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Reference management software: Zotero 7

Fixing errors in the metadata

Sometimes you may discover errors in the metadata, such as a false year of publication for a source. Never change directly in the citations in the document (grey fields in Word), since all changes made there will be overwritten the next time the document is updated! Instead, do as follows:

  1. Go to the cited item in your Zotero library. When you mark the item, its metadata appears to the right. You can then fix errors by entering the correct metadata directly in the metadata fields, e.g., under "Editor" or "Title". The changes will be updated both in the citations and in the reference list in your document when you click Refresh in the Zotero tab.
  2. If you need to make changes manually in the in-text-citation in your document, use Unlink Citations in the Zotero tab in Word. This breaks the connection between Zotero and your Word document and stops the in-text-citation from being updated. You can now edit the citations without risking the changes being overwritten.

Note that the connection cannot be restored! Breaking the connection should be among the last changes you make to the document. We also recommend that you make a copy of the document before breaking the connection; in this way, you will still have a version to work with in Zotero, should you wish, for instance, to change the reference style in your article in order to send it to a different journal.

Adding fields missing in the metadata

If an item is missing fields in the metadata that are needed in the citations and are included in a reference style, you have the possibility to add certain data in the field Extra, found at the bottom of the item metadata.

Add each variable on a separate line in the Extra field according to the following format: [CSL variable]: [value], e.g., "Original date: 1824".

A list of permitted CSL variables can be found at this page.

 

Easy changing author name and titles

Uppercase and lowercase letters are used slightly differently on different lines, which affects how the references look, for example, English titles are usually written with almost all words in uppercase. 

Hold the cursor over the title → Right-click → Select: English Title Case/Sentence Case. 

If the author name is in the wrong order with first name first and then last name, you can easily change it by right-clicking on the name and selecting → Swap first/last. 

If the name has become lowercase, right-click and select → Fix Case. Update by clicking Refresh in the Zotero panel in Word and it will automatically change in your document. 

Change manually in the document after you have broken the link with Zotero → Unlink Citations. 

 

NOTE! The link cannot be restored, always save a copy before breaking the link.