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PolyU Library

Reference Management Tools for Academic Writing

A Comprehensive Guide for EndNote, Mendeley and Zotero

Overview

There are two types of EndNote online account: 

The table below shows the comparison between EndNote Online and EndNote Web. 

EndNote Online 

 EndNote Web 
Eligible users  General public

Exclusively for EndNote 2025 and EndNote 21 users for three years
No. of library  1 1
No. of references  50,000 Unlimited
No. of attachments  2GB Unlimited
Compatible with CWYW  Yes Yes
Share References  Yes No
Access shared groups Yes No (See more in this FAQ)
E-mail Registration  Registration with an email address is required for accessing and using both EndNote web platforms.

Although you can use EndNote Web to import & manage references, as well as to insert in-text citations & bibliographies in MS Word, the functions available in EndNote Web are still limited as compared to the desktop version.  

If you're an existing EndNote Online user and have an online Library synced that differs from the one you want to share, the online library will be merged with the shared one. It is important to note that only one library can be synced with EndNote online at a time.

EndNote Online Classic

It is a free online version of EndNote, connecting with desktop and iOS devices for convenient access to your reference library. 

To use EndNote Web, first you need to register an account. 

  1. Visit www.myendnoteweb.com to register. If you have previously registered a personal account for other Clarivate products, such as Web of Science or InCites JCR, you can use the same user credentials to login.
  2. Use a valid email to register an account - it doesn't need to be your institutional email address. Beware of the password rules listed below. Alternatively, you can register with your Facebook or LinkedIn.
  3. Activate the account after receiving email from EndNote.
  4. Agree to the license agreement.
  5. Then you can start using EndNote Web. You can hide the getting started guide if you wish.

Click to see steps in screenshots

EndNote Web

If you are an existing user of EndNote Online Classic, you can simply sync from the EndNote 21 or EndNote 2025 desktop library to the EndNote Web at the very first time.  

For new users, please register an EndNote web account by following the steps provided in EndNote desktop application:

Edit > Preferences> Sync > Enable Sync. Then click Sign up to login or to create an account.  

Creative Commons License

Except where otherwise noted, the content of this guide is licensed under a CC BY-NC 4.0 License.