open
  2. In the … window, you have the option to “Place imported collections and items into a new collection” (folders are called “collections” in Zotero)
    1. Select this option if you want your citations to be placed in a new folder
    2. Unselect this option if you want your citations to be placed in the Unfiled Items folder

Screenshot of the Zotero import feature with a red box around the "Place imported collections and item into new collection" option.

  1. Once you have made your selection, click Next and then Finish when the import is complete 
  2. If importing more than one folder, repeat the above steps for each folder
  3. Your exported citations will be listed in your new folder or under Unfiled Items

Acknowledgement

Thank you to the Treadwell Library at the Massachusetts General Hospital for permission to reuse and adapt content from their Migrating from RefWorks to a Replacement subject guide (archived).