How to Export Citations to Word from Mimir Mentor

To export citations to Word, you export your sources from the Mimir Mentor literature tool as an XML file, load that file into Word’s source manager and then insert citations and a bibliography with Word’s own citation tools. Word formats everything in the APA citation style or another style of your choice, for example for the bibliography of your bachelor’s thesis.

Alternatively, you can also generate a bibliography in text form in Mimir Mentor and copy it into Word if you do not want to use Word’s citation functions.

Step 1: Selecting Export in Mimir Mentor

1. In the literature section of Mimir Mentor, open the tool menu at the bottom right.
2. Choose the export for MS Word.
3. Select all the sources from your literature search that you want to export (ideally only those that hold up as good academic sources) and start the export at the bottom of the editor. You receive an XML file.

Step 2 for Windows: Importing into Microsoft Word

1. Open Microsoft Word and click on the “References” tab.
2. Click “Manage Sources”, then “Browse”, select the XML file you exported from Mimir Mentor and click “Open”. Your sources now appear in the “Master List”.
3. Select the sources in the Master List and click “Copy” to move them into the “Current List”. Only sources in the Current List appear when you insert a citation.
4. Click “Close”.

Step 2 for Mac: Importing into Microsoft Word

Some versions of Word for macOS use different source-management controls. The available controls and import steps depend on your Word version. Back up any existing Sources.xml file before replacing it, and verify the folder location for your installation. Mac users should follow these steps:

1. Quit Word. In Finder, choose “Go” > “Go to Folder”, enter ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/ and copy the exported file into this folder under the name Sources.xml. If a Sources.xml file already exists there, back it up first, because it holds the sources you have already saved in Word.
2. Restart Word.
3. Select the “References” tab and then “Citations”.
4. A sidebar menu opens on the right side of the window. Click on the icon with the three dots.
5. Choose “Citation Source Manager” from the dropdown list.
6. Copy the sources you need from the master list to the current list.

Step 3: Adding the Cited Sources to the Bibliography

1. Under “References” > “Style”, choose the citation style you need, for example APA.
2. Place the cursor where the citation belongs and click “Insert Citation” (on a Mac: “Citations”) to add a source from your list.
3. Place the cursor where the reference list should appear, click “Bibliography” and choose a format.
4. After adding more citations, click into the bibliography and choose “Update Citations and Bibliography”. Check the result against the edition of the style your department requires.

Open Mimir Literature

Mimir Mentor is GDPR-compliant, with servers in the European Union. Your document is deleted after 30 days at the latest and is never added to a public database. More than 70,000 students already use the platform.

FAQ: exporting citations to Word