EndNote: Output Styles

EndNote 21 comes with over 500 'Output Styles,' (e.g., APA 7th, JAMA, MLA, etc.). If the output style you need is not listed, it may be available from the listing of 7,000+ styles on EndNote’s website.

 There are times when you may wish to “tweak” an existing output style to serve special circumstances. For example, you may wish to alter the APA 7th style to include author abstracts or to add Research Notes field for an annotated bibliography.

1. To make a modified copy of an existing EndNote style, click Tools, Output Styles, and the Open Style Manager.
2. From the EndNote Styles window, highlight the style you wish to alter and click Edit.
   • Note: Checked styles are the “favorite” styles.
3. In the next window, you will see the style record. This file type has a “.ens” extension.
4. Before you begin to edit, make a copy. To do this, from File, select Save As, and change the file name to a meaningful title, APA 7th Annotated Bib.
   • EndNote’s default is to append the word “copy” to the end of a title, e.g., APA 7th copy.
5. Next, to alter the new style, select the fields you want to change. As shown below, under Templates, the Bibliography Layout section was altered to have the Abstract displayed for Journal Articles.
   • You will need to alter for each reference type you want to modify, e.g., Book, Web Page, etc.
6. Use Insert Field to select which fields to add, e.g., Research Notes. Also, use the spacing and formatting options to further customize the output.
7. Exit the Style Manager and return to the EndNote library. From the Style drop-down menu at the top of your window, click Select Another Style and scroll to find your new, custom style.

Quick Tip: Use the Output Style Manager to view specifics about which fields are required for each record type (e.g., Journal, Book, Web Page, etc.)