Choosing a Bibliographic Style

EndNote includes more than individual bibliographic styles. Each one of these styles is stored as an individual file in the Styles folder in your EndNote folder.

The name of the style refers to the journal or publisher that has defined the bibliographic format. The Nature style, for example, is based on the format required by the journal Nature, and the Chicago style is named after the Chicago Manual of Style. Styles in the Export category, such as "RIS" are not bibliographic styles, but rather export styles designed to aid in transferring EndNote data into other databases.

To see if your journal’s style is included in EndNote, peruse the list of styles in the Style Manager. If your style is not available, any style can be modified to suit your needs and you can create new styles.

The bibliographic style selected from the Output Styles submenu of the Edit menu (or the Styles drop-down list on the toolbar) determines how EndNote formats the citations in your paper and the references in the bibliography. The style takes care of all text styles, punctuation, and sorting required for the citations and bibliography, as well as which fields are included in the bibliography. Select a style from the Output Styles submenu when you are ready to create a bibliography. You can always select a different style and reformat your document at any point.

Navigating in the Style Manager

Use the following features to locate the output style that you want to use:

Marking Your Favorite Styles

When you have found a style that you will want to use, click the check box to mark it as a favorite. All styles that are marked as favorites appear in the Styles menu on the toolbar. This gives you easy access to the styles you use most often. All styles can be modified to meet your specifications. You can also create completely new styles if necessary

To select a whole category of styles as favorites, click the Find by Category listFind by button in the Style Manager window, select the category of interest, and then click Mark All when all of the styles for that category are displayed.

If you cannot find the style you need:

Many bibliographic styles are variants of a small number of well-known bibliographic formats. EndNote includes over 4,500 different styles, but it may not include the exact style you need. If you can't find the specific style you need, you can:

  1. Check the submission guidelines for the publication to see if the style is a derivative of a well-known style. You may be able to use that style (perhaps with minor modifications).

  2. Try the interactive Styles Finder on the EndNote online site. A shortcut to the Styles Finder is provided on the Help menu.

Related Topics

Accessing Styles in Other Places

Additional Style Formatting Options

Basic Components of a Style

Modifying Style Templates

Previewing Styles and Showing Information

The Output Styles Menu

What is an Output Style?

What Should I Do if My Style Is Not Included?