After deleting all instances of a specific reference, the bibliography still lists that reference

LMehrmanesh
Hello,

I am having trouble with my bibliography. I am using Mac Word and the Firefox Zotero Plug-In. My Word bibliography does not seem to get updated when I delete all instances of a specific reference in the document. As in, the reference itself is still listed in the bibliography even though there is no actual citation using it.

I tried emptying my Zotero trash and clicking "Zotero Refresh" in Word and that didn't fix it.

Please help,
LMehrmanesh
  • aurimas
    If you position your cursor on the bibliography and click the Zotero "Edit Bibliography" button, what happens?
  • LMehrmanesh
    Hm. After experimenting with a different reference in my list, I conclude the problem is with specific references or the order, because for other references, when I delete them, the bibliography is adjusted.

    Thanks for your thoughts!
    -Laura
  • adamsmith
    Right, but you should be able to remove the reference using the "Edit Bibliography" button. The reason it's still there is most likely that either you're missing one instance or a reference to the item remained in a hidden field when you deleted the citation.
  • aurimas
    In that case, you must have manually edited the bibliography. If you use the "Edit Bibliography" function, you can reset your edits and the references will update automatically.
  • LMehrmanesh
    Hmmm.... I like your idea of somehow there's an instance of it that's hidden. I did "Find" for [17] (the reference I'm trying to get rid of that keeps popping back into my bibliography) and it's only finding the one in the bibliography. How do I find "hidden" instances?
  • adamsmith
    Assuming you use Word, toggle field codes on using alt+F9 - you should then be able to see the active field between [16] and [18].
    If you don't, try deleting and re-inserting those two references.
  • LMehrmanesh
    Thanks so much, all! I finally fixed it! Thanks adamsmith - Toggling field codes using alt+F9 allowed me to see a hidden instance of the reference that kept regenerating in the bibiography mysteriously! I deleted it in the view where you could see hidden codes. That did it! No more regenerating!
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