EndNote
| Company type | Proprietary software |
|---|---|
| Industry | Reference management software |
| Predecessor | Niles & Associates |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Founder | Richard Niles |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Products | Reference management software |
| Parent | Clarivate |
EndNote is a proprietary reference management software tool designed to assist in organizing bibliographies and citations within academic papers, reports, and articles. Developed by Richard Niles, the software debuted in 1989 under Niles & Associates. In 2000, ownership shifted to the ResearchSoft Division of the Institute for Scientific Information (part of Thomson Corporation), and later, in 2016, it became part of Clarivate (previously Clarivate Analytics). EndNote’s primary rivals include Mendeley and Zotero, but unlike these competitors, it is neither offered free nor as a freemium product.
Features
EndNote manages references by grouping them into "libraries," which are saved as files with an *.enl extension accompanied by an associated *.data directory.
Users can input references manually or import them from other libraries or bibliographic databases. The software requires users to specify the type of reference—such as book, legislation, or film—each with designated fields like author, title, or ISBN. Numerous databases support direct export to EndNote libraries for streamlined citation collection; others necessitate exporting citations as .txt files for subsequent import. Additionally, EndNote enables direct querying of library catalogs and freely accessible databases such as PubMed from within the application itself.
The program automatically applies citation formatting in more than 2,000 styles. For instance, citations drawn from Gray's Anatomy can be rendered in formats including Anthropos, APA 5th edition, MLA, or the New England Journal of Medicine style.
On Windows platforms, EndNote generates an *.enl file along with a *.data folder containing MySQL database files (pdb.eni and sdb.eni). It integrates seamlessly with word processors like Microsoft Word and OpenOffice.org Writer through its Cite While You Write functionality.
Export options for citation libraries include HTML, plain text, Rich Text Format, and XML. Starting with version X.7.2, a single library can be shared among up to 14 users via EndNote’s cloud service, granting full editing capabilities.
PDF management is supported through linking or embedding files stored locally on the user’s device. The software also permits attaching various file types—such as images, documents, and spreadsheets—to references. Since version X 1.0.1, EndNote supports citation formatting for OpenDocument Text (.ODT) files.
EndNote can retrieve full-text PDFs online; however, access to subscription-based content requires appropriate credentials. It also automatically attaches PDFs containing a DOI on their first page from the user’s system.
History
The initial release of EndNote (Version 1) occurred around 1989 by Niles & Associates near Emeryville, marketed as a “Reference Database and Bibliography Maker” for Apple Macintosh systems at a price of US $129 plus shipping costs. The Windows version became available starting with Version 2.1 in 1995.
Early editions (up to EndNote 7) restricted libraries to a maximum of 32,767 references or 32 MB in size. Initially promoted primarily as a citation insertion tool for documents, EndNote also allowed importing formatted references from external databases. By approximately 1995 (Version 2), it was acknowledged as serving dual functions: both database management and bibliography creation. The release of Version 4.0 around 2000 introduced many features that remain standard today; subsequent updates expanded database capacity limits.
In 2000, the software was acquired by the Research Soft Division of the Institute for Scientific Information under Thomson Corporation ownership. Later in 2016, control passed to the spin-off company Clarivate.
During the early 1990s, competitors included ProCite, Reference Manager, Papyrus, and Bibilostax. Between 1998 and 2015, Biblioscape was added to this group; later entrants were Zotero in 2006 and Mendeley in 2008.
In September 2008, Thomson Reuters initiated legal action against the Commonwealth of Virginia, seeking $10 million in damages over claims that George Mason University’s Center for History and New Media had reverse engineered EndNote to create the free/open-source Zotero software. The lawsuit alleged breaches of EndNote’s license agreement and trademark infringement related to citation style file conversions. In response, George Mason University chose not to renew its EndNote license and championed user ownership over Zotero-generated content. This dispute ignited discussions about interoperability and proprietary formats within research software communities; Nature supported open standards as catalysts for innovation. The case was ultimately dismissed in June 2009.
EndNote Web
EndNote Web serves as the online counterpart to EndNote, offering seamless integration with the ISI Web of Knowledge to improve reference management and facilitate collaborative research efforts.
Find Full Text
This functionality allows users to efficiently retrieve full-text documents for as many as 250 articles at once, thereby optimizing the research process.
See also
Data formats
- BibTeX – a text-based format utilized within LaTeX environments
- refer – a comparable data format commonly used in UNIX-like operating systems
- RIS – a text-oriented format developed by Research Information Systems
Software
- Comparison of reference management software – provides a comparative analysis of EndNote alongside other reference management applications