Want to know what EndNote has to offer? Try our free series that guides you through the entire process. Read more here.
This article addresses problems with EndNote references in a specific Word document. The article shows how to "clear" the document so that you will hopefully get rid of the problem.
Check the following before you start!!
Open a blank Word document and insert a few references. If the problem persists even in your new document, your problem is more general and the guidelines below will probably not help. You should instead contact us for help regarding your problem.
1. Track changes
If the problem is inertia in Word or that Word locks when you move text pieces (with references) in your document, an explanation may be that you use the function "Track Changes". If you want to use this function, make sure that it is set to "No Markup" (Word 2016) or "Final" (earlier versions of Word).
2. Unformat references
We generally recommend that you unformat your references if you want to move, paste, or delete any text that contains references.
To delete the formatting, select "Convert to Unformatted Citation", and to reformat select "Update Citation and Bibliography" in Word (EndNote tab). We recommend that you do this regularly / weekly, especially for longer documents.
By performing these two simple commands you can check that all references match your reference database and that everything is OK with your document.
Make a backup of your document before you proceed!
How to unformat your Word document
-
Word [EndNote]: Convert Citation and Bibliography>Convert to Unformatted Citations
- In Word 2002 / XP and 2003, select Tools> EndNote> Unformat Citations
- In Word 2008 and 2011 for Mac, choose Tools> EndNote> Unformat Citation or Convert to Unformatted Citations
This will remove the bibliography and all formatting made by EndNote, however, the reference codes remain from EndNote in your text. You should now have a plain text document without any hidden field codes from EndNote.
In most cases, it will now help to click on the button "Update Citation and Bibliography" and correct any errors that EndNote can find (see below). But should this not help, it could be that the document itself has been corrupted. If this is the case, follow the instructions below:
- Press [Ctrl]+A on the keyboard to highlight all text. (On Mac, press the [Apple] button while pressing A)
- Press [Ctrl]+6 to remove any hidden field codes.
- Press [Ctrl]+C to copy all text.
- Open a new blank Word document and press [Ctrl]+V to paste all text into the new document.
Note!
If you have your references in footnotes, click on the footnote in your document and complete the four steps above again specifically for your footnote.
Finally, click on "Update Citation and Bibliography" in the new document and correct any errors that EndNote can find (see below).
3. Correct any errors that EndNote finds
If EndNote finds any errors among your references after you click on "Update Citation and Bibliography" it will appear in a search window called "EndNote Select Matching Reference". In the search box, EndNote's reference code is automatically placed on the reference in the document that is incorrect (eg {Hamsun, 1923 # 125}).
One reason for the problem can be if you changed the author's name, year or record number (Record Number) compared to the library in EndNote. Or it may be that the reference has been removed from your library. In most cases, the reason is that you have used different libraries in the same document (always use the same library for the same document!).
Note that the text reference is simultaneously marked in your Word document. You can move the search window to better see where the problem is in the reference text.
To correct the error, you must find and insert the correct reference. If EndNote does not find it with the suggested search string {Hamsun, 1923 # 125} then try with a shorter search string (eg only Hamsun). If the reference is not in your library, go to EndNote and create the reference again and then return to Word and do the search again (click the Find button again to get the reference you just added to your library).
No hits on this search. But if I instead search for only "Baker" (Remember now that I renamed the author in my library after I used this reference in my document).
Now the correct reference is displayed in the list of hits. I click on the desired reference (blue highlighted) and then click on "Insert" in the same window. The reference is re-created in documents and the error is corrected.
In most cases, it now works to click the Update Citations and Bibliography button to update all references correctly.