Bug report: Zotero Entry Information Mysteriously Changing

lsc3688 · January 15, 2024

Hello Zotero Community,

I've recently encountered a perplexing issue with Zotero. Some of the entries in my library have undergone unexpected changes. For instance, I noticed that the journal name of a particular entry, originally published in 'Cancer Cell', has inexplicably switched to 'Nature'. Additionally, there have been anomalies in the author names as well.

This isn't the first time I've observed this issue. I'm curious to understand what might be causing these changes. Could this be related to any recent updates or syncing errors?

For additional context, I am using the web dev synchronization solution, and I've synced my library across multiple devices. Could the cross-device synchronization be contributing to this problem?

I would appreciate any insights or solutions to ensure the accuracy and stability of my Zotero library.

Thank you for your help!

dstillman · January 15, 2024

If you provide the zotero.org URLs after clicking some of the affected items in the web library, we can take a look, but you're almost certainly just misremembering this. No one else has reported anything like this.

Obviously if you're using any plugins or other tools on your Zotero library, all bets are off.

lsc3688 · January 15, 2024

Thanks for your reply. I modified many items before. And I carefully checked my web library and I found several items were influenced. Here are two examples:
1. https://www.zotero.org/lsc3688/search/SODB facilitates comprehensive exploration of spatial omics data/titleCreatorYear/items/4EGZEEZZ/item-list

2.https://www.zotero.org/lsc3688/search/Analysis of <i>Fusobacterium</i> persistence and antibiotic response in colorectal cancer/titleCreatorYear/items/QSNZLEAQ/item-list

Thanks for your help!

lsc3688 · January 15, 2024

I am pretty sure that the information of some inflenced items is correct in the beginning. Because journal abbreviation was correct but the journal name turned out to be another one. I usually modify the journal abbreviation when everything is right.

dstillman · January 15, 2024

Are you using any plugins? If you're sure data changed and that you didn't do it, the most likely cause is that some plugin that interacts with those fields caused it. Again, no one has reported anything like this in Zotero itself.

lsc3688 · January 15, 2024

Thanks for your reply. I will check my used plugins again.

lsc3688 · January 15, 2024

Thanks for the heads up just now, when I checked just now I realized that most of the affected entries had been modified at a more aggregated time. At that time I had just switched to a new computer and resynchronized my Zotero library. Is there a possibility of a synchronization exception?

dstillman · January 15, 2024

No, syncing has never caused anything like this that we're aware of — and syncing a new computer just pulls data down from the online library. Again, if you're using plugins — and particularly if you're using some less-common ones — that's the most likely cause.