Mendeley is a free reference management software package, also known as bibliographic software, which enables you to:
- Create a personal database of references relevant to you, along with associated files, to easily manage your research;
- De-duplicate references retrieved from multiple sources (in Mendeley Desktop only, currently);
- Insert references into a Word or Libre Office document and format them automatically in a citation style of your choice;
- Showcase your work and connect and collaborate with researchers worldwide.
This Guide covers Mendeley Desktop, which will continue to be available until further notice for existing users, but will be unavailable to download and install from 1 September 2022. For further information see the Mendeley Blog. Please also see our guide to Mendeley, which covers Mendeley Reference Manager, Mendeley Cite and Mendeley Web.
Mendeley has developed a new desktop app, called Mendeley Reference Manager. This blog post from Mendeley addresses the rationale behind the change.
There is also a new add-in for MS Word, called Mendeley Cite, which can be used without the desktop app.
Mendeley have guidance on all applications: