Zotero refs reverting to pre-edited version

Clairejr
Hello, I wrote a report using Zotero for the references and it worked well. I have edited some of the references along the way. Now I am writing a new report, using both text imported from the old report, complete with Zotero refs, and some new text and refs. However, many of the refs are reverting to an old pre-edited version. This happens even after I've refreshed Zotero. If I actually go into the library I am using, the references are all edited and correct. So I am getting different versions of the refs in my document, than are visible in the Zotero library.
Can anyone help please?
  • aurimas
    There are a couple of possibilities.

    1. You inserted a reference, the data got stored in your document, and then the reference you inserted was deleted from Zotero library. So the entry you are editing in Zotero is not the same as the one that was inserted originally and would not update your document.

    2. You still have two of the same reference in your library and you're editing the wrong one. Search your whole library for the reference.

    3. You inserted the reference from a group library, but you're editing the reference in your personal library.

    In either case, try reinserting the reference (make sure to insert from "My Library" and not from "Cited" section). If after reinserting the reference you can edit it in your Zotero library and the changes carry over to your document, then it's probably one of the above and it will probably be easiest to re-insert them. If the changes are still not reflected in your document after you re-insert, we can troubleshoot further.
  • Clairejr
    Thanks aurimas. I checked all the above and can't find source of problem. There is not more than one reference of that work in the library. I finally deleted the reference in the document and re-inserted it, from My Library and not from a group library. At least, the library that's selected/greyed out while I am working in my document is the top library, called My Library. Still, the reference appears in its original un-edited version. In the library, the reference is correct.
  • aurimas
    We're talking about the way the reference appears in the bibliography, correct? Was the bibliography also copied from the old document? Try deleting the entire bibliography section and re-inserting it.

    Which Zotero are you using? Standalone? Are you also using Firefox? Is Zotero installed in Firefox as well?
  • Clairejr
    yes we're talking about the way the ref appears in the biblio -- that is incorrect, whereas in the library the ref is fine. I tried deleting the biblio and re-inserting; no luck. The ref still comes out wrong. I'm using Zotero as Firefox add-on and Firefox is version 30.0. I'm on a mac, system 10.8.5
  • aurimas
    If you open a new document and insert the reference in question there, does it come out correctly?
  • Clairejr
    Tried this and no, still incorrect. very peculiar.
  • aurimas
    In the new Word document, insert a reference, press Alt+F9, select everything in between the first opening brace { and the last closing brace } and copy it. Paste it here. (Is your account synced with zotero.org?)

    Should look something like
    ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"24r0uj5s2j","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Alberts et al., 1998)","plainCitation":"(Alberts et al., 1998)"},"citationItems":[{"id":116,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/275915/items/92BDTK9D"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/275915/items/92BDTK9D"],"itemData":{"id":116,"type":"article-journal","title":"Activation of SRF-Regulated Chromosomal Templates by Rho-Family GTPases Requires a Signal that Also Induces H4 Hyperacetylation","container-title":"Cell","page":"475-487","volume":"92","issue":"4","source":"ScienceDirect","abstract":"Constitutively active forms of the small GTPases RhoA (RhoA.V14) and Cdc42 (Cdc42.V12) induce expression of extrachromosomal SRF reporter genes in microinjection experiments, but only Cdc42.V12 can efficiently activate a chromosomal template. Both SAPK/JNK-dependent or -independent signals can cooperate with RhoA.V14 to activate chromosomal SRF reporters, and it is SAPK/JNK activation by Cdc42.V12 that allows it to activate chromosomal templates. Cooperating signals can be bypassed by deacetylase inhibitors. Three findings show that histone H4 hyperacetylation is one target for cooperating signals, although it alone is not sufficient: (1) Cdc42.V12, but not RhoA.V14, induces H4 hyperacetylation; (2) cooperating signals use the same SAPK/JNK-dependent or -independent pathways to induce H4 hyperacetylation; (3) growth factor and stress stimuli induce substantial H4 hyperacetylation, detectable in reporter gene chromatin. These data establish a link between signal-regulated acetylation events and gene transcription.","DOI":"10.1016/S0092-8674(00)80941-1","ISSN":"0092-8674","author":[{"family":"Alberts","given":"Arthur S"},{"family":"Geneste","given":"Olivier"},{"family":"Treisman","given":"Richard"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1998",2,20]]},"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2011",11,21]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"}
  • aurimas
    Also, can you give example of what you're seeing and what you're expecting to see in the bibliography?
  • Clairejr
    I tried your recommendation above and nothing happens when I hit Alt+F9 -- no curly brackets or coding appear. May be a Mac thing?

    Here's an example of what I see and expect to see in the biblio:

    What I see:
    Benbrook C. Evidence of the Magnitude and Consequences of the Roundup Ready Soybean Yield Drag from University-Based Varietal Trials in 1998: Ag BioTech InfoNet Technical Paper Number 1. Sandpoint, Idaho; 1999. Available at: http://www.mindfully.org/GE/RRS-Yield-Drag.htm.

    What I expect to see (I always use JAMA style and it's always worked OK for me):
    Benbrook C. Evidence of the magnitude and consequences of the Roundup Ready soybean yield drag from university-based varietal trials in 1998: Ag BioTech InfoNet Technical Paper Number 1. Sandpoint, Idaho; 1999. Available at: http://www.mindfully.org/GE/RRS-Yield-Drag.htm.

    Note that I like to de-capitalise the titles of reports insofar as I can. Again, this has always worked fine on previous occasions.
  • aurimas
    Ooh, we're only talking about title case vs sentence case (should have asked for an example to start with). There's nothing you can fix in your metadata to change this (though you should always enter titles in sentence case). JAMA, which is just a link to the AMA style, was recently updated to title-case the titles of all monographs (e.g. reports). Not a lot of detail was given, but here's some discussion https://github.com/citation-style-language/styles/pull/977 Adamsmith, who's currently on vacation, would be able to tell you why the change was made in more detail.

    In any case, title-casing report titles is presumably the correct thing to do. If you want to use sentence case, you can create a personalized style by modifying AMA https://www.zotero.org/support/dev/citation_styles/style_editing_step-by-step
  • Clairejr
    Oh I see! thank you very much for solving the mystery and sorry to take your time by not explaining the specific problem sooner. In fact I am relieved it's not some weird problem with my Zotero library...

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