This guide has been put together to help you understand the basics of using Mendeley for reference management. We recommend using the guide in conjunction with the recording of ANU Library's webinar, Mendeley in an Hour.

Mendeley is a free online referencing system that you can use on the web and on your desktop, and enables you to:

• create your own fully-searchable reference library
• capture webpage and PDF data
• organise references into topical or thematic folders
• read and annotate PDFs
• sync your Desktop and Web library
• find, create and edit styles using open source CSL repository
• cite as you write with Word or Libre Office
• automatically generate bibliographies
• create a researcher profile and find collaborators
• participate in the Mendeley academic social network
• find relevant papers based on what you are reading
• link your ORCID ID to your Mendeley account.

Current ANU staff and students have access to additional storage and​ collaboration capacity through Mendeley Institutional Edition.

Need to select a best-fit reference management tool? See the Reference Manager Comparison tab for guidance.

Now, watch the video below for an introduction to how Mendeley works.

Watch this video to learn the fundamentals of using Mendeley including installation; creating a library; editing references; tags; inserting references in Word; and more.

​Move on to the next section of this guide to download and install Mendeley.