Exclude title in Word (MLA format)

[spenserstudent]

Hello,

When I insert in-text citations in word, I have the option to suppress (exclude) the Author, Year, Author & Year, or show only in bibliography).

I need to be able to exclude the title of the text as well (in the case that I have already mentioned it) but have the page number remain (which is why the “show only in bibliography” option won’t work).

I also need to change the settings so that anonymous sources aren’t automatically at the top of my reference list: if no author is entered, it should be alphabetized by title. 

Please help! 

Thank you

[crazygecko]

Q: I need to be able to exclude the title of the text as well (in the case that I have already mentioned it) but have the page number remain (which is why the “show only in bibliography” option won’t work).

 

A:  EndNote should include an editing option to suppress titles in citations but doesn’t (as of EndNote X7). A workaround is to select “show only in bibliography” (which hides both the citation’s title and page number) then type-in the page number in parenthesis.

 

 

Q: I also need to change the settings so that anonymous sources aren’t automatically at the top of my reference list: if no author is entered, it should be alphabetized by title.

 

A: This is an interesting problem. It seems the issue might be the way EndNote sorts the bibliographic references. In your case the references need to be sorted simultaneously for both   the Author field and, in the case of anonymous sources, the Title field. The problem is that EndNote currently sorts the bibliographic references sequentially by Author first then Year so anonymous works will always appear at the beginning of the Works Cited list instead of being in alpha order by title.

 

There is a workaround to generate a list which sorts anonymous works in alpha order by title – see attached image . Directions for the workaround will be posted separately to accommodate the number of attached screenshots.

 

[crazygecko]

The workaround to generate a list which sorts anonymous works in alpha order by title involves:

 

1. Creating a custom field (e.g., named “sortMLA” for this example) within the reference types. The “sortMLA” custom field will be used to hold both author names and titles of anonymous works to enable both pieces of information to be sorted simultaneously;

 

2. Populating the “sortMLA” custom field by a) separating your references into two Groups (e.g., named “Anonymous Sources” and “Authored Sources” for this example), b) then copying the Title and Author fields into the custom field (sortMLA); and

 

3. Changing the MLA output style’s bibliography Sort Order setting to sort by a) the custom field (sortMLA), b) then by Year.

 

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The steps are described below. Make a backup copy of your library before proceeding.

 

1. CREATING A CUSTOM FIELD “sortMLA” (Refer to attached image 1)

a. Go to the EndNote toolbar and select Edit > Preferences.

 

b. Then in the EndNote Preferences dialog box click “Reference Types”.

 

c. Before proceeding if you have previously modified fields in the reference table click “Export” to make a backup file of your current reference type table. The backup file enables restoring the current settings if needed later. If you have not made any modifications to the reference tables, skip this step.

 

d. Click the “Modify Reference Types” button  which opens the Modify Reference Types dialog box.

 

e. For this example we’ll use the Book reference type so click the pull-down menu and select “Book”.

 

f. To add a custom field scroll down until you reach that section. For this example use Custom 8 and give it a name (e.g., sortMLA). (Once this process is completed the custom field will appear in the Book reference type as shown.)

 

g. Note that instead of modifying each reference type individually to type-in “sortMLA” in the Custom 8 cell, the change can be quickly across all the reference types by clicking “Apply To All Ref Types”. Be aware this action will over-write any field that may already occupy the Custom 8 cell.

 

h. Click OK to close the Book reference type. Click OK again to close the EndNote Preferences dialog box.

 

 

2. POPULATING THE “sortMLA” CUSTOM FIELD  (Refer to attached image 2)

a. Create two groups which will be used to categorize your references.  Go to the EndNote toolbar and select Groups > Create Group. For this example name the first group “Anonymous Sources”. Then create a second group named “Authored Sources”.   

 

b. Sort your references by the Author column then select all the anonymous references and drag them to the “Anonymous Sources” group.  Next, select all the references having authors and drag them to the “Authored Sources” group.

 

c. Click the “Anonymous Sources” group and select all the references within that group. Then (not shown) go to the EndNote toolbar and select tools > Change/Move/Copy Fields.

 

d. Click the “Move/Copy Fields” tab in the Change/Move/Copy Fields dialog box. Then select “Copy Field”; use the pull-down menus to designate From “Title” to Custom 8; select “Replace Entire Field”. Click OK and the titles of anonymous sources will be copied into the sortMLA custom field.

 

e. (Not shown.) for authored sources repeat steps “c” and “d” using the Authored Sources and references. However this time use the pull-down menus to designate From “Author” to Custom 8 while keeping the other settings. Click OK and the authors of authored sources will be copied into the sortMLA custom field.

 

 

3. CHANGING THE MLA OUTPUT STYLE’S BIBLIOGRAPHY SORT ORDER (Refer to attached image 3)

a.  Go to the EndNote toolbar (not shown), select Edit > Output Styles > Edit MLA. Then click “Sort Order” in the bibliography section of the output style’s dialog box.

 

b. Click the “Other” setting to access the Sort Order dialog box. Click the pull-down menus to specify the sort by a) the Custom Field 8 (sortMLA), b) then by Year. Click OK then close the output style.