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Systematic Search for Systematic Review

This guide aims to provide advice and resources for doing a systematic review.

Step 3. Export Search Results from Databases to EndNote

Export Search Results to EndNote

Now you are ready to export search results from databases to EndNote. You will need to import your search results one database at a time into the respective group you created.

This part shows the steps of exporting references from a few core databases often used for systematic review, including how to export large number of references from these databases. To learn more about searching within these databases, visit Tutorials - Databases Searching Help page.

Export selected references from PubMed:

  1. Visit PubMed and conduct a search.
  2. Select the reference(s) you would like to export.
  3. Click "Send to" and select "Citation manager". 
  4. Choose "Selection (#)" and then click "Create File". A .nbib file will be downloaded, including the reference(s) you selected.

 

Export large number of references from PubMed:

PubMed allows you to download up to 10,000 search results in one go. Note that EndNote may be slow when processing tens of thousands of records.

  1. Visit PubMed and conduct a search. 
  2. Click "Send to" and select "Citation manager". 
  3. Choose "All results" and then click "Create File". A .nbib file will be downloaded, including all the references in the result list.
    If the no. of results exceeds 10,000, only the first 10,000 results will be downloaded.

 

Import references into EndNote:

  1. In EndNote, go to File > Import > File...
  2. Click on "Choose" to browse and select the .nbib or .txt file downloaded.
  3. Select "Multi-Filter (Special)" for the Import Option. (For Mac: Click on "Options" at the bottom left corner in order to find the Import Options)
  4. Click "Import". All references will be imported in EndNote, under a temporary folder "Imported References".
  5. Drag and drop all references in this folder to the respective database group.

Export selected references from CINAHL (EbscoHost):

  1. Visit CINAHL and conduct a search.
  2. Click the folder icon to select the reference(s) you would like to export.
  3. Click "Folder View" from the sidebar or "Folder" from the top menu.
  4. Click "Export" from the sidebar.
  5. Select "Direct Export in RIS Format" and click "Save". A .ris file will be downloaded. Note that this way allows you to export up to 500 records at a time.

 

Export large number of references from CINAHL (EbscoHost):

CINAHL (EbscoHost) allows to download up to 25,000 results in one go. 

  1. Visit CINAHL and conduct a search.
  2. Click "Share".
  3. Click "E-mail a link to download exported results".
  4. Select "RIS Format".
  5. Fill in your email address and click "Send". You will receive an email with a link to download the .ris file.

 

Import references into EndNote:

Double-click on the downloaded .ris file. All references will be automatically imported in EndNote, under a temporary folder "Imported References". If this does not work, follow the steps below. 

  1. In EndNote, go to File > Import > File...
  2. Click on "Choose" to browse and select the .ris file downloaded.
  3. Select "Multi-Filter (Special)" for the Import Option. (For Mac: Click on "Options" at the bottom left corner in order to find the Import Options)
  4. Click "Import". All references will be imported in EndNote, under a temporary folder "Imported References".
  5. Drag and drop all references in this folder to the respective database group.

Export selected references from Embase:

  1. Visit Embase and conduct a search.
  2. Select the reference(s) you would like to export.
  3. Click "Export".
  4. Select "RIS format (Mendeley, EndNote)".
  5. Click "Export" and then download the file. A .ris file will be downloaded, including the reference(s) you selected.

 

Export large number of references from Embase:

Embase allows to download up to 10,000 results in one go. If the number exceeds 10,000, you will need to download in a few times, each time no more than 10,000 records.

  1. Visit Embase and conduct a search.
  2. From the "Select number of items" dropdown list, select the number of references you would like to export.
  3. Click "Export".
  4. Select "RIS format (Mendeley, EndNote)".
  5. Click "Export" and then download the file. A .ris file will be downloaded, including all the references in the result list. 

 

Import references into EndNote:

Double-click on the downloaded .ris file. All references will be automatically imported in EndNote, under a temporary folder "Imported References". If this does not work, follow the steps below.

  1. In EndNote, go to File > Import > File...
  2. Click on "Choose" to browse and select the .ris file downloaded.
  3. Select "Multi-Filter (Special)" for the Import Option. (For Mac: Click on "Options" at the bottom left corner in order to find the Import Options)
  4. Click "Import". All references will be imported in EndNote, under a temporary folder "Imported References".
  5. Drag and drop all references in this folder to the respective database group.

Export selected references from PsycINFO (ProQuest):

  1. Visit PsycINFO and conduct a search.
  2. Select the reference(s) you would like to export.
  3. Click "•••" button to view all save options.
  4. Click "RIS" button. A .ris file will be downloaded, including the reference(s) you selected.

 

Export large number of references from PsycINFO (ProQuest):

PsycINFO (ProQuest) only allows to download up to 100 records at a time. 

  1. Visit PsycINFO and conduct a search.
  2. Change number of items per page to "100" from the bottom of the page and select all results on the page.
  3. Click "•••" button to view all save options.
  4. Click "RIS" button. A .ris file will be downloaded, including the 100 references selected.

 

Import references into EndNote:

Double-click on the downloaded .ris file. All references will be automatically imported in EndNote, under a temporary folder "Imported References". If this does not work, follow the steps below.

  1. In EndNote, go to File > Import > File...
  2. Click on "Choose" to browse and select the .ris file downloaded.
  3. Select "Multi-Filter (Special)" for the Import Option. (For Mac: Click on "Options" at the bottom left corner in order to find the Import Options)
  4. Click "Import". All references will be imported in EndNote, under a temporary folder "Imported References".
  5. Drag and drop all references in this folder to the respective database group.

Export selected references from Web of Science:

  1. Visit Web of Science and conduct a search.
  2. Select the reference(s) you would like to export.
  3. Click "Export..." and select "EndNote Desktop".
  4. Click "Export". A .ciw file will be downloaded, including the reference(s) you selected.

Export large number of references from Web of Science:

Web of Science allows to download up to 1000 records at a time. 

  1. Visit Web of Science and conduct a search.
  2. Click "Export..." and select "EndNote Desktop".
  3. Specify the number of records to be downloaded, e.g. 1-1000, 1001-2000, etc.
  4. Click "Export". A .ciw file will be downloaded, including the references selected. If you have more than 500 results, you will need to repeat this process a couple of times, until all records are exported.

Notes  "Fast 5K" option allows export 5000 records in one go, but in tab-delimited format only (can be opened in Excel not EndNote).

Import references into EndNote:

Double-click on the downloaded .ciw file. All references will be automatically imported in EndNote, under a temporary folder "Imported References". If this does not work, follow the steps below.

  1. In EndNote, go to File > Import > File...
  2. Click on "Choose" to browse and select the .ciw file downloaded.
  3. Select "Multi-Filter (Special)" for the Import Option. (For Mac: Click on "Options" at the bottom left corner in order to find the Import Options)
  4. Click "Import". All references will be imported in EndNote, under a temporary folder "Imported References".
  5. Drag and drop all references in this folder to the respective database group.