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EndNote: Thesis Bibliographies

How do I get one bibliography at the end of the thesis if each of my chapters is a separate document?

There are a variety of ways to deal with this issue. These are two options:

1. Merge all the chapters together and format as a single large document

• Insert citations into each of the chapters, and then use the Convert to Unformatted Citations option in Word's EndNote menu to remove the separate bibliographies.
• Merge all the unformatted chapters together so that you have one large Word document.
• Use the Update Citations and Bibliography option in Word's EndNote menu to format the in-text citations and create the single bibliography at the end of the document.
• Works best if you have only used one EndNote library, otherwise ensure that all library files used are open in EndNote before updating the citations and bibliography

Caution: Theses can be very large documents, especially if images, tables and charts are included.  Merging different very large Word documents can be difficult, and sometimes require lots of tidying up. Always keep backup copies of each chapter.

2. Format each chapter separately, but use a printout of your reference library as the bibliography

• For each chapter, insert citations and Format Bibliography.
• At the end of the writing, use the Convert to Plain Text option in Word's EndNote menu to create a new copy of each chapter with plain text citations and bibliography. Using this option removes EndNote coding from the new copy, so no further EndNote additions are made to this document.
• Delete the bibliographies of each of the plain Word copies.
• Create an independent bibliography in a new Word document.

Caution: Ensure that all references cited in the chapters are included in the bibliography.  This method is difficult to use if working with a numbered style.

If you require further support on this topic, please see our instructions on how to use EndNote with Word, or get more help from a Librarian.