Refs gone from library box but still ok in the Word file

About 6 months ago, I did some work on a Word file using the Z Word plug in. I inserted 12 citations. It was all working ok at that time. I have now returned to the document to review it (and add more citations in other writing), and the citations are all there in the Word file ok, and I can insert new citations in the document using the 'add/edit citations' button and the Z window.
But all of the original 12 source citations are NOT appearing in the Z window (and thus I can't do ANYTHING with them). It is as if they have been deleted - but they are still appearing in the actual Word file, so they are still in the computer (& Zotero?) somewhere???
Can I get them back? I really need to sort this, because I have to have confidence that I won't lose citations similarly at some random point in the future. I have a LOT more citations to include in the other chapters.
I have just done an update to 4.0.29.10 to make sure it wasn't an update issue, but it's still just the same.
A solution would be very much appreciated, thanks. I just hope it is as simple as me doing something really dumb :-)
  • Is this on the same computer you entered the citations? Do you see them when you click on "My Library" at the top of this page? Which browser are you using with Zotero?

    (There is a way to re-import the citations from a Word doc, but a) they won't be linked to the document anymore, so you still wouldn't be able to edit them and b) that wouldn't solve the issue of disappearing citations, which strikes me as a bigger issue than to re-enter 12 citations.)
  • Thanks Adam. Yes, it is the same computer on which I entered the citations. And not much has changed on this computer that I can think of, in that time.
    Now, YES! I can see them when I click on 'my library' at the top of the page! I am using Firefox.
    I am confused. I guess there is some obvious reason why I cannot see them when I open up ... I realize that I got to the 'Z box' by opening up Zotero from the Z icon on the desktop, so I guess that when one does that, it doesn't link up to the Zotero in the browser?? And it is the browser one which has the good stuff in it.
    I actually can't really remember how I worked on the document 6 months ago, but I don't recall working off the browser...?
    I thought that using the stand alone Zotero meant not working in the browser?
    Ok, so I have just been fooling around again trying to see what I can see. And I can only insert citations into the old Word file from the 'Z box' (ie some dummy citations which I put there to test with) and NOT from the old citation list which is coming up in the browser as you instructed.
    I think that is all that I can think of.
    Thanks for your prompt help.
    Les
  • While checking further, a couple more questions:
    When using the 'Z box', to try dummy citations, Vs using the 'cite' button in the browser list, the SAME citation style looks very different. Eg the American Psychological Association style in the browser list 'cite' button looks more like it should, but when I check it in the 'Z box' (that is by observing the resultant change in the document), it looks weird - only stating some of the info for starters.
    Also when I am using the same style in a dummy file as I did 6 months ago (MHRA 3rd edition note with bibliography), it is now giving me roman numerals as reference numbers (in the file body and also where the citation is at the end of the file), whereas it used to be decimal numbers 6 months ago...?
    Actually the cit style I would prefer is the APA one mentioned above, but couldn't seem to get that previously in that regular format.............??
  • So first, you'll just want to sync your copy of Zotero:
    https://www.zotero.org/support/sync

    As for APA, the website gives you the bibliography entry; the Word add-on gives you the in-text citation. You then use "insert bibliography" to insert the bibliography.

    For MHRA (and any note-based style): whether footnotes/endnotes are using roman or arabic numerals is a Word setting. The exact way to change this varies by Word version, but you can easily google it with something like "switch footnotes to roman numerals" together with your Word version.
  • I think I have it worked out - I will have to play around with it more over next few days. Thanks for your help.
  • All of the above seems to be fine now, thanks. I am now having a weird thing happening - some of the references are not getting added properly into the Word document. I am using MHRA (note with bibliography). That is, when I insert 'reference X' in as a citation, it is only showing up in the citation list at the bottom of the Word document with the creator ONLY - NOT the rest of the details (publisher etc). And it does that with those certain references (which is most of them) consistently - I couldn't get it to insert everything no matter what I did, ie rebooting Word, rebooting Zotero (I haven't tried rebooting the computer). But a couple of the other references are inserting fine with all the details there as I want them to be. ...?
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