How does Mendeley help me organize and manage literature?

Mendeley facilitates efficient academic literature organization and management through its reference management capabilities. This tool centralizes and categorizes scholarly articles and books, enabling systematic control over vast research materials. Its core functionality relies on a structured database system, cloud-based synchronization across devices, and powerful metadata extraction from imported PDFs. Key features enabling organization include customizable folders and subfolders, tagging, advanced search, and PDF annotation tools. Mendeley Desktop and Web Importer allow seamless gathering of references from diverse sources like online databases. Cross-device synchronization ensures library accessibility, while collaboration features support shared group libraries. To implement Mendeley for literature management, researchers typically follow these core steps: install the Desktop application and browser plugin; import references using the Web Importer, direct DOI/ISBN search, or PDF drag-and-drop; organize entries into topical folders, optionally applying tags or notes; annotate PDFs directly within Mendeley; and finally, utilize the citation plugin (e.g., Mendeley Cite for MS Word) to seamlessly insert references during manuscript writing. This workflow streamlines the research process, saving significant time in managing sources and formatting bibliographies.