Upgrade StorageHow do I add an endnote with text/commentary using Zotero in MS Word?
Apologies if this has been asked/answered. I searched the forums and could not find the right terms. This issue is my main challenge in finally abandoning Endnote for Zotero!
In my field (chemistry) it is very common for the reference section to contain mixtures of references and additional text/commentary. I am not sure what to properly call this, but in a numbered list of references at the end of a typical chemistry paper, one might see the following two types of non-standard references.
Example 1 - commentary text followed by reference.
3. For examples of using tert-butanesulfinamide for the synthesis of tertiary carbinamines, see: Ellman et al, Journal Year, pages.
Example 2 - commentary text in place of a reference.
5. Although frequently cited in the literature as a chiral auxiliary, tert-butane sulfinamide is more properly called a chiral ammonia equivalent because its nitrogen remains in the product after cleavage.
In my field (chemistry) it is very common for the reference section to contain mixtures of references and additional text/commentary. I am not sure what to properly call this, but in a numbered list of references at the end of a typical chemistry paper, one might see the following two types of non-standard references.
Example 1 - commentary text followed by reference.
3. For examples of using tert-butanesulfinamide for the synthesis of tertiary carbinamines, see: Ellman et al, Journal Year, pages.
Example 2 - commentary text in place of a reference.
5. Although frequently cited in the literature as a chiral auxiliary, tert-butane sulfinamide is more properly called a chiral ammonia equivalent because its nitrogen remains in the product after cleavage.
Zotero note styles use the Word footnotes system, so you can mix real citations with commentary like you want.
In that system, commentary like this doesn't make a lot of sense (it's a bibliography, after all) and isn't supported by Zotero/CSL.
after all, does it make sense that over 10'000 different bibliographic styles exist? :-)
Now speaking as a former chemist, I can imagine the kind of note that the OP is suggesting. And I suspect that the numeric styles, in particular if the in-text reference numbers appear without any other characters (i.e. no parentheses or square brackets) actually push into that direction: while it would make more sense to use footnotes for such comments, having 2 different number sequences within the document feels extremely confusing.
Anyway, I don't think journals actually require this kind of notes (end- or foot-) , they will just allow them. Since this is not supported, the best work-around is probably to avoid them. If something is worth saying, it feels easier to write it in the main text.
But if you need them, the only way to do this is to insert a placeholder citation and then manually edit in the end.
@aborel - I can see the point of "if it is worth saying, say it in the text", but I disagree with it in practice. My main goal in papers is to educate my readers. Endnotes like this are for points that are important to at least a subset of readers, but not part of the main paper flow (so help readability). For the readers, they are helpful (I would actually read them first - they are full of good "extra" stuff) and can provide guidance on the references ("For examples using Cu, see: XXXX; for examples using Pd, see: XXX"). I have come to realize that organic chemistry, in particular, does everything different than every other field!
Thank you @adamsmith - this is how I had done it in the past, and it is not great because it makes them hard to check in the revising process when I am writing with students or collaborators.
If anyone has any other ideas how to make that work in Zotero, I would greatly appreciate it! Endnote can do this (as well as clustering citations, which has decreased but also not disappeared) and it can be done using the built-in Word footnote/endnote system, so I am not without options. Just checking in on something that is important to my little subfield!