To create your free account go to https://www.mendeley.com and click the "Create Account" button. When creating your account you can use whatever email address you would like, it is not necessary to use your FDU email address.
Mendeley will then ask a series of questions to complete your profile such as your area of study, academic status, and your institution. These choices have no effect on your account.
Once you've successfully created your account you can download and install the Desktop App. Make sure to download the most up to date app. Mendeley is fully functional without the Desktop app, however sometimes browser issues can cause the web version to act erratically. It is suggested you download the Desktop App.
Mendeley comes with a Microsoft Word plugin which allows you to insert citations and bibliographies in to your Word document without having to cut and paste or leave Word.
To install the plugin Word both Word and Outlook must be closed first. Next open the Mendeley Desktop App. Go to Tools >> Install Mendeley Cite for Word. Follow the steps. It may ask you to sign in to your Office365 account, do so. Then restart Word.
The cite option will now appear in Word under the Insert tab >> Add-ins.
Once you select the add-in the Mendeley box will appear to the right of your document. If you have the Mendeley client open on your computer it should open this side bar automatically. If not you may be asked to sign in to your account.
If you get an error when clicking on the Mendeley cite add-in, see the Manually Through Word tab.
If you are not installing the Desktop Client, it is still possible to install the MS Word Plugin. Visit the Search page on the Mendeley site and scroll to the bottom of the page. There you will see the download for the Citation Plug-in. Click the link and follow the instructions.
Sometimes there is a security conflict with the Mendeley Cite plugin and MS Word when you use the automatic installation option. This can be fixed though it will require you to restart your computer.
Mendeley also provides a Web Importer tool which allows you to import citations, and sometimes the full text article, directly from your browser in to your library.
To install the plugin from the Mendeley app click Tools >> Install Mendeley Web Importer.
Depending on which browser you use the importer will be in a different location but regardless of the browser it will function the same.
In Chrome and Firefox the plugin appears in the upper right corner of your browser, while for Safari and Edge users, the Mendeley plugin shows up in the bookmarks or favorites bar.
Example of Chrome Plugin
If you are not installing the Desktop Client, it is still possible to install the Web Importer. Visit the Search page on the Mendeley site and scroll to the bottom of the page. There you will see the download for the Web Importer. Click the link and follow the instructions.
