Journal title abbreviations in Mendeley—how to

Mendeley is no more consumer-ready than Zotero. I still cannot recommend that people stop using EndNote, because basic functionality is still missing from both (1 Dec 2011).

Here is how to do make Mendeley put journal abbreviations into the reference list instead of listing full journal titles. This is relevant to medics and biological scientists. The abbreviations list is the ISO list, which is used by PubMed and most medical/biological journals.

This has been adapted from http://feedback.mendeley.com/forums/4941-mendeley-feedback/suggestions/83173-journal-abbreviations?page=3 to make it easier to read.

1. Download the abbreviations file from
   https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=46047e8752dc6af3&sc=documents&uc=1&id=46047E8752DC6AF3%21105#


2. Unzip the file and select "default_iso.txt"


3. Copy this file into the Mendeley journalAbbreviations directory (if the directory does not exit then create it):




• Windows Vista and Windows 7
  
  C:\Users\\Mendeley Ltd.\Mendeley Desktop


• Windows XP
  
  C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Mendeley Ltd\Mendeley Desktop


• GNU/Linux
  
  ~/.local/share/data/Mendeley Ltd./Mendeley Desktop


• 
  Mac OS X
  
  /Users//Library/Application Support/Mendeley Desktop


4. Rename the file to "default.txt"


5. Restart Mendeley and your word processor.