RefWorks is a software application that manages citations and creates bibliographies. Rowan University Libraries has purchased a license for RefWorks, so everyone who is affiliated with Rowan University (students, faculty, and staff) can use it for free.
We are in the process of transitioning to the newest version of RefWorks - see bottom of this page for more information.
If you're new to RefWorks, start by viewing the video tutorial to the right.
If you're looking for more advanced information, go to the appropriate page of this guide below.
You can find RefWorks on the library website under Databases A-Z on the "R" page, and under Quick Links on the library home page.
ProQuest has acquired RefWorks and has updated the product extensively. It now has many of the features of ProQuest bibliographic databases.
Before using RefWorks for the first time, you must create an account by selecting the "Sign up for a new account" link on the Login page. In order for RefWorks to recognize you as a Rowan user, you must be on campus or logged into the campus portal.
This video tutorial shows you how to get started using RefWorks.
RefWorks has partnered with a long list of publishers (Direct Export List) to allow direct export from their subscription products. This means that when you find an article in a library database that you want to use in your Works Cited list, you can use the Export button in that database to electronically transfer the citation information to RefWorks.
This video tutorial shows you how to export citations from library databases into RefWorks.
If you need to add references to RefWorks from a source that does not offer direct export, there is another option. Many vendors offer a way to save a reference as a text file in a format that is compatible with RefWorks. You simply save the text file to your computer, then Import it into RefWorks. This process is used for American Chemical Society journal references, for example.
The following video tutorial shows you how to import text files into Refworks, using PubMed as the source of the references.
Before you can create a bibliography you have to choose a citation style. Usually your instructor will tell you which one to use.
The most common styles are Chicago (Turabian), MLA, and APA, but there are hundreds of other styles used in academic publishing. For example, engineering students will probably want to use IEEE format.
When you create a bibliography, RefWorks offers a pull-down list from which you can select the most appropriate style. You may also want to create a customized list of Favorite styles which you use regularly, using the Output Style Manager.
This video tutorial shows you how to generate a bibliography using RefWorks. In this tutorial they choose HTML, but you will probably prefer to create a Word file that you can add to your paper.
When writing an academic research paper, you credit your sources by identifying immediately after the text the source of your facts, opinions, and quotations.
Suppose you write: "The printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenburg around 1439 (Martin,1995)." The (Martin,1995) refers to the source where you found this fact.
This abbreviated citation leads your reader to the full citation in your Bibliography or Works Cited page, where it says: Martin, Henri-Jean. 1995 "The arrival of print". The History and Power of Writing. University of Chicago Press. p. 217.
Each citation style (MLA, APA, etc) has its own format for citing references in the body of your paper. Some may use numbered footnotes, while others use a parenthetical style similar to the one above.
RefWorks offers several features which allow you to insert citations from RefWorks directly in the text of your paper. One Line/Cite View may be used with any word processing application while Write-n-Cite is a plug-in for Microsoft Word only.
This video tutorial shows you how to use Write-n-Cite.
On this page are video tutorials for various advanced features of RefWorks.
To see even more tutorials, visit the You Tube site for ProQuest's RefWorks below.
Once you have an account set up in RefWorks, you may want to organize it into folders so you can keep your references for each paper and each course separate. The following video tutorial shows you how to create and manage folders in RefWorks.
When you have used RefWorks for a while, you may find you have collected a large number of references! This video tutorial will show you how to use the search and look-up features of RefWorks to find that citation that you can't remember where you put.