Upgrade Storage**Subject: Italic formatting missing in Microsoft Word – affects both APA 7 and purchased FOM citat
Hello Zotero Support Team,
I am experiencing a persistent formatting issue with the Zotero integration in Microsoft Word for Mac. Italic formatting is not being applied correctly when inserting or updating citations and bibliographies through the Zotero Word plugin.
I have already spent considerable time troubleshooting this issue without finding a solution.
**My system:**
- Zotero: 10.0.6
- Microsoft Word for Mac: 16.114 (26101123), Microsoft 365
- macOS: Sequoia 15.7.9
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Intel)
- Document format: .docx
**Description of the problem:**
I purchased and installed a custom Harvard citation style specifically developed for FOM University of Applied Sciences (Germany) from Citation Styler.
Unfortunately, the citation style does not display the required formatting correctly in my Microsoft Word documents, particularly the italic formatting of author names in in-text citations.
I contacted the developer of Citation Styler, who confirmed that the CSL file is correctly configured. He tested the same citation style on his own system and sent me screenshots demonstrating that the formatting works correctly in his Microsoft Word installation.
However, the same style does not work correctly on my Mac.
To determine whether the issue was caused by the purchased citation style, I also tested the standard APA 7 citation style provided by Zotero.
**The same problem occurs with APA 7.** For example, in the following journal article, the journal title and volume number should be italicized:
Imboden, C., Claussen, M. C., Seifritz, E., & Gerber, M. (2022). Die Bedeutung von körperlicher Aktivität für die psychische Gesundheit. *Praxis, 111*(4), 186–191. https://doi.org/10.1024/1661-8157/a003831
When Zotero inserts the bibliography directly into Word, the journal title and volume number appear in regular font instead of italics.
**Troubleshooting steps already completed:**
1. I checked the Zotero Citation Style Preview. Both APA 7 and the purchased FOM citation style display the expected italic formatting correctly.
2. I used Zotero's "Create Bibliography from Item" function, copied the APA 7 bibliography to the clipboard and pasted it into Microsoft Word. The italic formatting was preserved correctly.
3. However, when inserting the same bibliography through the Zotero Word plugin, the italic formatting is missing.
4. I switched the citation style in Word's Zotero Document Preferences to APA 7 and refreshed the bibliography. The problem remained.
5. I cleared formatting in Word and changed the paragraph style, without success.
6. I reinstalled the Zotero Word add-in through Zotero's settings and restarted Word. This did not resolve the issue.
7. I inspected the Zotero bibliography field code in Word. It appears as `ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL ... CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY`, without a `MERGEFORMAT` switch.
8. I checked the font formatting of the affected journal title directly in Word. Italics are not enabled, so this does not appear to be merely a visual display issue.
9. I confirmed that the document is saved in .docx format.
**My conclusion and questions:**
Zotero appears to generate the correct formatted citations and bibliographies, and Microsoft Word can display the formatting correctly when the bibliography is pasted from the clipboard.
The formatting seems to be lost specifically when citations or bibliographies are inserted or updated through the Zotero Word integration.
Since the issue affects both the standard APA 7 style and a commercially developed citation style that works correctly on the developer's system, I suspect a problem with the Zotero–Word integration or a compatibility issue specific to my installation.
Could you please advise me on the likely cause and how to resolve it?
In particular, I would like to know whether this is a known issue with the current versions of Zotero and Microsoft Word for Mac, and whether there is a solution that preserves the automatic citation and bibliography updates.
I am currently writing an academic project report and depend on Zotero for accurate citation formatting. I would therefore greatly appreciate your assistance.
Thank you very much for your help!
I am experiencing a persistent formatting issue with the Zotero integration in Microsoft Word for Mac. Italic formatting is not being applied correctly when inserting or updating citations and bibliographies through the Zotero Word plugin.
I have already spent considerable time troubleshooting this issue without finding a solution.
**My system:**
- Zotero: 10.0.6
- Microsoft Word for Mac: 16.114 (26101123), Microsoft 365
- macOS: Sequoia 15.7.9
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Intel)
- Document format: .docx
**Description of the problem:**
I purchased and installed a custom Harvard citation style specifically developed for FOM University of Applied Sciences (Germany) from Citation Styler.
Unfortunately, the citation style does not display the required formatting correctly in my Microsoft Word documents, particularly the italic formatting of author names in in-text citations.
I contacted the developer of Citation Styler, who confirmed that the CSL file is correctly configured. He tested the same citation style on his own system and sent me screenshots demonstrating that the formatting works correctly in his Microsoft Word installation.
However, the same style does not work correctly on my Mac.
To determine whether the issue was caused by the purchased citation style, I also tested the standard APA 7 citation style provided by Zotero.
**The same problem occurs with APA 7.** For example, in the following journal article, the journal title and volume number should be italicized:
Imboden, C., Claussen, M. C., Seifritz, E., & Gerber, M. (2022). Die Bedeutung von körperlicher Aktivität für die psychische Gesundheit. *Praxis, 111*(4), 186–191. https://doi.org/10.1024/1661-8157/a003831
When Zotero inserts the bibliography directly into Word, the journal title and volume number appear in regular font instead of italics.
**Troubleshooting steps already completed:**
1. I checked the Zotero Citation Style Preview. Both APA 7 and the purchased FOM citation style display the expected italic formatting correctly.
2. I used Zotero's "Create Bibliography from Item" function, copied the APA 7 bibliography to the clipboard and pasted it into Microsoft Word. The italic formatting was preserved correctly.
3. However, when inserting the same bibliography through the Zotero Word plugin, the italic formatting is missing.
4. I switched the citation style in Word's Zotero Document Preferences to APA 7 and refreshed the bibliography. The problem remained.
5. I cleared formatting in Word and changed the paragraph style, without success.
6. I reinstalled the Zotero Word add-in through Zotero's settings and restarted Word. This did not resolve the issue.
7. I inspected the Zotero bibliography field code in Word. It appears as `ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL ... CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY`, without a `MERGEFORMAT` switch.
8. I checked the font formatting of the affected journal title directly in Word. Italics are not enabled, so this does not appear to be merely a visual display issue.
9. I confirmed that the document is saved in .docx format.
**My conclusion and questions:**
Zotero appears to generate the correct formatted citations and bibliographies, and Microsoft Word can display the formatting correctly when the bibliography is pasted from the clipboard.
The formatting seems to be lost specifically when citations or bibliographies are inserted or updated through the Zotero Word integration.
Since the issue affects both the standard APA 7 style and a commercially developed citation style that works correctly on the developer's system, I suspect a problem with the Zotero–Word integration or a compatibility issue specific to my installation.
Could you please advise me on the likely cause and how to resolve it?
In particular, I would like to know whether this is a known issue with the current versions of Zotero and Microsoft Word for Mac, and whether there is a solution that preserves the automatic citation and bibliography updates.
I am currently writing an academic project report and depend on Zotero for accurate citation formatting. I would therefore greatly appreciate your assistance.
Thank you very much for your help!
-
adomasven Zotero TeamCould you submit a Debug ID for a citation insertion operation that is supposed to insert italic text but doesn't? What version of Word are you running?
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adamsmithIt's very likely this: https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/italics_in_word_bibliographies
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damnationedited yesterday at 5:00pm(note that this is about the in-text citations. Changing to APA and back to my style renders them correctly, but when she adds a new citation they go completely italic again. Note that in my style the name-part needs to be in italic)
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adamsmithCan you clarify whether you can reproduce this on your end? It sounded like not, but now it sounds like you may see the same?
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damnationedited yesterday at 9:48pmNo, I couldn't reproduce it. For me I just changed to APA, back to my style and adding a new citation didn't change anything for me.