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Standardizing Journal Titles in EndNote References

Sources for references may treat the same journal title data differently. Compare the journal title from the same citation from three databases, formatted in New England Journal of Medicine style:

Ovid MEDLINE

  1. Larson, EL, Gomez-Duarte C, Lee LV, Della-Latta P, Kain DJ, Keswick BH. Microbial flora of hands of homemakers. AJIC: American Journal of Infection Control 2003;31(2):72-9.
ScienceDirect
  1. Larson, EL, Gomez-Duarte C, Lee LV, Della-Latta P, Kain DJ, Keswick BH. Microbial flora of hands of homemakers. American Journal of Infection Control 2003;31(2):72-9.
PubMed MEDLINE
  1. Larson, EL, Gomez-Duarte C, Lee LV, Della-Latta P, Kain DJ, Keswick BH. Microbial flora of hands of homemakers. Am J Infect Control 2003;31(2):72-9.

To ensure greater (not perfect) journal title consistancy with MEDLINE journals:

  1. If using Ovid MEDLINE: download and install the Medical.txt file into the new EndNote Library as the default Journals Term List.
  2. Edit "Term List" in EndNote Preferences to uncheck "update lists when importing or pasting references" and "update lists during data entry."
  3. Journals Term List allows for four versions of each title: complete, and three abbreviation fields (one abbreviation field is usually empty to allow an alternate abbreviation from a non-medical source). If certain styles are used, designate which abbreviation should be used by editing the Output Style Manager.
  4. Edit EndNote references either individually or using Change Text to place the complete title in the journal field.

Install Medical.txt file

  1. Open the EndNote library to use with the journal list.
  2. Tools > Open Term Lists; highlight Journals Term List.
  3. If Journals Term List is empty, go to step 6.
  4. In existing Libraries, a Journals Term List is started. If content is all from MEDLINE:
    Ctrl+A to select all, then click Delete Term.
  5. Click on the Lists tab, and highlight the Journals.
  6. Click Import List.
  7. In the File dialog, navigate to the EndNote\Term Lists folder, select the Medical list, and click Open to import the journal names and abbreviations from the file into the Journals term list.

The Medical.txt file is not perfect. For example, although the file contains nearly 9000 titles, both The Lancet Infectious Disease and Lancet Neurology were not included in the Medical.txt file. To update the list:

  1. Tools > Open Term Lists; highlight Journals Term List.
  2. Select Terms tab and New Term.
  3. Fill out New Term box (Fig. 16):
    Full Journal: complete medical journal name should be located in List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus (ftp://nlmpubs.nlm.nih.gov/online/journals/ljiweb.pdf)
    Abbreviation 1: is the abbreviation in List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus with "dots" after abbreivated names.
    Abbreviation 2: is the abbreviation in List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus without "dots" after abbreviated names.
    When data entry into New Term box is complete, click OK to transfer to Journals Term List (or Save Journal, then Cancel to close New Term box).


Fig. 19 - new journal title added to Journal Term List.

Edit "Term List" in EndNote Preferences

  1. Edit > Preferences
  2. Click Term Lists.
  3. Uncheck "update lists when importing or pasting references."
  4. Uncheck "update lists during data entry."
  5. Click Apply; click OK.

Edit the "Journal Title" field in an EndNote Reference

  1. Open EndNote Library and highlight the record to be edited.
  2. References > Edit References; reference record opens in new window.
  3. Highlight Journal Title field and edit text.
  4. Close Reference record to update reference.

Use the "Change Field" command to replace the entire contents of a journal field

USE WITH EXTREME CAUTION: CHANGES USING THIS COMMAND CANNOT BE UNDONE. CONSIDER MAKING A COPY OF THE ENDNOTE LIBRARY BEFORE EXECUTING A "CHANGE FIELD" COMMAND IN CASE THE RESULTS OF THE COMMAND MANGLE THE CONTENTS OF THE AFFECTED RECORDS.
Imagine a topic is concentrated in several journal titles, so an EndNote Library may have many references with the same journal abbreviation that may need to be edited. Change Field allows the mass editing of a field in many references.
  1. Open the EndNote Library and Show All References (References > Show All References).
  2. Sort the EndNote Library primarily by Journal Title. Count how many references require change (EndNote will indicate later how many references will be affected by a Change Field command).
  3. Highlight the first reference to be edited in the Library Window.
  4. Edit > Change Text (Change Text window opens). See Fig. 17.
    1. "In": select Journal/Secondary Title field.
    2. "Search for" text box: type in journal abbreviation in exactly, including upper and lower case; check Match Case and Match Words
    3. "Change the text to": type in the full journal name exactly, including upper and lower case; check Retain Capitalization. Double-check steps 6 and 7; if satisfied, click Change.


    5. Fig. 20 - changing field content with "Change Text" command.

  5. A warning box will ask for confirmation of changing x number of records; consult Step 2 to see if the count agrees with the number of records to be changed.
    Remember, changes cannot be undone; click OK to change, click Cancel to stop.

Some patrons report Ovid MEDLINE incorrectly adds a period to the end of the journal title field when records are imported into EndNote. Use the Change Text command to mass edit such records and avoid editing each individual record. Remember, be careful because changes cannot be undone.

  1. Edit > Change Text.
  2. "In": select Journal/Secondary Title field.
  3. "Search for" text box: type a period [.].
  4. Leave the "Change the text to" box empty.
  5. Click Change.

Uncomfortable with executing a Change Text command? Try omitting the period in the journal field at the Output level:

  1. Edit > Output Style > Open Style Manager...
  2. Scroll through list of EndNotes Styles until the desired Output Style is found; highlight style and click Edit.
  3. From the left hand menu, choose Journal Names; check box Remove Periods. (Fig. 18)


fig. 21 - Remove Periods from Output Styles

Miscellaneous
If the Journal Name in an EndNote reference window displays in red font, the journal name is not consistent with the Journal Term List for that EndNote Library. Consult the Journal Term List to find correct name and edit the EndNote reference accordingly. Ovid MEDLINE adds the acronym "AJIC" to the correct title "American Journal of Infection Control," and the red font in the journal field indicates the title information is not conforming to the Journal Term List. (Fig. 19) When the acronym is removed, font returns to black. (Fig. 20)


Fig. 22 - Ovid MEDLINE journal title not conforming with Journal Term list.


Fig. 23 - edited journal title now in agreement with Journal Term list.

Journal Term List may replace the ampersand "&" with the word "and" in the title, even when the official name of the journal contains an ampersand (Example: American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation). Consult the editor of a publication concerning the use of ampersands and edit EndNote References to conform to the publisher's guidelines.

Please email comments, suggestions or questions to: pshipman@mcg.edu

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September 08, 2005