What is Cite While You Write?

EndNote's Cite While You Write plug-in lets you seamlessly add citations and bibliographies (based on the references you've aded to your EndNote account) to Microsoft Word documents.

Step 1: Download the Plug-in

Note: Cite While You Write is already installed on all CSB and SJU Library and lab computers.

These instructions are also included with images in steps 3 and 4 on the Overview page.

To download the Cite While You Write plug-in to your own device:

  1. Click the Downloads tab at the top of the screen in EndNote.
  2. Make sure all Word documents are closed before installing.
  3. Choose Download Windows or Download Macintosh depending on the make of your computer.

The plug-in is available for both Windows and Mac systems. 

Step 2: Connect to your EndNote Web account

Sometimes EndNote Desktop is the default account listed (especially on CSB and SJU computers). This step switches you to EndNote Web and makes it possible to access your EndNote Web references.


1. In Word, under the EndNote tab, click Preferences.
2. Select the Application tab.
3. Select EndNote online from the dropdown menu.
4. Enter your EndNote Web email address and password.
5. Check the box to remember your e-mail and password.
6. Click OK.

Step 3: Insert References

Cite While You Write will appear as a new toolbar option in Microsoft Word.

It will appear as a tab at the top of MS Word labeled EndNote and will look similar to this:

 CWYW Toolbar screenshot
Select your citation Style
  • Select your citation style from the Style dropdown.

Insert a reference from your EndNote Web library into your Word document

  1. Move your cursor to the place where the reference should appear.
    Note: To add footnotes or endnotes (not parenthetical citations),
    • On PC: click the References tab in Word, then Insert Footnote or Insert Endnote.
    • On Mac: click Insert, then Footnote
  2. Find the EndNote toolbar in Word and click on the Insert Citations (magnifying glass and quotation mark) icon.
  3. Search for the reference you'd like to cite by typing in its title, author name(s), or other related keywords.   
  4. Click Find - your EndNote Web library will be searched and a list of matching references will appear.
  5. Select the reference(s) you want.
  6. Click Insert. This will generate A) a parenthetical citation/footnote/endnote where your cursor was and B) a full citation at the end of your paper.

Step 4: Editing and deleting references

Sometimes there are errors or slight inconsistencies in the citations generated with EndNote/Cite While You Write. Double-check your final citations against a citation style manual!

To make corrections or changes to the references in your Word document, follow these steps:

  1. Highlight the reference you wish to edit and click on Edit Citation(s).
  2. Click on the Edit Reference button in the pop-up window next to your chosen citation. This will bring you to EndNote Web, where you can update the citation.
  3. Once updated, in the Word pop-up click on the dropdown by 'Edit Reference' and choose Update from my Library...
  4. Click Insert. This will replace  your citation in the paper with the updated citation.

To delete or remove a citation from your paper do NOT just highlight and hit delete! This will leave extraneous code in Word and mess things up. Instead, follow these easy steps:

  1. On the EndNote Toolbar, select the Edit Citation(s) button.
  2. Choose the citation you want to delete. It will also be highlighted in your paper so you can make sure you chose the correct instance of your citation.
  3. Click the dropdown next to Edit Reference and choose Remove Citation.
  4. Click OK.
  5. This will remove the in-text citation.  If this was the only time this source was cited, it will also remove it from the Reference list at the end of the paper.