I am currently using Zotero and the inhability to merge adjacent references that were originally separated is absolutely gonna make stop using it. It is incredible that after multiple users have explained in painful detail why it is needed, there is still someone arguing that is not necessary. Develop it or not, your choiche, but stop arguing that is a niche functionality. Most people need at some point to merge citations that were originally apart, that is it. it is highly necessary.
I've created a ticket to track this. We're not immediately planning to implement the feature, but this will be on our backlog when doing the next round of big changes and improvements for the document processor plugins.
(to be clear though, I'm not arguing. I just think that unless/until merge functionality exists, it's important for folks to understand what is and what isn't already possible in Zotero, and a good number of people posting in this thread appear unaware of existing functionality to edit citations).
Might also elevate the fact that earlier in the thread there is a user-contributed macro offering at least part of the requested functionality (in Word). Last I checked it, that worked.
Thanks for the Macro. I'll give it a go and see if I can make it work.
Would like to add another vote for the merge functionality. Without it, one has to use Zotero only after they have finalised the text in their document. That would require either: a) writing the text perfectly first-time around adding in the references as you go; or b) write a note at the end of each sentence detailing what references you might want to link in once you're finished making the text perfect; or c) make your text perfect, then try and remember the references relevant to each sentence.
@parfitt.christine: This sounds like yet another misunderstanding — the options you've listed are absolutely not required. As explained repeatedly in this thread, you can trivially add items to or remove items from a given citation. The only thing that's not possible now is merging separate individual single citations.
I am in the process of editing my text which has zotero citations in it that I've brought across from scrivener. I need to merge sentences and move them around in paragraphs and therefore merge citations. I will now hopefully get the macro to work, or I will have to go through and find all the places that I now have (ref1,ref2)(ref3,ref4) and add ref 3 and ref 4 to ref 1 and 2. In a long document with lots of edits, this is quite a lot of work. No doubt it will become more work once my supervisors add their edits.
So, to avoid this I would need to do process a, b or c above. Thus requiring almost perfect text before adding the citations.
Oh god, I never would have started using Zotero, if I had known that merging separate individual citations is not possible!! :(( Honestly, I am flabbergasted, by the fact that such a crucial functionality - which seems to be requested over a decade now is just dismissed and never implemented.
I think the utility of this feature (which everyone agrees would be nice) is rated very differently based on what one is used to and how one writes. In over a decade of using Zotero (for >50 papers and a thesis) I've never really missed it dearly and find it hard to imagine a style of writing where I would regularly need it. Still, obviously others have different experiences. For what it's worth, there is a macro available that implements some of this functionality in Word; you might want to try that.
Could someone comment on whether the macro in this thread works using Word for Mac (v. 16)? It is not working for me and I'm not sure whether this is due to my own errors in installing it or incompatibility with my version of Word. Thanks!
I do think a merge citations feature would be nice, but current functionality — add a new citation to a long list of citations — is pretty close and fine for most use cases. Just select citations you want to add to and click "Add/Edit Citation" button. After several days of frustration, I was pretty happy to find this feature.
I have i.e. [5][6][7] (yes, I am guilty of this "error") and want to get [5-7], I select all 3 and click Add/Edit Citation. I just see the red window with the 1st one. Are you saying that the only way to get what I want is to select references for 6 and 7 again??? And this discussion is running since years instead of providing a solution???
@wh_fzj_ste: your script does not work on Word Pro 2019 + zotero 5.0.96.2 + plugin 5.0.19.SA.5.0.96.2 The document remains the same after running the script.
Users are asking for this feature since 2008! Frankly, this is a shame. Note that probably 10x more users than those reporting here just quit Zotero for apps that do have this feature implemented.
It's definitely possible that some people need this feature so badly that they'd switch to an inferior (less open, less user friendly, more profit-driven) app just because it has this feature. But the reverse happens too. In fact quit an app that did have this feature implemented (EndNote) for Zotero way back, and even while occasionally checking what other apps are up to I find that Zotero consistently blows them out of the water. YMMV though; nobody is forcing anyone to use Zotero, and most everyone agrees that this feature would be nice to have.
well it is now 4 years later and the only way to merge is using the macro provided by wh_fzj_ste (thank you !!!) . It is working for me, however as it stands now running the macro provides (5) from previously (5) (6) (7) (8–10) (11,12) (13). Afterwards I add manually -13) . Any other solutions yet?
@hneier: It's been repeatedly acknowledged — going back to 2010 — that there are situations where this would be useful. The linked example is one fairly extreme example. That doesn't change the fact that most of the people posting to this thread over the years have simply not understood that it's already possible to create multi-item citations in Zotero, and that most cases of citations needing to be merged have resulted from that initial misunderstanding.
For me, the "finally" does not refer to the acknowledgement alone, but first and foremost to the part were you "... look into adding this soon." Could have formulated it differently... i wast just very happy about that and wanted to spread the news
ps. I am clearly not one of those who do not understand that multi-item citations are possible. Half my thesis were multi-item citations. So for me it is the way I write papers and not extreme at all.
That's good news about this being put back on the list. I posted on this thread many years ago (like others, having come over from Endnote) but have learnt to adapt and now find it's mostly trivial. However, having recently worked on a project with other authors using Zotero for the first time, I found that this was still a big issue for some. It does depend a lot on how someone drafts and how extensive the editing process is. The Word macro was a lifesaver and like @alobo when I first ran the Word macro on it, it didn't appear to work (it seemed to 'lose' all the other citations), but when I refreshed Zotero it did work (just in case that's helpful for others). That was in Office 365 version for Word on a Mac, using the latest Zotero.
I'm so puzzled that Zotero can't merge multiple citations until now. The macro works on my computer, Office 365 version, latest Zotero, Windows 10. While it is the same with what "joycekwc" said, that is, after running the macro, you must refresh Zotero. Thanks so much for this macro!
How is it possible that there is still no merge option available?! I've just written a huge review with a lot of collaborators that still needs quite some moving/changing/correcting of references, this is going to cost me days! The macro unfortunately doesn't work for me. However much i like Zotero otherwise, I'm moving back to Mendeley after this...
Automatic merging of adjacent in-text citations is available in Zotero 6.0.16, available now via Help → Check for Updates.
(And just as one last reminder, if all you want to do is create a multi-item citation while you're writing, or add another item to an existing citation, you can do that right from the citation dialog — you don't need this feature.)
Wow. Zotero continues to surprise and improve. Folks making suggestions often don't take the time to report back when stuff is implemented, so I want to just take a minute to say, thank you for your tireless work on Zotero, Dan! It is highly appreciated.
@wh_fzj_ste many thanks for the macro. Does it, by any chance, work for someone who used footnotes rather than in text citation?
For example, I have written "Human Rights Committee(1), the Committee against Torture(2), the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination(3)" and would like to just write "the Committees(1)" with (1) merging the references contained in footnotes 1-3.
This would be very very useful for me...
Many thanks in advance for your help.
PS: I am using word (Microsoft® Word for Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2212 Build 16.0.15928.20196)) and Zotero 6.0.19-beta.15+6374aea1c with a modified version of the Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition.
@MarionVirondaDubray -- note you don't need a macro. This is built into Zotero now. It does not work for footnote styles though, but you can switch to a numeric or author-date style, then click refresh to merge citations, then switch back to your original style.
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Thanks for the Macro. I'll give it a go and see if I can make it work.
Would like to add another vote for the merge functionality. Without it, one has to use Zotero only after they have finalised the text in their document. That would require either:
a) writing the text perfectly first-time around adding in the references as you go; or
b) write a note at the end of each sentence detailing what references you might want to link in once you're finished making the text perfect; or
c) make your text perfect, then try and remember the references relevant to each sentence.
I guess process b is do-able?
I am in the process of editing my text which has zotero citations in it that I've brought across from scrivener. I need to merge sentences and move them around in paragraphs and therefore merge citations. I will now hopefully get the macro to work, or I will have to go through and find all the places that I now have (ref1,ref2)(ref3,ref4) and add ref 3 and ref 4 to ref 1 and 2. In a long document with lots of edits, this is quite a lot of work. No doubt it will become more work once my supervisors add their edits.
So, to avoid this I would need to do process a, b or c above. Thus requiring almost perfect text before adding the citations.
Honestly, I am flabbergasted, by the fact that such a crucial functionality - which seems to be requested over a decade now is just dismissed and never implemented.
I select all 3 and click Add/Edit Citation. I just see the red window with the 1st one. Are you saying that the only way to get what I want is to select references for 6 and 7 again??? And this discussion is running since years instead of providing a solution???
The document remains the same after running the script.
Frankly, this is a shame.
Note that probably 10x more users than those reporting here just quit Zotero for apps that do have this feature implemented.
It's definitely possible that some people need this feature so badly that they'd switch to an inferior (less open, less user friendly, more profit-driven) app just because it has this feature. But the reverse happens too. In fact quit an app that did have this feature implemented (EndNote) for Zotero way back, and even while occasionally checking what other apps are up to I find that Zotero consistently blows them out of the water. YMMV though; nobody is forcing anyone to use Zotero, and most everyone agrees that this feature would be nice to have.
But yes, we're going to try to do this soon.
ps. I am clearly not one of those who do not understand that multi-item citations are possible. Half my thesis were multi-item citations. So for me it is the way I write papers and not extreme at all.
(And just as one last reminder, if all you want to do is create a multi-item citation while you're writing, or add another item to an existing citation, you can do that right from the citation dialog — you don't need this feature.)
For example, I have written "Human Rights Committee(1), the Committee against Torture(2), the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination(3)" and would like to just write "the Committees(1)" with (1) merging the references contained in footnotes 1-3.
This would be very very useful for me...
Many thanks in advance for your help.
PS: I am using word (Microsoft® Word for Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2212 Build 16.0.15928.20196)) and Zotero 6.0.19-beta.15+6374aea1c with a modified version of the Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition.