Frequently Asked Questions


Frequently Asked Questions
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Styles 3: I'm getting initials for some of my authors in the APA 5th style, but I don't want any initials to show up. How can I fix this?

Answer: You can modify the output style to not include author initials for citations with the same author's last name.

To do so, in EndNote go to "Edit > Output Styles > Edit APA 5th", and go to "Author Name" under "Citations". Here, uncheck the option to "Use initials only for primary authors with the same name".

Additionally, you can go to "Ambiguous Citations" under "Citations" and uncheck the "Include author initials or full name in citation" option. Once you have made your changes, close the APA 5th window, say Yes to save the changes, and format the bibliography in your document again. This should remove the author initials in your citations.

Note: APA 5th style does require author initials to display when you have an author with the same last name and different initials, so following this FAQ will create a style that does not strictly conform to APA requirements. As an alternate solution, you could make certain that all author names are consistently entered into your EndNote library, including spacing and punctuation. For example, if you have entered

Smith, J

as an author in one record, you need to make sure every other instance of that author’s name in that library is identically formatted. Please note that a difference as small as one space may cause EndNote to believe it is dealing with two separate authors and add the initials.

This page was last modified on: June 5, 2008

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