Big space after citation number in reference list

uhthome · February 15, 2016

Hi, maybe one of you can help me. There is always a long space after the citation number as soon the the citiation number becomes double digit. Obviously, the is a tab character an the tabs are set wrong. Modifying the tabs does not help, they are re-set as soon as the reference list is refreshed... I am using MS word and the Lancet style. It looks like that:

8 Neitzke U, Hard....

9 Ronkainen E,...

10 IshiiiH, TakamiT,....

11 Morin EC, Schl...

Any ideas?

Thanks a lot
Ulrich

bwiernik · February 15, 2016

Zotero uses the "Bibliography" style in Word to format the references list, and it re-applies the style each time the list is updated. Modify the tabs in the Word style to fix your issue.

gscotti · September 18, 2017

I am having the same issue, from time to time. I have not identified a pattern yet. However, I decided to check the "Bibliography" style in this document in which I am having the same issue at the moment: I notice that I have two "Bibliography" styles listed under "Styles", and while one could be edited, the other gives the error "The style name already exists or is reserved for a built-in style." I am assuming it's Zotero that created this "built-in style".

Just to show that I did my homework, I edited the one Bibliography style that I could, changed the tab stop to a smaller value, but that had no effect on the reference list. It still looks ugly with huge tabs after the reference number.

gscotti · September 18, 2017

I fixed the problem by editing the Normal style. It didn't have a tab spacing defined, so I defined one at 0.89 cm, and now the reference list looks nice.

mn4net · March 17, 2019

The following worked for me:
Step 1: Select "Reference list" > Style (expand; lower right arrow) > right-click Bibliography > Modify > Tabs > clear all Tab settings

Step 2: Select "Reference list" > Style (expand; lower right arrow) > right-click Bibliography > Modify > Paragraphs > change hanging style value to 0.85 cm

mbhall88 · August 4, 2024

I always run into this problem and always forget what I did to fix it. For my future-self sake (and hopefully others), go to 'Document Preferences' In the Zotero menu in Word, change the Citation Style to anything else, select OK, let the document update, then select your original Citation Style that you want. This works for me and fixes the big spacing after the double-digit references.