How do I deduplicate my papers in Endnote
Last Updated: Mar 12, 2025     Views: 153

If you have performed a search through multiple databases, you will probably have high duplication within your results, with multiple instances of the same paper, leading to a delay in screening through papers.

The Systematic Review LibGuide has guidance on an reportable deduplication strategy based on the paper  'De-duplication of database search results for systematic reviews in EndNote'  (Please note corrections) . 

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  • De-Duplication

     

    Deduplication is a key step for removing duplicate papers. A good literature search through multiple databases will result in significant duplication of references, so must be deduplicated  to prevent wasted time during the screening step.

    Endnote is recommended as it has the most robust deduplication features. The guidance video above references this paper  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4915647/ (Also read corrections) which features a multi step deduplication to save time and prevent the exclusion of suitable papers.

    This is one method you can use for deduplication, and other tools and methodologies exist. The paper High precision but variable recall – comparing the performance of five deduplication tools evaluates different screening tools other than Endnote.