I use EndNote X9 and occasionally want to analyse references in Microsoft Excel or using Python. I thus need my EndNote references in CSV filetype. For some reason, it can be very difficult to export (or copy and paste) from EndNote into a format that is acceptable in Excel. Whilst there are ways of exporting from Endnote directly to CSV (or tab-delimited) I haven’t found the exported data acceptable in Excel (e.g. the columns are all over the place and just plain incorrect). In case it helps anyone, below I share how I have had success in exporting from Endnote and opening the data in Excel so that columns are populated correctly. This method also works if you need a CSV file of your references that you want to analyse in Python.
Instructions to Open EndNote References in Excel
Time needed: 15 minutes
These steps show how to export your references in EndNote X9 to CSV so that you may view your references in Microsoft Excel.
- Export referenced from Endnote
Select the references you want to export in EndNote and then export the references in RIS filetype (see instructions on how to export to RIS). You may need to change the file extension of the exported file to ris e.g. if you’ve exported the file as my-export.txt then rename to my-export.ris.
- Optional – remove non-ASCII characters
If any of your references include non-ASCII characters then you’ll likely have problems converting a RIS file to CSV. I find that I always have these characters in my references.
To remove non-ASCII characters: download Notepad++, open the RIS file containing your references in Notepad++ then search and replace using a regular expression search (Notepad++ has regular expression search instructions). The regular expression that will find non-compatible characters is:[^\x00-\x7F]+
Save the file and close Notepad++. - Run ris-csv
To convert the RIS file to CSV (assuming you’re using Windows); download the ris-csv zip file, unzip the file, go to the win_dist folder and run ris_converter.exe. Follow the instructions and you’ll have your CSV file that works in Excel.
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