RefWorks Guide: 6.2 RefWorks Citation Manager (RCM)

1. In the MS Word ribbon on the Home tab, click on Add-ins.

2. In the Add-ins panel, search for RCM. Two versions will appear. The new version is RefWorks Citation Manager - click on the Add button next to this option as shown in the screenshot below.

3. The next time you open a Word document, RefWorks Citation Manager (RCM) will appear on the top ribbon.

4. Click on the RCM tab and then click on the RefWorks Citation Manager icon on the left hand side of the screen. This will launch RCM on the right hand side of the screen as shown in the screenshot below.

5. Login to RCM using your institutional login or your RefWorks email and password - whichever you created your RefWorks account with.

Navigating RCM

Access all menu options from the three horizontal lines on the top left-hand side of the RCM panel as shown below:

Choose references to add to your document from the References homepage view.

Access your RefWorks folders by clicking on the drop down arrow next to All references.

Find specific references from your RefWorks account that you want to cite using the Search box. Alternatively, open and browse a folder.

If you need to choose a different referencing style, see instructions in this RefWorks video at 3:58 minutes.

Adding in-text citations

To add a single in-text citation at your cursor location, click on the blue double quotation mark symbol next to the required reference.

To insert multiple references in a single citation, use the tick box to select the required references and then click Insert citation as shown in the screenshot below.

Editing in-text citations

To edit your in-text citations, you must use the edit citation functions within RCM. Do not type into the citation within Word as this will be overwritten when you update your document with RCM.

To edit a citation before you insert it, click on the blue pencil icon next to the required reference. 

To edit an existing citation, double click on the citation which will open the edit citation panel.

To create a direct citation (author's name outside the brackets - in your sentence), tick Display as author year. Alternatively, deselect Include author.

To add references into a single citation, select and edit the relevant citations and click on the text Add reference(s) to this citation.

To add a page number to a citation, select and edit the relevant citation. Tick Page numbers and add page indicators required by your referencing format. For Cite Them Right Harvard, add , p. or pp. followed by the page numbers - as shown in the screenshot below.

Insert a bibliography

Click on the View Menu tab (three horizontal lines at the top left of the panel) and switch ON the bibliography as shown in the screenshot below. This will automatically generate the bibliography at the place where you left your cursor on the Word document. The bibliography will automatically update when you add new citations. 

Your RCM formatted document contains hidden placeholder codes under each citation. We suggest removing these codes to create your final document, especially if you are submitting your work digitally. RefWorks calls these links 'Content Control', other sources may call them 'Field Codes'.

Please note: Removing Content Control allows you to manually edit any references which would normally be overwritten each time RCM updates your reference list. However, it also means you can no longer change the citations or update the bibliography using RCM. We suggest removing Content Control once you have finished inserting all the citations you need.

Keep a back-up copy of your document saved which retains RCM field codes - you can use this copy if you want to make changes and use RCM at a later date. 

To remove Content Control:

1. Select All of your document in Word.
2. Right click on the document.
3. Click on Remove Content Control.
4. Save your final document with a different name.