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kb:mendeley_import [2018/06/21 03:15] – [How do I import a Mendeley library into Zotero?] dstillman | kb:mendeley_import [2019/02/28 21:10] – [The Import Process] Update Mendeley data directory link dstillman | ||
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====== How do I import a Mendeley library into Zotero? ====== | ====== How do I import a Mendeley library into Zotero? ====== | ||
- | Zotero includes support for directly importing | + | Zotero includes support for directly importing a Mendeley database into Zotero via File → “Import…”, |
===== Mendeley Database Encryption ===== | ===== Mendeley Database Encryption ===== | ||
- | Mendeley 1.19 and later have begun encrypting the local database, making it unreadable by Zotero and other standard database tools. | + | Mendeley 1.19 and later have begun encrypting the local database, making it unreadable by Zotero and other standard database tools. |
- | The [[https:// | + | The [[https:// |
- | Direct access to the Mendeley database is the only local way to export the full contents of one’s own research. The export formats supported by Mendeley don’t contain folders, various metadata fields (date added, favorite, and others), or PDF annotations. Mendeley offers a web-based API, but it only contains uploaded data, so relying on it would mean that anyone wanting to export their own data would first need to upload all their data and files to Mendeley’s servers. The API is under Mendeley’s control and can be changed or discontinued at any time. | + | Direct access to the Mendeley database is the only local way to export the full contents of one’s own research. The export formats supported by Mendeley don’t contain folders, various metadata fields (date added, favorite, and others), or PDF annotations. Mendeley offers a web-based API, but it only contains uploaded data, so relying on it would mean that anyone wanting to export their own data would first need to upload all their data and files to Elsevier’s servers. The API is under Elsevier’s control and can be changed or discontinued at any time. |
+ | |||
+ | ===== Known Issues ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | In addition to the database encryption discussed above, there are a few other issues to be aware of when importing from Mendeley. | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Mendeley stores PDF annotations and highlights in its database rather than storing them in the file where they would be accessible to other PDF readers, so Zotero extracts annotations to a note stored under the item, with links back to the original page. Highlights are not imported. To embed annotations and highlights into the PDF files themselves so they can be imported into Zotero, you have a couple options: | ||
+ | - Mendeley provides an option to generate a PDF with annotations and highlights added back to the file. Prior to Mendeley 1.19.3, that option could only be run for one file at a time; in 1.19.3, it can be run for multiple files but doesn’t include highlights. In our testing, exported PDFs also don’t always contain the text of annotations. But if you’re able to satisfactorily export annotations and/or highlights, you could use that option for one or more files and then replace the imported files in Zotero (right-click on the item and choose “Show File”) with the annotated versions. | ||
+ | - You can also try using the third-party [[https:// | ||
+ | * It’s not possible to directly import group libraries. To import items in group libraries, simply copy the group items to a collection in your Mendeley library before importing. You can then create a Zotero group and drag imported collections or items to that group. | ||
+ | * Mendeley allows any field to be added to any type. When importing into Zotero, if a field isn’t valid for a given item type, the field is placed into the Extra field. When possible, those will be used automatically in citations (e.g., Original Date), and future versions of Zotero will automatically convert those to any real fields that become available. | ||
+ | * When using the Zotero word processor plugins, document citations created with Mendeley won’t currently be linked to imported citations in your Zotero database. Zotero' | ||
===== The Import Process ===== | ===== The Import Process ===== | ||
- | ** If you haven’t yet upgraded to Mendeley 1.19:** | + | ** If you have a Mendeley version older than 1.18:** |
+ | |||
+ | Upgrade to Mendeley 1.18 using the [[#Mendeley 1.18 installers|links below]] and then start the import in Zotero by going to File → “Import…” and choosing the “Mendeley” option. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ** If you have Mendeley 1.18 and haven’t yet upgraded to Mendeley 1.19 or later:** | ||
Start the import in Zotero by going to File → “Import…” and choosing the “Mendeley” option. | Start the import in Zotero by going to File → “Import…” and choosing the “Mendeley” option. | ||
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** If you’ve already upgraded to 1.19 and have an automatic backup of your Mendeley SQLite database in the Mendeley data directory: | ** If you’ve already upgraded to 1.19 and have an automatic backup of your Mendeley SQLite database in the Mendeley data directory: | ||
- | Locate your [[https:// | + | Locate your [[https:// |
If the backupSlot// | If the backupSlot// | ||
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** If you’ve already upgraded to 1.19 and are not able to import from a recent backup of your Mendeley SQLite database:** | ** If you’ve already upgraded to 1.19 and are not able to import from a recent backup of your Mendeley SQLite database:** | ||
- | It's possible to recreate an unencrypted database by syncing from an older version of Mendeley Desktop. However, this requires syncing all data and files to Mendeley's servers before downgrading. Even syncing data alone isn't sufficient: Mendeley sync doesn' | + | It's possible to recreate an unencrypted database by syncing from an older version of Mendeley Desktop. However, this requires syncing all data and files to Elsevier's servers before downgrading. Even syncing data alone isn't sufficient: Mendeley sync doesn' |
- | If you don't want to sync any data to Mendeley's servers, your only option is to use one of the available export formats, such as BibTeX, to transfer your data to Zotero. As discussed above, you'll lose your folder structure and some other data. | + | If you don't want to sync any data to Elsevier's servers, your only option is to use one of the available export formats, such as BibTeX, to transfer your data to Zotero. As discussed above, you'll lose your folder structure and some other data. |
- | If you're syncing your library data but don't want to sync files, | + | If you're syncing your library data but don't want to sync files, |
- | (Note that at Zotero we strongly believe you should be fully in control of your own research data, and we don't think you should have to make these choices, but these are the options given the design decisions | + | (Note that at Zotero we strongly believe you should be fully in control of your own research data, and we don't think you should have to make these choices, but these are the available |
- | Here are the steps: | + | If you're comfortable syncing your data to Elsevier, or have already done so, here are the steps: |
- | - Make sure you've synced all data and — if you want to avoid reassociating files manually — files to Mendeley's servers. | + | - Make sure you've synced all data and — if you want to avoid reassociating files manually — files to Elsevier's servers. |
- | - Move your database out of the [[https:// | + | - Move your database out of the [[https:// |
- Download Mendeley 1.18. | - Download Mendeley 1.18. | ||
- | - Perform a fresh sync to pull down your Mendeley data from the Mendeley | + | - Perform a fresh sync to pull down your Mendeley data from the Elsevier |
- Start the import in Zotero by going to File → “Import…” and choosing the “Mendeley” option. | - Start the import in Zotero by going to File → “Import…” and choosing the “Mendeley” option. | ||
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If you're running the latest version and something doesn’t come through how you expect or you run into any trouble, let us know in the [[https:// | If you're running the latest version and something doesn’t come through how you expect or you run into any trouble, let us know in the [[https:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Preserving Mendeley Annotations and Highlights ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | As [[# | ||
+ | |||
+ | To use the third-party [[https:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== macOS or Linux ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | - Close Mendeley | ||
+ | - Make a backup of your [[https:// | ||
+ | - Download and unzip the menextract2pdf script from [[https:// | ||
+ | - Open Terminal, navigate to the unzipped Menextract2pdf folder, and run the following command (filling in the correct file paths): | ||
+ | * < | ||
+ | - For example, on macOS, if you have your Mendeley database in the [[https:// | ||
+ | * < | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Windows ==== | ||
+ | - Install [[https:// | ||
+ | - Close Mendeley | ||
+ | - Make a backup of your [[https:// | ||
+ | - Download and unzip the menextract2pdf script from [[https:// | ||
+ | - Open Command Prompt, navigate to the unzipped Menextract2pdf folder, and run the following command (filling in the correct file paths): | ||
+ | * < | ||
+ | - For example, if you have your Mendeley database in the [[https:// | ||
+ | * < | ||
+ | |||
{{tag>kb entry}} | {{tag>kb entry}} |