Unit 3: Managing references
Editing References
RefWorks gives you the option of editing any individual references you import or create.
RefWorks is tool that aids citation management, it is not a citation generator. While RefWorks does generate references as part of its core function, it is up to you to edit and proofread (i.e. manage) any references provided.
This helps make your references meet necessary formats and standards, such as the Cite Them Right styles of Harvard and Vancouver used at RGU. We have tips on how to conform to these styles elsewhere in this guide.
For advice on editing a large number of references at once, see our guidance on the Bulk Edit feature.
Find full-text
- The full-text link is accessible after clicking any reference in RefWorks.
- This link will attempt to open the reference source through the library collection, via LibrarySearch.
- It works for any source available through the library collections and databases. It may not work for documents and webpage references added to RefWorks from elsewhere around the internet.
Ref Type
- The Ref Type of an article determines the kind of information RefWorks will use to create a reference. 'Journal article' Ref Types contain fields for both article and journal title, whereas a 'Book' ref type will contain a field for the book title only.
- You can change this by clicking the current Ref Type and selecting a new one from the drop-down list.
- If you are noticing a reference displaying a lot of strange or missing information, check to see if the reference's Ref Type is correct. If exporting from a database, RefWorks will assign any references it cannot identify the 'Generic' Ref Type by default.
Title
- For references such as journal articles or book chapters, the main title field refers to the title of the article or chapter. For books, other documents and webpages, the title refers to the publication title of that book or webpage.
Authors
- List any authors for a source in this section.
- List author surnames first, followed by a comma, then any forenames or initials.
- If adding an organisation as the author, add the full name of the organisation in title case (e.g. Royal College of Nursing).
- Use the enter key to add a new author on a new line within the Author field.
Attachments
- You can upload file attachments to references if you wish. Click the 'Add file(s)' button in the attachments field to upload a file to a particular reference.
- See our guidance on Managing Files in RefWorks for further information.
Date Published
- The 'Date Published' field contains the publication date for the source. This is the date used author-date citation styles such as Harvard or APA.
DOI and URL
- The DOI entry is most relevant for sources such as journal articles or eBook chapters. The data in this field should be the DOI number only, not the full DOI link beginning https://doi.org... Most RefWorks citation styles add the link prefix if necessary.
- The URL link is used for many kinds of references, as well as journal articles accessed online that do not have a DOI. This should be the full access link for the webpage source.
- Bear in mind that most references use a DOI or a URL, not both. You can find more information about URLs and DOIs on our Harvard learning pathway.
