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FHS-PK | EndNote 21: A Step-by-Step Guide: Editing Reference Styles

EndNote is a reference management tool designed to help researchers organize, manage, and cite their references efficiently.

Editing Reference Styles in EndNote 21

Editing Reference Styles in EndNote 21

At times, you may need to modify one of EndNote's standard referencing styles to align with specific publisher or institutional guidelines. For instance, a journal might request the Vancouver style but require citations to appear in superscript. In such a case, you can create a customized version of the Vancouver style, modifying it to display citations in superscript. Alternatively, while APA 7th edition typically requires journal names to be abbreviated, your journal or publisher may prefer the full journal names to be listed.

Follow these steps to edit a referencing style in EndNote:

  1. Open EndNote and navigate to the Tools menu.
  2. Select Output Styles and then choose Open Style Manager.
  3. Locate the style you wish to edit in the list, and click to highlight it.
  4. Click the Edit button.
  5. On the left-hand menu, choose the section of the style you want to modify, such as:
    • Citations
    • Bibliography
    • Journal names
  6. Make the necessary adjustments in the right-hand pane.
  7. When you're finished, close the style. EndNote will prompt you to save your changes. It's recommended to save the edited style with a new name to preserve the original format.

By following these steps, you can easily tailor your reference styles to meet specific formatting requirements.

Editing the Format of In-Text Citations

If you are using the Vancouver citation style, the in-text citations will appear in parentheses, such as (1), as shown in the screenshot below.

 

However, many journals require citations in superscript format. Follow these steps to modify the Vancouver style to display citations in superscript:

  1. Open EndNote.
  2. Click on Tools from the top menu.
  3. Select Output Styles.
  4. Click on Open Style Manager.
  5. In the Style Manager, locate and select Vancouver.
  6. Click on Edit to customize the style.
  7. In the left-hand menu, select Citations, then click on Template.
  8. Highlight the text Bibliography.Number. Also remove parentheses if not required in in-text citations.
  9. Click on the Superscript button at the top of the screen.
  10. After making the necessary change, click File and select Save As.
  11. Rename the style (e.g., Vancouver Superscript) and click Save.
  12. The new style will be added to your available list of output styles, which you can now use for superscript in-text citations.

By following these steps, you can create a Vancouver citation style that uses superscript without parentheses for in-text citations as given in below screenshot.

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Screenshots of Steps

 

Editing the Format of Journals' Title

To modify the format of journal titles in EndNote 21's Output Style, follow these steps:

  1. In the left-hand pane, click on Journal Names.
  2. Choose your preferred format by selecting either Use full journal name or one of the available abbreviation options.

Adding Additional Fields to a Reference Template

To add additional fields to a reference template:

  1. Click in the template text where you would like to insert the new field.
  2. Click the Insert Field button.
  3. From the dropdown list, select the field you wish to add.
  4. The selected field will be inserted into the template at the chosen location.

Editing the Format of the Bibliography or Reference List:

  1. To make changes to the appearance of references in a bibliography, click on Templates in the left-hand pane under the Bibliography heading.
  2. Make any necessary amendments directly to the template in the right-hand pane.
  3. Different templates exist for various reference types. If a reference type is not listed, the system will use the Generic template.
  4. You can highlight a field and adjust its formatting (e.g., bold, italic) using the icons at the top of the screen.

For Author/Date styles:

  1. Author lists: Modify the number of authors shown before abbreviating with et al.
  2. Author name: Adjust the capitalization and display of initials or full first names. Use the buttons at the top of the pane to select bold, italic, or underline formatting.

Tip for Mac users:
If editing options are not available, go to the Edit menu at the top of the screen and use the Font options to make formatting changes.

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