Disappearing Citations

Fthomson
Hi. I am just writing my first paper using Zotero. I am adding citations as I go. I just noticed that quite a few of my citations have quite literally disappeared. I have to go back and figure out which source I got the data from and the page number, etc. and reinsert all again. I am starting to wonder whether this is more hassle than its worth... Is there a way to save the Zotero citations without risk of them just vanishing from the document?

Thanks for any help.
  • adamsmith
    I've never heard of something like this happening. What's the exact set-up you're using and which citation style?
  • Fthomson
    Hi.

    I am using Chicago citation style, though at one point I tried switching to APA and then switched back. Set up? I am using a Macbook, Zotero 4.0.17, Firefox 25.01 and Word 12.3.6. Is that what setup means? I occasionally get some error messages through Zotero, usually when I am inserting a new citation and it suddenly switches to Firefox rather than the Word screen, but I would just try again and the second time it worked. However, I can´t see a relation between the citations that disappeared and the ones that had the error message when I first inserted them...

    Is there perhaps a special setting that saves it as text and as a Zotero citation that will protect against this happening again?

    Thanks for your help. Even though I get frustrated with the program sometimes, I have to say you guys are absolutely amazing at responding quickly and helping people.
  • arggem
    How exactly are you entering a citation? Can you describe your process step by step?
  • adamsmith
    not sure if the data entry is relevant here - I'd focus on the error you mention. What exactly does that say? I suspect that will be the key to figuring this out.
  • Fthomson
    Hi. When in Word I use the little black ribbon at the end of the tool bar and I click on Zotero and then add citation. Once I do that a little Zotero bar pops up and I type the name or key word into it and then a drop down list appears and I click on the source I want, hit enter, and then click on the last name and year that appears to add the page number. Isn't this the only way to add a citation?
  • adamsmith
    that's exactly right. But what is the error message you've been getting?
  • arggem
    edited December 20, 2013
    People sometimes people don't understand how it works, and do some strange things, thinking it's correct.

    Since this is your first paper, I just wanted to confirm the obvious. :)

    Don't forget to answer adamsmith's question regarding the exact error message.

    Edit: cross-posted with adamsmith
  • Fthomson
    The error message is "Zotero experienced an error updating your document. Document modified during update @[setCode:field.m:585]' when calling method: [zoteroIntegrationField::setCode]"

    When this comes up the citation does not insert successfully. It has always worked when I do it a second time. This seems to be related to switching between Firefox and Word windows too quickly.

    I do not think this necessarily has anything to do with the disappearing citations though, since this has happened with citations that haven't vanished later and the timing of the two are not linked.
  • Fthomson
    Could the vanished citations be linked to me changing at one point from Chicago to APA and back to Chicago style? I think it may have happened just after that...
  • aurimas
    I am using a Macbook, Zotero 4.0.17, Firefox 25.01 and Word 12.3.6. Is that what setup means?
    Just to be sure, that's Zotero 4.0.17 _inside_ Firefox, not Zotero Standalone 4.0.17 _and_ Firefox, correct? (Last time this error was reported, an update to Zotero 4.0.16 seems to have fixed the issue, so I'm wondering if maybe you have an outdated Firefox extension, but an up to date Zotero Standalone)
    Could the vanished citations be linked to me changing at one point from Chicago to APA and back to Chicago style?
    That should not have caused any loss in citations. Of course if there is a bug somewhere that's triggered by an odd use case, then it's possible.

    Also, just to clarify,
    Once I do that a little Zotero bar pops up and I type the name or key word into it and then a drop down list appears and I click on the source I want, hit enter, and then click on the last name and year that appears to add the page number.
    The description in bold is a bit ambiguous. When you click the source in the list _and_ press enter afterwards, you would be taken back to the Word document. So when you say you add the page number, is that still inside the red Zotero bar, or are you typing this in Word itself?
  • Fthomson
    1.I think it is embedded in Firefox since the only way to get to it is via Firefox. Still, how do I make sure I don't have the standalone version? I didn't see any such description in the "settings" "About Zotero" information bar.

    2.How can I figure out if I have a bug and how to fix it?

    3.I don't know how else to describe the process in a less ambiguous way. I am using Zotero to insert the page number, not Word.
  • Fthomson
    Hi. I have just noticed about 5 more vanished citations. Could someone please tell me how to convert the Zotero citations into plain text? I don't want to risk loosing any more as it is a lot of work to try to work out where each bit of information came from (source, page numbers). Thank you.
  • Fthomson
    Citations still vanishing by the hour. Could someone please help me by explaining how to switch to plain text (rather than Zotero linked citations) to prevent me from loosing any more? It is a lot of work to search through the documents I have read and the pages to find the lost info for the citations. Thank goodness its only a 20 page paper and not my 300 page Phd thesis...
  • aurimas
    edited December 21, 2013
    http://www.zotero.org/support/creating_bibliographies for plain text bibliographies/citations.

    If you don't mind, could you send the document with disappearing citations to support@zotero.org with a link to this thread?

    Edit: If you have any pointers of how to reproduce the vanishing citations, that would be very helpful as well.

    Oh and...
    1.I think it is embedded in Firefox since the only way to get to it is via Firefox. Still, how do I make sure I don't have the standalone version? I didn't see any such description in the "settings" "About Zotero" information bar.
    This could only be a problem for if you have Zotero Standalone open, since you clearly do not, it doesn't matter if it's installed or not (though I doubt it would be installed if you don't know about it).
  • adamsmith
    If you just want to remove any link to Zotero (ideally in a copy of the document) use "Remove Field Codes"
    I'd strongly recommend keeping a copy of the document that includes Zotero.
  • Fthomson
    Thanks for the advice. I will Remove Field Codes in additional documents as backup and continue using Zotero for a while to see how it goes. I will let you know if I realise anything more about these disappearing citations that could be a good clue as to why or how it happened.

    Thank you.
  • tbnz
    edited October 4, 2015
    Go to 'Zotero' on the ribbon in MSWord. Click 'Document Preferences'. Unclick 'Store references in this document'.

    You will have to do this each time you lose a reference.

    I was having the same issue as you (really frustrating) but this seems to fix it.

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