
Referencing and RefWorks
RefWorks Guide
RefWorks is a citation management tool, which helps you store and organise research material.
This guide has updated information on selecting RGU-approved referencing styles.
You can also create reference lists or bibliographies, as well as formatting essays or dissertations to include in-text citations and reference lists as you write.
Please remember Refworks does not proofread for you, so you will always need to check that your references comply with the relevant standards.
Setup
To set up your RGU RefWorks account, follow the steps below:
Create Account
From the RefWorks login page, select the 'Create Account' option.
Enter RGU email
Enter your email address and select 'Check'. You must use your RGU email address in order to proceed.
You will be asked to create a RefWorks password. This password is unique to RefWorks and will not change if you change your RGU systems password for Moodle etc. You can change your RefWorks password later by following the 'Forgot your password?' link from the RefWorks login page.
After entering your password, check your RGU email address for a confirmation email. Follow the link in this email and proceed to the next step.
Complete account creation
Enter your name, then select your academic school and role from the drop-down options. Click 'Next' to proceed and finish account creation.
Congratulations! You are ready to start using RefWorks with RGU. See the options below for more information on how RefWorks can assist you with your learning and research.
Using Folders
Folders are useful for organising references. There is no limit to the number of folders you can create, and references can be placed in more than one folder. It is useful to name your folders something descriptive, so you can find the references you need more quickly.
Move references between folders
To move references from one folder to another, select the references you wish to move by clicking the checkboxes to the left of the records, or click the checkbox at the very top of the page to select a full page of references.
Click 'Assign to folder', then select the folder(s) you wish to add the selected references into. You can also untick any folders to remove these references from them.
Click 'Apply', when finished to finalise your changes.
Adding References from LibrarySearch
If you don't want to add the details of books manually, or want to add multiple books' details at once, it's easy to pull this information directly from the RGU Library collection:
Adding Individual References from LibrarySearch
Adding Multiple References from LibrarySearch
Adding References from Other Databases
Although most of the databases we subscribe to have the functionality to export articles directly to RefWorks, some don't offer this option. The steps you'll need to take to export articles from a database and import them into RefWorks will vary depending on how the database is laid out. So, we set out a separate page which contains detailed procedures of how to export articles for most of our databases. If you are unsure about any of them, please let us know!
RefWorks: Exporting from DatabasesChoose Your Referencing Style
To find out how to set up one of the RGU referencing styles, select one from the options below:
This is the 'classic' RGU Harvard style, used historically at RGU and which may be used by some students until September 2025. It's name in RefWorks was previously "Harvard - British Standard (RGU Recommended)".
To select this style from the 'Create Bibliography' menu or 'Citation View' settings, click the drop-down, select 'Institutional Styles', then 'Harvard - British Standard (RGU Classic)'.
This is the 'classic' RGU Vancouver style, used historically at RGU and which may be used by some students until September 2025. It's name in RefWorks was previously "Vancouver (RGU Recommended)".
To select this style from the 'Create Bibliography' menu or 'Citation View' settings, click the drop-down, select 'Institutional Styles', then 'Vancouver (RGU Classic)'.
This Guide is under construction!
Please bear with us while we finalise content for our RefWorks Guide. If you have any questions in the meantime, please see the guidance linked below, or contact our team at: library.support@rgu.ac.uk.
Useful Links
These recommended sources contain useful information on setting up and using RefWorks.