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Covidence: Import References

Created by Health Science Librarians

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Adding References to Covidence

There are two main ways to add references to Covidence:

Export references from a citation manager
Directly exporting references from databases

Note: you can only import 15,000 references at one time. If you have more than 15,000 references, you will need to export and import the references in chunks.

Exporting References from a Citation Manager

Steps for Exporting References from a Citation Manager

Export references from each database search
Import references into your citation manager (e.g. Lean Library Workspace (Sciwheel), EndNote, Zotero)
Deduplicate the references in your citation manager
Export the references from the citation manager
Import citation manager file into Covidence

You can find information on how to export from specific citation managers in the Exporting References from Citation Managers box below.

Pros of Exporting References from a Citation Manager

May catch more duplicate references
Can choose which duplicate reference to keep

Cons of Exporting References from a Citation Manager

Requires more steps and manual work
Requires that you track the number of references you obtained from each database, and the number of duplicates removed

Directly Exporting References from Databases

Steps for Directly Exporting References from Databases

Export references from each database in your search
Import database files directly into Covidence. Covidence will identify and remove duplicates.

You can find information on how to export from specific databases in the Exporting References from Databases box below.

Pros of Directly Exporting References from Databases

Fewer steps and less manual work
Duplicates are automatically removed
Covidence will track number of references from each database, and update a PRISMA diagram for you based on this information

Cons of Directly Exporting References from Databases

Covidence may miss some duplicate references
Covidence may mistakenly mark conference proceedings as duplicates of articles
You cannot choose which reference to keep when Covidence marks references as duplicates

Exporting References from Citation Managers

Gather all the references you want to export into one project.

Select the down arrow next to the box on the top left of the screen, and select All References. You should see that the check box next to each reference on the page is now checked.

Select all references

Select on the copy/move/export icon on the top of the screen, which looks like a square with an arrow pointing into it.

export icon

Select Export as...

Enter a file name and select RIS from the file type drop down menu. Select Download file.

Your references will download.

Gather all the references you want to export into one library.

Select File then Export Library...

Select File and Export Library

Next select the RIS format. If you have built a collection of notes to accompany the citations in your Zotero library, then you will want to export the Notes as well, by checking next to Export Notes.

Select OK and select where you want to save the file.

Screenshot Make sure format is set to RIS

Your references will download.

Open your library and select the references you want to import into Covidence.

Go to the File menu and select Export.

Select File on the upper left side of the screen and then select Export

Enter a name for your file and select XML as a file type. Then select Export Selected References at the bottom.

Make sure "Save as type" is set to XML, and check "Export Selected References"

In the dropdown menu next to Output style, select Show All Fields.

Select Save.

Your references will download.

Select the references you want to import into Covidence.

Select Export at the bottom of the screen, and select RIS.

Screenshot Select desired references then click export at the bottom of the screen and click RIS

Exporting References from Databases

Once you have completed your search, select Save under the search bar.

Select save under the search bar

Select All Results from the Selection drop-down menu.

Select all results from the selection dropdown menu

Select PubMed from the Format drop-down menu, then Create file.

Select pubmed from the format dropdown menu

A .txt file will download, that you can then import into Covidence.

Once you have completed your search, select the articles you want to export by checking the boxes next to the desired article(s). If you want to export all results, select the box next to All. Select Export and then choose RIS under file types.

Select Export and then choose RIS as file type

Check the box next to the first three columns (Citation Information, Bibliographic Information, and Abstract & Keywords). Select Export.

Check the box next to the first three columns. in the export screen

An RIS file will download to your computer, then you can import the file into Covidence.

NOTE: You need to create an account in Embase and log in in order to export more than 500 citations.

Once you have completed your search, select Select the Number of Results, and select the number of results you want to export, up to 10,000 results.

Click 'select number of items' and select the total number of results.

Select the Export button from the menu above the results. Select the RIS file type and click Export.

Select Export in the Results box

Select RIS format at the top of the screen and then click export

You will also need to select Download once the file is ready. Depending on your pop-up settings, the download pop-up may be blocked. If no download page comes up, check for blocked pop ups.

To export results from an EBSCO database (e.g., CINAHL, PsycInfo, Global Health), select the arrow next to the checkbox that is found above the results on the left (see red box in the screenshot below) and select Export Results (Up to 25,000).

Then, you will be prompted to log into your MyEBSCO account. You can also create a new account for free, which can be used across EBSCOhost databases. Although you do not have to use your UNC email, it is recommended that you sign up with your UNC account. This will help ensure you maintain access through UNC affiliation.

After logging in, you will be prompted to enter your email and select a format for export (see image below). To export citations to a reference manager, select RIS for format.

You will then receive an email from support@ebsco.com with a link to download the RIS file. Upload the RIS file to your citation manager to access the citations.

NOTE: You need to create a My Research account in ProQuest and log in in order to export citations. Once you are logged in, an Export Results option will show up under the search bar.

Once you have completed your search, select Export Results.

The export results option is below the search bar

On the following page, select RIS as the format, then Accept the terms and conditions.

Next, select the profile icon the top right corner (outline of a person's head), and select Saved Searches.

The profile icon is on the top right of the screen

Select Export Results on the Saved Searches page to download your results.

Importing Your References

Covidence has a YouTube video, How to import references, that goes through the process of importing references into Covidence.

Once you have exported your references from either databases or a citation manager, you can then import the references into Covidence.

Select Import on the home page of your Covidence review.

Select where you want import the references in the Import into drop-down. To import the references into the start of the review, select Screen.

If you are importing the references directly from a database, select the database in the Source drop-down. If you do not see the database you used, select manage sources to add additional databases to the list.

Covidence will import your results and identify duplicates, if applicable.