How to identify the citation which links to an entry that has been removed from my library?

frankcpp

Dear all,

Firstly, I inserted a citation, say, (Frank, 2020), in the text. Secondly, I deleted the corresponding entry in my Zotero local library. Thirdly, I refreshed my Word document but still could see the citation intact in the text.

How can I identify those citations that already have no references to my library?

Why can those citations still show correct references? I supposed they should show something like a question mark or a warning message.

Thanks,
Frank

adamsmith

Zotero stores metadata in the Word document when you insert a citation and once you delete the corresponding item in Zotero, relies on that metadata.

I don't actually think there's a good way to show those citations (you can tell individually when editing citations. Items linked to the Zotero library have a "Show in Library" button)

frankcpp

Yes, the "Show in Library" button can tell us if this citation is really in the library. But, if we want to check all citations in an article, that will obviously be very time-consuming and unreliable.

In EndNote, the citations without a reference to the user library are identified as "travelling library". I just wonder if Zotero can also identify the travelling or dangling items easily.

adamsmith

Could you step back and clarify why you want to identify these items?

frankcpp

Mainly for two reasons...

1. A user cites an item many times in his article. This item is, say, (Frank, 2020), which exists in the library. Then he intentionally or unintentionally deletes the item from the library. Later, he decides to add this item back to the library and cites it again. Then the reference list will show two (Frank, 2020). This duplication can easily be detected if the reference list is sorted by author names. But for the numbered or superscript style, the duplication cannot easily be detected because the duplicate items may not be shown consecutively.

2. The second reason is for reliability and consistency. If an item has been removed from the library, but the reference list still shows the metadata saved previously. Even if the user refreshes the document, the out-of-date metadata cannot be updated. Therefore, this update is not a complete update. Partial update can lead to some inconsistency problems. For example, if the user used 'sentence case' in the past, but now he changes all items in the library to 'title case'. Then, the out-of-date metadata will still be shown in 'sentence case'. It will be very difficult to detect this, when the article has many references.

For these reasons, I think it is useful to identify those travelling or dangling items by the software (as done in EndNote), instead of humans. In sum, a user should be able to easily control everything he cites and makes sure the refresh is a reliable update.

adamsmith

OK, that makes sense (note though that you can avoid 1) by re-citing the existing item from the document, which is the default top choice in the Word add-on and that 2) you should always keep your library in sentence case).

As I say above, it's not possible currently possible and I don't think it's a super high priority, though we do occasionally come across cases where it'd be helpful.

frankcpp

This is a picture from EndNote, which can tell you where each reference exactly comes from (user library or travelling library).

https://www.greensim.net/library.jpg

Just for your information.