How to Find and Retrieve Full Text

When you retrieve the full text file of a referenced work, it is saved to the File Attachments field as a relative link (the file itself it stored in the current library’s .DATA folder). The file is saved in its native format, which in most cases is a PDF file.

When a file is downloaded and attached to a reference, a file attachment icon appears in the File Attachment field for the reference. In the Library window, a paper clip icon appears in the File Attachments column for that reference.

Note: In order to find full text, cookies must be turned on in Internet Explorer.

The Find Full Text command can attempt to find full text documents for up to 250 records at a time; this total includes all full text searches run concurrently in open databases. If you want to find the full text for more than 250 EndNote records, you must run the Find Full Text operation more than once. Highlight up to 250 references each time.

The Find Full Text command is available only in Integrated Library & Online Search Mode or Local Library Mode. It is not available in Online Search Mode.

To find and retrieve full text:

  1. Select the reference(s) to which you want to add full text.

  1. From the References menu, select Find Full Text > Find Full Text.

    If you have a reference open, you can use the right-click contextual menu to select Find Full Text.
  2. (Optional) If you have entered an OpenURL address and authentication URL under Find Full Text preferences, you may be directed to a login web page for your institution’s library. Follow the instructions to log in, such as entering the appropriate User ID and password. Once you are logged in, click Continue.

EndNote begins searching for and downloading full text for the selected references. Full text downloading happens in the background, which may affect the performance of other operations.

References appear in groups under a Find Full Text group set. See The Find Full Text Groups for a description of the resulting groups.

Note: Your institution may sever your OpenURL connection after a certain amount of time. Unfortunately, there is no indication when that happens. You will need to go to the References menu, select Find Full Text, and then Authenticate to restore access to the site. Just selecting Find Full Text again during this EndNote session will not restore authentication.

To add access to a library, see Adding Access to Your Institution's Library.

To improve the likelihood of finding full text articles for references, see Improving the Search for Full Text.

If you want to pause or cancel a Find Full Text operation, see Pausing or Canceling Find Full Text.

Related Topics

Finding Full Text for a Reference

Finding Related Online References

Linking a File to an EndNote Reference

Linking a URL to an EndNote Reference

Online Database Searching

Opening a Linked File or URL

Quick Overview

Removing a Linked File from File Attachments

Selecting a Relative Path or an Absolute Path for File Attachments

URLs & Links Preferences