Skip to Main Content

RefWorks

A guide to using RefWorks reference management software to save references in a library and create citations and references in documents

Using RefWorks Citation Manager

RefWorks Citation Manager (RCM) is an app available from the Microsoft Office Store which can be used in Word 2016 and above for Windows or Mac to insert citations and create reference lists.

To install RefWorks Citation Manager in Word:
  • Open a new Word document and select the Insert ribbon and Get Add ins or click the Add-ins icon on the Home ribbon
  • Click Get More Add ins and type RefWorks in the search box
  • Select the RefWorks Citation Manager app and click Add
  • The RCM app now be available in a new tab and under the My Add-ins menu
  • Select the RCM tab and click the RCM icon to open it
  • Log in using your College credentials

Note if you cannot log in with your College credentials you can create a RefWorks password for use with RCM.

  • Open your RefWorks account, click on your name at the top of screen and select Settings
  • A log in box will appear select Log in via my Institution, select Imperial and log in with your College credentials
  • Scroll down the page to the Alternate Password section and click on Change Password
  • Enter a new password (N.B. this should not be the same as your College password)
  • In Word, open RCM and log in using your College email address and the RefWorks password you created

screenshot of RCM installation process

Creating a reference list in your word processing document using RCM
  • Select your preferred output style from the hamburger (three lines) menu.
  • Use the Search box to locate specific citations, or click on All references to view the citations in a folder
  • Place your cursor where you want to cite a reference within the document and hover over the reference you want to cite in RCM. The Cite This button will appear, click the button to insert the citation into your document
  • To insert additional references into a single citation, tick the box next to each citation. A preview of the citation will appear the top of the RCM window. Click on Insert citation to insert the citation. The order in which references appear in the citation is determined by your output style
  • Click on the hamburger menu and toggle Bibliography to On to insert and automatically update your reference list

Screenshot to RCM in Word

If you are using Harvard, or a similar author-date output style, you can edit your in-text citations and add or remove text. This is useful if you wish to add a page number or hide the author’s name.

  • Open your document and click on the citation you wish to edit. The Edit box will appear
  • Use the options to hide the year or author. Or add a page number in the Suffix box
  • Click Update Citation to update the citation in your Word document
  • To remove the citation from your document click on Delete Citation