RefWorks FAQ

This web page aims to answer the most frequently asked questions about RefWorks, if you still don't find what you need, contact your librarian.

I have saved my references to my NHS e-library RefWorks account, how can I transfer them to my GCU one?

Log on to your NHS RefWorks account
Select References menu, then Export
Select the folder where your references are stored from the drop-down menu at the top of the screen
Select RefWorks Tagged format
Click Export to text file
Save the file to your desktop
Log out of your NHS RefWorks and close down your browser.
Start a new browser session and log in to your GCU RefWorks account
Select the References menu, then Import
Select RefWorks Tagged format in the top window
Click the Browse button and select the saved file from your desktop
Click Import
Remember to save your references from Last Imported to another folder!

What happens when I graduate or if I leave my University?

RefWorks now have an Alumni Program. Your alumni status at a RefWorks subscribing Organization provides you with free access to RefWorks for as long as the Organization is a paid customer. As part of the RefWorks Alumni Program, you are entitled to:

One free RefWorks account
New updates and feature releases
200 MB of file attachment storage
The ability to share your folder or account via RefShare
Free web-based training
Technical Support

Your access to RefWorks is by Group Code. The Group Code is currently: RWAlumni

To Create a New RefWorks Account under the Alumni Program:

Navigate to www.refworks.com/refworks
In the Remote Access area, enter the current Group Code: RWAlumni and click the Go to Login button.
On the RefWorks User Login for RefWorks Alumni Site page, click on the Sign Up for an Individual Account link.
Complete the required information making sure to select the name of the Organization your alumni status is affiliated with in the User Type drop-down.
Click the Register button when finished. You will be brought into your new, empty RefWorks account.

If you have a current RefWorks account that you would like to move into your new Alumni account, you can use the Backup/Restore feature to make a copy of your database (including RefID numbers and folders), and custom output styles follow the steps below. Please Note - Folders that do not contain any references will not be saved. If you have empty folders that you wish to retain add a reference to the folder before backing up. Also, any preferences set in the Customize area of RefWorks will be included in the backup.
To Backup and Restore Your Current RefWorks Account:

Log in to your current RefWorks account.
From either the Tools or the References menu select Backup/Restore.
By default, Include References is selected. If you do not want to include your references, deselect this option.
By default, Include RSS Feeds is selected. If you do not want to include your RSS Feeds, deselect this option.
By default, all custom Output Styles are selected to backup. You can deselect any or all custom output styles.
Click on Perform Backup.
Save the file when prompted. If you are not prompted to save the file, click the link that says Click here to save your backup file to download the backup to your computer.
The default file name is a combination of your organization’s Group Code and your login name. It will be saved as a .zip or .rwb file. Please do not change the extension of the file as it is necessary to restore if you need to do so later.

Restoring will overwrite all of the references in your database. If you need to restore from a back up for some reason, be sure to do so in either an empty database or to an account that does not have any data you want to save.

Log in to your new RefWorks Alumni account.
From either the Tools or the References menu select Backup/Restore.
Select the Restore option.
Browse for the appropriate back up file.
Select Include References, Include Output Styles and/or Include RSS Feeds as desired.
Click on Perform Restore.

Once you’ve created your account, you will log in at www.refworks.com/refworks using the Group Code (RWAlumni) and then enter your login name and password on the RefWorks Alumni log-in page.
Important: It is very important that you keep your email address information up-to-date in your RefWorks account (you can update it at Tools, Update User Information). RefWorks may periodically change the Group Code for the Alumni site and you will receive notification of any change via email. Please make sure you keep your account information updated.

I have accidentally used different versions of Write n' cite and now I can't create my bibliography

Open your document and log in to Write N Cite.
After you have logged in, click on Tools > Revert to WNC V.2 Document and revert the document.
Then save the document.
After saving, from within Write N Cite, click on Tools > Convert to WNC III Document > Convert.
After the document is converted, save the document.
Then try creating your bibliography again.

My bibliography won't format when using Mac Microsoft Word 2008, what do I do?

When trying to format a bibliography I get the following error message starting with Word cannot start the converter mswrd632 followed by individual lines on associated problems.
This may be caused by the format of the document. If it is in a .docx format, Microsoft has made some document storage changes with the .docx format which are causing the RefWorks formatting routines to fail.
Save the document as a .doc format (97-2004 format) and try creating the bibliography again.

RefWorks won't open in Safari, what do I do?

For some reason RefWorks does not work well with Safari. The best thing to do is to download another browser. If you don't want to use Explorer, you can download Firefox free. RefWorks works with Firefox.

How do I convert my references from Reference Manager to RefWorks?

To Export from Reference Manager

Note: When importing large amounts of references, it is recommended to import no more than 2500 records (or 3MB of files) at a single time. This will ensure a successful import.

From Reference Manager, select the references you want to export.
Under the References menu select Export.
Either use the default file name or create a new file for exporting references. Select the RIS format and the appropriate References Option.
Click Export (In newer versions of Reference Manager, export is located in the File menu).
Go into RefWorks and from the References menu select Import.
Select Desktop Biblio. Mgt. Software as your Import Filter and Reference Manager ( RIS Format) as your Database. Browse for and select the file you just created from Reference Manager.
Click on Import at the bottom of the Import window. The progress in importing is measured by * for each reference imported. RefWorks will notify you when the import is complete. View the Imported References.
Your records should automatically appear in the Last Imported folder.
Note: If your data includes diacritic marks or foreign characters, you will need to follow the following instructions to make sure your characters import properly:
- - In Reference Manager, select the references you want to transfer (by highlighting or marking them)
  - Export the references in RIS format and save the file to your computer.
  - Open WordPad.
  - Browse to find the file, but before opening it, change the file type to "Text Documents - MS-DOS Format (*. txt)" file". The diacritics should appear in the data.
  - Re-save the text file in WordPad as a regular text document (*. txt) file.
  - You can import the file following Steps 5-8 above.

Using Write n' cite with Open Office - this guide was produced by MIT and is reproduced under creatice commons license

The Write-N-Cite utility produced by RefWorks to generate bibliographies and format citations in papers only works in Microsoft Word. To use RefWorks to handle bibliographies and citations in Open Office, follow these instructions:

Start Open Office. Open the document in which you would like to cite references.
Open RefWorks and log in to your account if you have not already done so.
From the drop-down just below the menu bar, select One-line/Cite View.
Find the reference you’d like to cite, and click the Cite link next to it (to cite mulitple references in the same location, click Cite for each one).
Copy the text from the Citation Viewer that appears and paste it into your document where you would like that citation to appear.
Repeat as often as needed.
Save your Open Office document.
In RefWorks, Click the Bibliography button either at the bottom of the Citation Viewer or in the main menu bar.
Choose your output style, select Format Paper and Bibliography, and browse to your paper’s location. Click Create Bibliography. RefWorks will create a new file with a bibliography.

The new bibliography will have the filename Final-filename.odt (where filename.odt is the name of the original file). You'll be given the option to save or open the document.