Upgrade StorageIssue with citation numbers changing
I have 74 citations, I am verifying that they are correct and appear in my library.
Issue 1: I get halfway through this long document in verifying the references are linked to the correct author/article and discover the numbers have changed. If I was clicking on reference #60 superscript, when I get to the end of the document it says I have 120 references listed (like superscript 120) but again, there are only 74 citations available. Where did the extra numbers come from and what are they linked to? What is being listed?
Issue 2: if I open a new document to restart the verification process, the names are correct with the linked citations BUT they do not show up in my library with a new word document. But isn't Zotero separate from Word?
Can someone please help?
Issue 1: I get halfway through this long document in verifying the references are linked to the correct author/article and discover the numbers have changed. If I was clicking on reference #60 superscript, when I get to the end of the document it says I have 120 references listed (like superscript 120) but again, there are only 74 citations available. Where did the extra numbers come from and what are they linked to? What is being listed?
Issue 2: if I open a new document to restart the verification process, the names are correct with the linked citations BUT they do not show up in my library with a new word document. But isn't Zotero separate from Word?
Can someone please help?
And if you insert a bibliography, does that go from 1-120? Also, how are you 'verifying' citations: I don't understand how the document changes as you are doing so?
1. Using APA7, and I am verifying that the links to a chapter in a book are matching up with the reference list and using Zotero.
The bibliography is listed at the end of the chapter.
So for chapter 9 there are 73 citations listed and then 74-76 are "i, ii, iii" found throughout the chapter. I downloaded the chapter from Scholastica on to a .docx and installed the Zotero plug in. When I selected the "add/edit citation" button to see if the number listed matches the linked references, it had a superscript of "77, 78" but again, there were only 73 citations (technically 76 with the i/ii/iii) but where did the 77 and 78 come from? Plus when I select it, the citation links to a random article within the library.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u2034735/hz2zfvgohng0kmnqaabp.png
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u2034735/8j7rhal7ahvxtk8ey7wf.png
I don't understand how the document changes numbers either, because again there were only 74-76 listed and yet Zotero linked it to a random name in the library.
I opened up new docs of the downloaded manuscript from Scholastica and also viewed the document in a browser, and the superscript numbers are back to normal with just 73 citations listed at the bottom of the bibliography.
I wouldn't expect Zotero to be able to do anything with a version of a chapter downloaded from Scholastica.
Can you take step back and explain what you would like Zotero to do exactly? It doesn't seem like you're using it for referencing (which is what the Word add-on is for). I don't think there's a way to productively use it to check existing references of an finished/almost finished manuscript, but it's possible I'm still not understanding correctly.
(Also, the style in your document has nothing to do with APA 7, it looks to be some Vancouver variant)
Thank you for responding. I work with this user on the publications staff side (also as a Zotero newbie), so I can hopefully provide a little more context about the workflow.
The detail about where the document originated (downloaded .docx from what is for all intents and purposes a shared drive) is probably distracting from the actual issue. The important point is that she is revising a Word document from a previous edition of a book project.
The document was already pre-populated with:
* Zotero field-code citations
* a Zotero-generated bibliography
* AMA/Vancouver-style numeric citations and references
Her task is to revise/update the chapter content, which can also involve:
* deleting outdated references,
* replacing citations,
* adding new references,
* or revising citation groups/ranges.
I suspect part of the issue is conceptual/workflow-related rather than a corrupted Zotero library because she is a first-time author who has also never used Zotero before. I'm still trying to see what is happening clearly and understand the issue myself.
Bear with me, but for comparison, I’m going to outline what using Zotero for citation management normally looks like:
1. The author decides a sentence needs support.
2. They click Add/Edit Citation.
3. They choose the correct source from Zotero.
4. Zotero inserts/updates the citation number.
5. Zotero updates the bibliography.
I suspect-- but am not sure-- that ARaman may instead be using Zotero as a kind of “verification” tool while trying to reconcile numbering against the prior edition/reference lists. In practice, I think that may look something like this:
1. The author sees citation number 47 in the text.
2. She expects citation 47 to permanently correspond to reference 47 from the old book, printed lists, earlier downloads, etc.
3. She opens Add/Edit Citation or otherwise interacts with the citation to “check” whether the linkage is correct.
4. Zotero dynamically renumbers because citations have been edited, inserted, deleted, refreshed, or duplicated somewhere in the document.
5. She interprets the renumbering as evidence that the citation linkage is broken.
6. She may then try to “repair” the mismatch by reinserting, deleting, or modifying citations.
7. Those actions create additional renumbering shifts, duplicate references, or bibliography discrepancies, making the document progressively more confusing.
For example, one of the confusing issues involved superscript references 77/78 appearing even though the visible bibliography seemed to end earlier. My current suspicion is that:
* additional citations may have been inserted or duplicated during checking,
* the bibliography may not have been refreshed at some point,
* or she may be mentally counting i/ii/iii table/figure source notes as part of the numbered Zotero bibliography sequence.
The key conceptual issue may simply be that she is treating the bibliography numbering as a static master reference system tied to the prior edition, whereas Zotero is dynamically generating numbering from the active citations present in the current document.
Does that interpretation sound plausible to you?
More broadly, for a workflow where authors are revising an already-Zotero-populated manuscript, would you generally recommend that they:
* avoid trying to reconcile numbering against older static versions,
* work from only one active Word document,
* and treat the bibliography generated in the active document as the source of truth?
Thanks again for the help. We are all relatively new to managing multi-author Zotero revision workflows at this scale.
And yes, when I have to work with Vancouver/numerical type citation styles, I make absolutely sure that I work with a single, up-to-date document with active Zotero citations and rely on the bibliography updating. There's little sense in comparing numbers to an old document for exactly the reasons you say.
Zotero is incredibly unlikely to somehow jumble citation order, but if someone really wants to verify numerical citations, I think the best way to do so would be to use "Split" or "New Window" view in Word, having the text side-by-side with the bibliography and checking that all numbered citations make sense where they are.