RefWorks offers two options for locating duplicates – exact match and close match. Both options can be found in the View/Duplicates area.

Close Matches - checking is done by comparing a combination of Author Names, Title, and Year of Publication. It is a loose comparison so may result in a display of references that are not exact matches. This allows duplicates to be found even if there are minor errors in the data. Also, depending on the size of your RefWorks database, the Close Matches may take some time, so be patient.

Exact Matches - checks for exact matches based upon the Author Names, Title and Year of Publication fields.

To remove duplicates permanently from your database:

1. Mark the reference you wish to delete by clicking the box next to the Ref ID. These selections are not saved when you go to the next page. So be sure to add the references to a folder before moving to another page.

2. Click Delete.

3. The duplicates list refreshes and the matching records you did not delete, drops off this list (as it is no longer a duplicate).