zotero linking with ebsco problems

oboe3411
Hi. I am importing citations from Ebsco search. I get it to work but it the number of citations do not match up. The number of Ebsco citations is always lower than the number that import into Zotero. Has anyone encountered this problem? Know why?
  • adamsmith
    We'd need more details: which EBSCO databases, how are you importing, which search strings are you using...
  • oboe3411
    I am searching with multiple data bases but i think it automatically takes out duplicates (not too sure). I am exporting from ebsco and then downloading into zotero through the link sent through email. I use the first export option (ris)
  • adamsmith
    That's almost certainly an EBSCO issue then -- Zotero just imports whatever is in the RIS file they export.
  • oboe3411
    hmmm ok, maybe it is not exporting the total number of citations it is showing in the search results.
  • adamsmith
    You're saying Zotero is importing _more_ items than it should, right? If it imported fewer, there'd be a small chance it's our issue, but more is definitely an EBSCO problem.
  • oboe3411
    no...the total zotero number is lower than the ebsco search number. So if ebsco says it found 100 citations and i export that list the zotero import stops at lets say 75. I have tried with different searches and it always imports less than ebsco says it found. I am not sure, however, how many citations ebsco is actually exporting. I would have to find out how to know that.
  • adamsmith
    then it's worth taking a look.
    Take the RIS file that you download from EBSCO and open it with a text editor Notepad, TextEdit. Then check how many entries it has. Every entry should start with "TY - " so you can just count the number of occurrences of that tag.
  • oboe3411
    You are correct. I did what you suggested. The ebsco search resulted in 180 citations. When exported only 142 were in the text editor. When I then imported into zotero it imported 142. Hmmm. so what happens to the other 38 citations from ebsco?
  • adamsmith
    Can't say I'm afraid. Try their support (I'd suggest not mentioning Zotero, as often that'll just lead to tech support trying to shift blame; just focus on the RIS export).
  • oboe3411
    got ya. Thanks will do.
  • Jean.hare
    same issue for our team...large discrepancy too. n=552 on the ebsco search, n=474 on the ebsco .ris import into zotero (and other platforms too such as rayyan). Suspect it's any ebsco function but their forums dpoint elaborate...any explanation or resolution here?
  • dstillman
    Nothing we can say here. If the RIS only includes some of the items, that's obviously an issue you'll need to take up with EBSCO.
  • trliss
    I have discovered that the initial number of search results displayed does not match the number of results if you page through the search results to the last page. Once you get to the last page of results, it suddenly changes to a much lower number, which for me matches the number I get when I import the RIS to Zotero. Here's EBSCO's explanation for the perplexing behavior: https://connect.ebsco.com/s/article/Why-does-the-total-number-of-results-change-on-the-final-page-of-the-result-list?language=en_US However, I'm also getting a huge number of duplicates within the RIS, confirmed by opening it in a text editor. So this is definitely an EBSCO issue. I opened a case with them, I'll post here if I find anything useful to others.
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