old references get displaced by new ones in libreoffice

Hello,

I use linux mint cinnamon with libreoffice. When I add new references to a document I already have worked with and added references to, the old references get displaced by the new ones.

This means that a new reference that I add after having opened the document from where I left off, will be labeled reference number 1, although it's actually for example reference number 50.
Furthermore, as already mentioned, this new reference number '1' displaces the original reference nr 1.
Thank you for any help you can offer

Reidar
  • edited October 17, 2019
    This could depend on the citation style. If it sorts them alphabetically, then it could end up as your new #1.
    Does that particular citation start with an "A" by any chance?
    If so, this can be changed in the citation style used or by choosing another one. Which one are you using?

    Other than that, are the citations still linked and active? If they are just text now then it would start at #1, too.
  • Hello,

    I don't quite know what you mean with "citations still linked and active". There is no hyperlink to the references at the end of the document when I click on the citation numbers in the text. I don't think this is a service offered by zotero.

    Furthermore, citation #1 doesn't start with an 'A', and the problem still persists even if i switch from for example vancouver to APA style.

  • If you click on an existing citation or bibliography, is it shaded gray? If you right-click on it, can you choose Toggle Field Codes and see code, or is it just plain text?

    If the answer to those is no, you'd have to restore from a backup of the document.

    Generally, that means the existing citations and bibliography are no longer active fields, which happens if you save the document in some other format (e.g., not .docx when using Word) or run it through another program (e.g., Google Docs without the appropriate conversion steps). It would obviously also happen if you used Unlink Citations.
  • Thanks,

    the citations weren't gray as they should be, and this is probably because I first converted the document to pdf, and then converted it back again to odt.

    I solved the problem by retrieving the original version of the document. Here, all citations are grey and everything works fine.

  • Yup, exactly. .pdfs can't store the citations.
    Good you had the original file still.
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