help merging references in word / same reference, different recordnumbers are not merged

Dear sir/madam

I have a large endnote library, which contains some duplicates because I arranged the articles in several maps, some need to be in more than 1 map. But now I have a problem with a word document. For example, when I refer to Jefferies 2012, I didn’t pay attention to the fact that I have >1 record numbers for that reference. I do now discover that (through edit & manage citations) I have Jefferies record number 293 and record number 722 and 297.

I don’t now how to merge these, I already tried in endnote edit>preferences>formatting>merge duplicates in bibliography but I don’t see a difference. My reference list below the article I’m writing is incorrect, since that lists only 18 articles, and I did refer to at least 19 articles. I also tried the update citations and bibliography list.

If I have to do this all again, by hand, it will cost a lot of time but I am also afraid to make mistakes. I hope anyone can help me…

Thank you very much

Rosa Geurtzen

If you remove the duplicates in the library then you can try just using the Update Citations and Bibliography in Word to try to force EndNote to change the reference to all the same remaining record number.

If that does not change the numbers in Edit and Manage Citations then you will want to make a backup of the document and then use the following steps which can be found on our website:

When changes made to an EndNote library are not being reflected in your document, try to format the bibliography in the document. This may resolve the problem.

In some cases, though, it may not. This is because each formatted citation in your Word document contains hidden field codes that contain all the information about that reference as it was at the time it was inserted. To have EndNote pick up the changes you’ve made to the library’s references and apply that to your paper, you may need to unformat and then reformat as we describe below.

First, make a back-up of your document by saving it with a new name. Then unformat using the instructions for your versions of Word and EndNote:

Word 2013/2016 Win with EndNote X7: Go to the EndNote tab and choose the “Convert Citations and Bibliography > Convert to Unformatted Citations” command.

Word 2016 Mac with EndNote X7 and later: Go to the EndNote tab and choose the “Tools > Convert to Unformatted Citations” command.

Word 2010 with EndNote X4 and later or Word 2007 with Endnote X1 and later: Go to the EndNote tab and choose the “Convert Citations and Bibliography > Convert to Unformatted Citations” command.

Word 2007 with Endnote X and earlier: Go to the Add-Ins tab and choose the “EndNote > Unformat Citations” command.

Word 2008/2011 with EndNote X5 and later: Go to the Tools Menu and select “EndNote > Convert to Unformatted Citations” command.

Word X/2000/2002 (XP)/2003/2004/2008/2011: Go to the Tools Menu and select “EndNote > Unformat Citations” command.

This should revert all the citations into the temporary citation format and remove the reference list from the end of the document. Then, format the document. EndNote will pick up the reference information from your open library or libraries, and the changes will be picked up.

Please note that you may get the “EndNote Select Matching Reference” dialog box when formatting the bibliography. This may be because you have modified the author name or the year in one of the references, or you may be using a different library. Please use the link below

https://support.clarivate.com/Endnote/s/article/ka1390000004b6xAAA/EndNote-Select-Matching-Reference?r=99&Headline.getInitData=1&ArticleView.getArticleHeaderDetail=1&Quarterback.validateRoute=1&RecordGvp.getRecord=1&ArticleTopicList.getTopics=1&ForceCommunityFeed.getModel=1

for information on how to resolve this.

If you still have trouble then contact Technical Support

+1 8003364474

or via the web

https://support.clarivate.com/Endnote/s/

Thank you for your answer.

  1. I’d rather not have my duplicates removed, since I ordered them in folders and some belong in >1 folder

if there’s no other solution, what if…

  1. if I remove duplicates, can my word document change? I.e. if I referred to jefferies #227 in one place, and (without noticing) referred to jefferies #402 (same article) at another place and I remove duplicate #227 in endnote, will that first reference be lost (that’s not an option)

Last question, sorry for my non-understanding, what do yo mean by “Then, format the document”?

Thank you very much for your quick answers

What would happen is that EndNote would bring up the Select Matching Reference window and suggest you use the other reference in place of the one you deleted from the library.

Then, format the document"? means use the Update Citations and Bibliography command.

If you wanted jefferies to appear as multiple entries in the document you would uncheck that option under Preferences > Formatting > to merge duplicates in the bibliography.

Not sure what you mean by “ordered them in folders”  but you can add a record to more than one group in Endnote?  

From your thread, are the two duplicates not being recognized as duplicates and not being merged in the bibliography?  If so, are they recognized as duplicates by endnote’s find duplicates tool?  If not, you could try changing the duplicates parameters to figure out if it is the title, the authors or the year that are not identical and copy from one to the other record, if you still want the two records for some reason.  

You can add a record to more than one group.

I found it usefull, since some articles fall onder >1 categorie. Easier to find them back if they are in ordered in groups.

I am just worried if I do merge them, will (i.e.) Jefferies be lost at some locations in my word document? I now have it refered to at >20 spots, apparently using 3 different records…

adding the same record to 3 groups doesn’t duplicate the record?