Multiple collections with different styles

edited February 26, 2020
My apologies if this set of queries is a bit basic. I checked the Zotero documentation but still am unclear. I'm an editor working for a client who has a book manuscript with citations from her Zotero library (and I have access to her library). She has deleted a chapter from her book manuscript and is developing this former chapter as a separate journal article that will cite some of the sources from her book manuscript. The book manuscript is in Chicago style but the journal article needs to be in SAGE Harvard style.

My client thinks that she cut and pasted the chapter from her book manuscript to create her journal article. Would I create a new collection specifically for that journal article, dragging items from her Zotero library into this new collection, and then reinsert the citations based on the new collection that's specific to her journal article?

Related to this, how do I then change the citation style for her journal article (and not her book manuscript) from Chicago to SAGE Harvard? I am using Word for Mac (latest version 16.34) with the Zotero plugin and I have just updated Zotero (5.0.82). With the journal article, when I click on "Document preferences" in the Zotero tab in Word, it just takes me to my client's Zotero library. I can't see a way to change the style output specifically for her document (I guess I am too used to EndNote?) and not her entire library.

How do I tell what Zotero collection a document is using/pointing to—or am I misunderstanding what a collection is?
  • The citation style is a property of the document, not the Zotero library.

    In the journal article document, click the Document Preferences button. That will open a window for selecting the citation style and other options. If you are saying it’s taking you the library, that probably means you/they had the add citation Window open. Close Word, reopen it, and try again.
  • edited February 26, 2020
    @bwiernik Thanks so much. I had already restarted Word before making my post and just did this multiple times (as well as restarting Zotero). I was still being taken to my Zotero library but after trying a few times, I noticed that Word was hanging, so I force-quit it and now I've managed to change the citation style.

    So I gather that I don't have to create a separate collection for the journal article in order to change the citation style?
  • No. One of Zotero’s best features is that you can change the citation style for a document with just the click of a button.
  • Thank you. I think I really confused myself with reading about collections after not being able to change the citation style initially.
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