ER 25: Free Training of Mendeley Class - Part 1 (17 May 2022) by Dr. Raymond Chew

Mendeley is positioned as the single reference-management hub researchers can rely on to import papers, organize PDFs, add annotations, and generate citations in common styles—while a broader “research workflow” framework ties those tasks to publishing, journal matching, and visibility. The training runs as a three-part sequence (Part 1 today, Part 2 next Tuesday, Part 3 the following Monday), with the emphasis on learning Mendeley’s interface and core functions first, then moving into citation matching and editing later.

The session frames research productivity as more than citation formatting. Before touching Mendeley, participants are urged to understand how to search literature effectively, download articles, manage references, and then handle writing tasks such as reading, writing, paraphrasing, and proofreading. Publishing readiness is treated as a pipeline: selecting appropriate journals (journal matching), navigating the review process, building collaborative strategies when a strong manuscript still stalls, and increasing visibility after publication. Tools like Google Scholar, Scopus, and journal databases are mentioned as part of that larger ecosystem, but Mendeley is presented as the central organizer for the reference side.

A major portion of Part 1 focuses on choosing the right reference manager version and avoiding common setup pitfalls. The instructor contrasts multiple tools (EndNote, Zotero, Paperpile, Mendeley, and others) and recommends Mendeley for its ease of use and offline/online accessibility. He also warns against installing multiple Mendeley desktop/reference-manager variants on the same computer because version clashes can occur. Within Mendeley, the training highlights the importance of understanding the interface and functions before using advanced features.

Hands-on demonstrations cover importing and organizing PDFs into Mendeley Desktop, including drag-and-drop into a chosen folder (e.g., “p1”), and the difference between removing a document from a folder versus deleting it entirely. Cloud synchronization is treated as critical: deletions and changes only propagate after using the Sync button. The session also explains Mendeley’s “watch folder” feature—auto-importing files downloaded into a specific directory—but the instructor discourages using it for his own workflow, arguing that downloading everything before reading can lead to citing irrelevant sources.

Participants then learn how to organize libraries using Mendeley’s “organize folders” options, such as renaming and sorting files by metadata fields (author, year, journal, title). The training also covers reading-state management (e.g., marking as read/unread), viewing PDF availability, and using annotations without altering the original PDF file. A key concept is export behavior: annotations and notes can be exported as a new version (with annotations embedded) while the original remains unchanged.

Finally, the session introduces Microsoft Word integration via the Mendeley Word plugin (and troubleshooting steps like re-enabling COM add-ins when citations don’t appear). It also previews an additional tool for literature review and text extraction, where documents are uploaded and analyzed under a project concept structure (e.g., “PhD,” “concept” tags), though the live demonstration is limited by processing time. The overall takeaway: master Mendeley’s library management and citation-prep mechanics first, then build toward literature review and writing workflows in later sessions.