EndNote uses a plug-in called “Cite While You Write” for Microsoft Word that allows the two programs to communicate with each other so that you can use them at the same time. That’s how, for example, your bibliography at the end of the paper gets automatically built as you add references. What if you use Google Docs instead? Unfortunately, “Cite While You Write” does not work with EndNote 20, but there is a work around that comes close. Here’s what you do:

1. Create a Google Doc and start writing
2. When you get to the point where you want to insert a reference, toggle over to your EndNote library
3. Find the reference(s) that you want to insert and click to highlight them
4. Drag those highlighted references over to your Google Doc and drop them in the appropriate spot
5. NOTE: Your references are going to look a little odd, because they will just contain the EndNote coding, which consists of the author’s name, a date, and a number – e.g. {Smith, 2017, #45} – do not change any part of the reference!
6. When you are finished, save the Google Doc as a Rich Text Form (RTF) file by clicking File > Download As > Rich Text Format and then save the RTF file to your computer
7. In EndNote, click Tools > Format Paper > Format Paper and select the RTF file you just saved (if you can’t find it, try checking your Downloads folder)
8. You should see a pop up box with a list of all the references in your paper
9. Use the “Output Style” dropdown menu to select the style you want to use (e.g. APA, AMA)
10. Click the Format button

This will create a new version of the RTF document with the references formatted correctly. Please note that the references in the bibliography will appear immediately after the last sentence of your paper so you’ll need to hit Enter a few times to move it down.

Please note, this is still a text file so if you make changes to your original Google Doc (e.g. you insert a new reference or take one out) you’ll have to go through this process again to generate an updated version of the paper with formatted references. You can also upload this file to Google Drive and format the paper if you want to.

Need help with EndNote? Please feel free to Ask Dana for assistance.