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RefWorks: Managing References

Using Folders in Refworks

In Refworks folders are displayed on the left hand side of the screen. 

To create a folder

  • Click on the My Folders button on the left of the screen.
  • Click + Add a folder and type in the name of your new folder.                                                                                                      
  • Click on Save.
  • Your folders will appear in alphabetical order on the left of the screen.     

When references are imported from a database they arrive in the Last imported folder and these can then be moved to the folder of your choice.  Anything that is not moved into a folder will be stored in the Not in Folder folder. 

Searching, Editing and Deleting.

  • Search Refworks by adding text to the right of the magnifying glass at the top of the screen, or select Advanced at the right of the menu bar for more search options.
  • To edit, select a reference and click on the pencil icon to make changes. Click on Save to finish.
  • To delete a reference, check the tick box on the left hand side and click on the bin symbol. Deleted items will be moved to the Deleted folder which is the bottom item on the left hand side menu.
  • To restore deleted items go to the Deleted folder, select the references to restore, and select Undo.

Duplicate Records

To remove duplicates select Tools and then Find Duplicates.

This will search items in the folder that you are using. If you wish to search for duplicates in all your references, make sure that you select All References from the side menu first.

Once Find Duplicates is selected from the Tools menu the Find duplicate references box will appear. The default option is to duplicate "Exact" matches but you can also choose the "Close" matches option from the drop down menu.

What is the difference between the two? For example, if you have the same article imported twice, but the author is cited in one using a full name, and in the other using initials, it will not be noticed in "Exact" but it will be caught in "Close." We would recommend you use both to make sure you have remove all the duplicate entries.

If duplicates are found, both citations will be shown with one of them selected for deletion. Click the bin icon to remove the selected duplicate from your folder. The duplicated item will be removed to the Deleted Folder and can be restored if necessary.

It is advised that after importing references to RefWorks you wait 24 hours to start deduplication.
The current maximum that can be de-duplicated is 2,000.

  1. Create a new Project in Refworks for your systematic review references.
  2. Create a folder in RefWorks for each database that you will be exporting from.
  3. Export the references from the database into the relevant folder in your Project
  4. All you references from all searches can be found n the All References Folder
  5. It is advised that after importing references to RefWorks you wait until the next day to start deduplication
  6. Remove exact duplicates from this folder. 
    NB  New Refworks does not work well for large scale systematic reviews owing to speed issues and problems with deduplication; if you are doing this please contact us for more information or to discuss your options. Deduplication is possible but only to a maximum of 2000 references and best results are obtained when working with a maximum of 1500 records.  The deduplication issue is currently included in planned upgrades for 2022 and we hope will be rectified soon.
  7. Then check remaining contents for close duplicates.  Check the selection carefully before deleting.
  8. You are advised to retain all the original folders for your records.