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Migrating from RefWorks to a Replacement: Legacy RefWorks Export


IMPORTANT: When migrating from RefWorks to your new reference manager, you have the option of exporting your references all at once or one folder at a time. Doing so one folder at a time is a more time-consuming process, but is probably more practical to most users.

Separate instructions for each method are listed below.

Exporting from Legacy RefWorks (one folder at a time)

If you want to maintain the same folder structure in your new reference manager, you should export your citations from RefWorks one folder at a time.

It's recommended that you save each export file created below with the name of the folder, so each is easily identifiable when importing to your new reference manager.

  1. Login to your Legacy RefWorks account.
  2. Click the Organize & Share Folders tab and select a folder for export from the list.
  3. Select References > Export (upper left of screen)
  4. Choose the following options:

    • References to Include: 
      All in List (If you have too many references, RefWorks will recommend you export them no more than 500 at a time)

    • Select an Export Format:
      Bibliographic Software (if migrating to EndNote or Zotero)
      BibTeX - RefWorks ID (if migrating to Mendeley)

    • Click Export References

  5. Your output will open in a separate browser window/tab and will resemble a text file.

  6. Use your browser's menu (icon in upper right) to save it as a text (.txt) file:
    Internet Explorer: > File > Save As
    Firefox: > Save Page As
    Chrome: > More Tools > Save Page As

  7. Make note of where you save the file, because you'll need it to import into your new reference manager.

  8. Repeat these steps for each folder, then follow the import instructions for your new reference manager.

Exporting from Legacy RefWorks (all at once)

If you don't need to maintain the same folder structure in your new reference manager, exporting your citations all at once is a much quicker option.

  1. Login to your Legacy RefWorks account.
  2. Select References > Export (upper left of screen)
  3. Choose the following options:

    • References to Include: 
      All in List (If you have too many references, RefWorks will recommend you export them no more than 500 at a time.)

    • Select an Export Format:
      Bibliographic Software (if migrating to EndNote or Zotero)
      BibTeX - RefWorks ID (if migrating to Mendeley)

    • Click Export References

  4. Your output will open in a separate browser window/tab and will resemble a text file.

  5. Use your browser's menu (icon in upper right) to save it as a text (.txt) file:
    Internet Explorer: > File > Save As
    Firefox: > Save Page As
    Chrome: > More Tools > Save Page As

  6. Make note of where you save the file, because you'll need it to import into your new reference manager.