# How to automatically update references which are not journal articles (do not have DOI's)

**URL:** <https://community.endnote.com/t/how-to-automatically-update-references-which-are-not-journal-articles-do-not-have-dois/312714>\
**Category:** EndNote How To\
**Created:** [April 29, 2018, 3:06pm UTC](https://community.endnote.com/t/how-to-automatically-update-references-which-are-not-journal-articles-do-not-have-dois/312714 "2018-04-29T15:06:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![danika\_jacobs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/45deac/32.png) [@danika\_jacobs](https://community.endnote.com/u/danika_jacobs)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2018, 3:06pm UTC](https://community.endnote.com/t/how-to-automatically-update-references-which-are-not-journal-articles-do-not-have-dois/312714/1 "2018-04-29T15:06:29Z")

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Hi all, please excuse my very, very little tech-savvyness. Computers and I are not the best of friends.

I have a question about Endnote. I am an MSc student, and have been using Endnote for about a year and a half now. I know that when you enter the DOI of a journal article (which is the most common reference type I use) into the relevant reference field, and then click on ‘Find Reference Updates’ that the reference will automatically update, using the provided DOI. This is very useful to me, since a lot of the articles I cite are very old. It also saves me a lot of time by not having to enter all the reference details manually.

However, I have been looking into a few patents recently and now want to use (and cite) some of them in my research. The thing is - I have no idea how to update the reference automatically in Endnote. I choose ‘patent’ as the reference type, but I don’t know what critial infromation is necessary to automatically find reference updates as with the journal articles if a DOI is available. Does anyone know what to do? I have the same problem with books. I REALLY don’t want to enter these manually, as it will be so time consuming.&nbsp;

Also - how do I reference Supporting Information in Endnote? There is no such reference type. See, I still want it to be linked to the article, but I can’t use the same DOI, because then it will see it as the same reference. There has to be some way to distinguish between the article and its supporting information.&nbsp;

Sorry for the lengthy enquiry!! Hope you actually understand what I am asking (if not, please ask, haha).

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**Author:** ![eamorris33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/258eb7/32.png) [@eamorris33](https://community.endnote.com/u/eamorris33)\
**Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://community.endnote.com/t/how-to-automatically-update-references-which-are-not-journal-articles-do-not-have-dois/312714/2 "2019-12-05T17:34:36Z")

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I have the same question.&nbsp; If anyone has a solution, please let me know!&nbsp; Thank you!