EndNote 21

Issue

When you launch EndNote on a Mac or MacBook for the first time, an initial EndNote window may briefly appear before disappearing, giving the impression that EndNote has not opened. However, it has partially opened. During the first launch, you must create a new EndNote library to fully open the program unless you already have an EndNote library file on your computer, in which case you should open that file. On Windows computers, a dialog window appears when EndNote is first opened prompting you to create a new EndNote library, but this is not the case on Macs.

Solution

1. Open EndNote.
2. In the top left corner of your screen, you will see "EndNote" in the top bar where the File menu and other menu tabs are located, similar to other software programs on Macs.
3. Click on the File tab and select either "New Library" or "Open Library."
4. Accept all default options and file types, and continue clicking "Okay" or "Yes" until the new library is created and opened.

Congratulations, you’re done! Now, every time you open EndNote, it should open directly into your library. If it does not, follow the steps above and select "Open Library" instead of "New Library."

Issue

Example: one author comes up with full name (Ralph D. Stacey, 2000), whilst all others come up as (Stacey, 2000)
Error Cause: “It is most likely that you have the [same] authors in the various records differently . . . EndNote won’t think they are different authors and “disambiguate” them. R D Stacey, Stacey, R D, Ralph D Stacey or Ralph D. Stacey (with the period) are all interpreted as unique authors. They all need to be exactly the same. Sometimes even a double space or an extra space [anywhere in the author name field] can trigger this.”

Source: leifiversen. (2016, July 16). Format of author name in main text. EndNote Community Board; EndNote. https://community.endnote.com/t/format-of-author-name-in-main-text/281104

Solution

Begin in EndNote: 

1. Look at the citation for each work by the same author and make sure that the Author Name field has the same name entered exactly in each field.
   1. Make sure there aren't any extra spaces between any part of the name, at the beginning, or the end.
   2. Check for different punctuation or spelling. 
2. Save any changes you made to each reference.
3. Repeat as necessary for all authors having this issue.

Go to Word:

1. Select the EndNote tab
2. Under the Style section, click "Update Citations and Bibliography"
3. Once the update and sync process is complete, all of your citations should be fixed

Issue

The capitalization for the title of an article in your references page does not match the preferred format for your style guide. For example, APA requires only the first word of a book or article title to be capitalized, along with any proper nouns, initials, and acronyms in a title.

Solution

(please note that you can use these steps to make any adjustments necessary to the settings for a style guide in EndNote)

Begin in EndNote

1. Select Tools
2. Select Output Styles
3. Edit [name of style, such as APA]
4. Select Bibliography
5. Select Title Capitalization
6. Select [preferred capitalization rule - for APA, this is called Sentence Caps]
7. Save your edited style guide with a new name (APA Sentence Caps, etc.)

Go to Word:

1. Select the EndNote tab
2. In the Style box, select the name of your new style (APA Sentence Caps, etc.)

The capitalization issues should now be fixed.

Issue

The citation for the journal name for one of your articles has abbreviations in the title instead of the full journal name (or there is a different issue with something in your citation containing abbreviations, incorrect spelling or punctuation, etc.)

Solution

Begin in EndNote:

1. Find the article you need to change
2. Open the article and edit the fields as necessary (replace abbreviated journal name with the full name, etc.)
3. Save in EndNote

Go to Word:

1. Select the EndNote tab
2. Under the Style section, click "Update Citations and Bibliography"
3. Once the update and sync process is complete, all of your citations should be fixed

Issue

You listed the author or publication year in your sentence, and your in-text citation is still duplicating that information.

• Example 1: In 1994, the cat meowed twice (Smith, 1994).
• Example 2: According to Thomas Smith, the dog barked once (Smith, 1994).

Solution

In Word:

1. Insert your citation like normal.
2. Right click on the citation and select "Edit Citation"
3. Under the Exclude option, select the item you wish to exclude, such as author or year. 

Your citation should now be fixed, and all other citations should be unaffected.

Issue

Word has placed your reference/works cited page at the end of the document, per the default location. However, you need to change the location to a different place in the document, such as before the Appendix section.

Solution

Begin in Word:

1. Place your cursor in front of the section where your references page should go (Appendix, etc.)
2. Go to the Layout Tab and select Breaks
3. Under the Section Breaks options, select "Insert Next Page"

Go to EndNote:

1. Select Tools
2. Select Output Styles
3. Select Edit [name of style, such as APA]
4. Select Sections
5. Choose the middle option: "Create a bibliography for each section." Leave the box unchecked.
6. Save your changes to the style guide under a new name (APA Moved Bibliography, etc.)

Return to Word:

1. Select EndNote tab
2. In the Style box, select the name of your new style (APA Moved Bibliography, etc.)

Your bibliography should now be in the new location in your document instead of at the end.

Issue

The font, spacing, hanging indent, and/or size of your references page is not what it should be for your References title or the references itself  (Times New Roman, double-spaced, 0.5 inch hanging indent, size 12; the title should be Bold)

Solution

Somehow the configuration settings for your bibliography have been changed in Word or EndNote. Try Solution 1 first if all of your references are affected. If only one (or only references of a certain type, such as books) have the wrong formatting, try Solution 2 first.

Solution 1: Adjust the settings in Word

In Word:

1. Select the EndNote tab
2. In the "Bibliography" section, click the arrow in the bottom right corner (on a Mac, select the "Configure Bibliography" button).
3. In the pop-up box, change the settings as needed, and click "OK" to save your changes.  

Solution 2: Adjust the output settings in EndNote

In EndNote:

1. Select Tools
2. Select Output Styles
3. Edit [name of style, such as APA]
4. Under "Bibliography" select "Templates" 
   1. In this section are templates for many types of sources you may be citing, such as books, websites, and articles. This is how EndNote and Word know what information to include for each of your citations and how it should be formatted. If only one reference (or only references of one type, such as books) is incorrect, the issue is likely here. 
5. Select the reference type that matches the reference you need to fix (such as books). Make sure Plain Font, Plain Size, and the capital P are chosen for each of the text format options, and if they're not chosen, then select them instead. Repeat for as many reference types as needed.
    
6. Save your edited style guide with a new name (APA Plain Text, etc.)

Go to Word:

1. Select the EndNote tab
2. In the Style box, select the name of your new style (APA Plain Text, etc.)

Issue

The alignment of your references page (or references title) is incorrect in Word. 

Solution

In Word:

1. Go to the "Home" tab
2. In the "Style" section, click on the arrow in the bottom right corner (on a Mac, click on the Styles pane)
3. Find the "EndNote Bibliography" style in the list and click the arrow to the right of the name (use "EndNote Bibliography Title" to change the alignment of your References title) 
4. Select "Modify"
   
5. Change the alignment option to the correct one (left aligned, center, etc.) 
6. Click "OK" to save

Note: Use the instructions in the Reference Formatting Issues in Word box on this page to make any formatting adjustments first. If that doesn't solve the issue, then adjust the other font settings as needed here (the font settings in the location described in that box override the settings in this style; however, the alignment cannot currently be adjusted in that location).