Frequently Asked Questions


Frequently Asked Questions
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Styles 5: How do I get my journal names to abbreviate or show the full journal name properly?

Answer: To resolve this, first make a backup of your library to be on the safe side. If you are using EndNote 8 or later, make a backup of both the .enl library file itself and the associated .data folder.

Additionally, if you are using EndNote 8 on Windows, be sure you have the EndNote 8.0.2 Update. Then follow these directions:

PLEASE NOTE: There is a known issue with EndNote 9 for the Mac, and the following steps will not enable you to substitute your journal names. Please contact Tech Support so that we can assist you with this problem.

In EndNote, go to "Tools > Open Term Lists > Journal Terms List".

If the Journal Terms List is empty, skip to step 4. Here, highlight the first journal, and press [Ctrl]+A on the keyboard to highlight all the terms (on a Macintosh, this would be [Apple]+A).

Next, press the "Delete Term" button to the right. Now we have a clean slate to start with.

Now go to the "Lists" tab at the top, and click on the "Import List" button.

Browse to the Term Lists folder within the EndNote folder, and choose to open the Medical text file (assuming you want to use the Index Medicus abbreviations).

If you are on a Windows machine, this folder should default to:
C:\Program Files\EndNote (EndNote Version Number)\Term Lists

If you are on a Mac, this folder should default to:
Hard Drive: Applications: EndNote (EndNote Version Number): Terms

This will import the correct abbreviations for over 8000 journals, and you should now have the correct abbreviations set up in your terms list.

Next, to make sure the style is using the correct substitution, go to "Edit > Output Styles > Open Style Manager".

In the list of styles, highlight the style you are using and click the "Edit" button.

Here, click on "Journal Names".

Make sure the style is using the Full Name or one of the Abbreviations, and you should be all set.

If for some reason the journal name in your actual reference doesn't match up exactly with the full name or one of the abbreviations in the terms list, the substitution will not take place. If the above instructions have not resolved your problem, compare the journal name in your reference to the terms in the term manager and make sure you have an exact match. A single space or the inclusion of a period at the end of the name is enough for it to not be considered a match.

This page was last modified on: May 30, 2007

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