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Mendeley

This guide can help you get started using the citation management tool Mendeley.

Mendeley Groups

"Anyone with a Mendeley account can create new groups - and many groups already exist, covering a huge number of subjects, which are freely available to join. They can be used unite people by discipline, interest, geographic location or any other subject." 

The different groups types have different purposes and features, think about what you want your group to do when selecting the group type. 

1.  Under the "Groups" heading in the left column, click on "Create New Group" 

2.  Give the group a name, and a brief description, select the group type, and click "Create group" 

  • If you are unsure of which group type to choose, click on the next tab for a description of each type. 

3.  Invite other members to your group 

4.  Add resources to share with your group by dragging files from any of your folders into the group listed in the left column. 

GIF from Mendeley Help Guide: Groups

Private Groups: Provides an easy way to share documents and notes with a small number of colleagues and research partners. All members of the group may contribute documents that can then be viewed, annotated, downloaded, and cited by the other members. This is the ideal group type for sharing resources between small groups of researchers. 

  • Only three members allowed per private group.
  • Private groups cannot be found by searching in Mendeley.
  • You may join any number of private groups.
  • Storage for a group is shared with the creator's personal library. With a free account you will have 2GB of storage to split between your personal library and the groups you created.  

Invite-only Groups: Publicly visible and searchable, but may only be joined by Mendeley users who are invited or approved by a group administrator. Only a small number of members are allowed to contribute new documents or citations, but anyone may contribute to discussions or access materials shared with the group. This is the ideal group type for promoting discussion on shared research with a wider group of participants. 

  • Only three members can join an invite-only group and add resources, but the number of followers is unlimited.
  • You can follow any number of invite-only groups.

Open Groups: Publicly visible and searchable, open groups may be joined by any Mendeley users.  Any members of a public group may contribute resources, as well as contribute to discussions and access materials. This is the ideal group for general interests or broad discussions.

  •   Open groups may also be followed without joining

Mendeley has over 100,000 public groups from 25 different disciplines that are available for you to join.  

1.  Log into your Mendelely web dashboard, click on the "Groups tab" 

  • Search for groups based on a subject in the search bar, or browse groups by discipline from a list on the right of the page. 

  

2. From your results, select if you want to follow or join a group 

  • "Join group" indicates that this is an open group, so you will be able to contribute resources as well as access existing resources and take part in discussions with other members and followers. 

  • "Ask to join group" indicates that this is an invite-only group, so your request to join must be approved by the group administrator.  However, you may follow this group to access resources shared with this group and discuss with other members and followers. 

3.  Click the "Sync" button in Mendeley Desktop to see the groups listed

  • Now you can access any group resources in Mendeley Desktop by clicking on the group name, then the resources tab in the center column. 

 

Mendeley Minute: Creating & Using Groups

For questions or feedback contact the McQuade Library
Call us: 978-837-5177 | Text us:  978-228-2275 | Email us: mcquade@merrimack.edu