Until recently, I used Scrivener for all my writing projects. However, when I started to share drafts with my writing group and my advisors, everyone used Microsoft's Word comments and track changes to mark up my writing. Rather than deal importing and exporting from Scrivener, I thought I would try Word again. When starting to use Word again after a long hiatus, I discovered that it had a Citation Manager built into it. Because I was no longer using Zotero for managing sources, I was excited – could this save me time in formatting my citations and bibliography? The short answer: no.
While the Citation Manger might work for some people, it will depend on how you prefer to cite your sources. If you use only parenthetical/inline citations, then I suspect Word's Citation Manager might speed things along. I was not so lucky. The combination of using the Chicago Manual of Style and citations in footnotes was too much for Word to handle.
Once you have installed Write-N-Cite, open Microsoft Word and click the tab that has been added to your ribbon - it will be called either 'ProQuest' or 'RefWorks.' Click on 'Log In' and enter your RefWorks username and password. To add your first citation, choose 'Insert Citation' and then 'Insert New.'. Microsoft 365 includes premium Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps, 1 TB cloud storage in OneDrive, advanced security, and more, all in one convenient subscription. With Microsoft 365, you get features as soon as they are released ensuring you're always working with the latest. Create, edit, collaborate, and share documents using Word for Mac.
How it Works
Microsoft provides a series of videos that explain how to use the Citation Manager in Word for Mac users. Using the tool is pretty straightforward and I won't rehash their videos here. Other sites can provide good tutorials for using the Citation Manager as well.
Here is the basic idea:
1.) Open up the Citation Manager and add a source by typing in the bibliographic information
2.) Place your cursor in your document where you want to insert the citation, and double-click the name of source in the Citation Manager. If you want to edit the inserted source, click on it.
3.)If you want to create a bibliography, the Citation Manager allows you to do that as well.
Why I Don't Think I Will Use the Citation Manager
My original plan for this post was to write an in-depth review of the Citation Manager as I used it for a chapter of my dissertation. However, the software cut that plan short. The first source I entered and inserted gave me a parenthetical citation. If you create a footnote first and attempt to place a citation in the footnote, Word still gives you a parenthetical citation rather than the format that the Chicago Manual requires in footnotes. After a few searches, and watching the above videos, I don't think Word supports the formatting needed for my chapter. Some people say that previous versions of Word for Mac provided better support, but since I only have the newest version, I can't confirm it.
It seems like the Citation Manager might work well if you use inline citations, but if you are looking to put a Chicago-style citation in a footnote, I think you have to look somewhere else.
Do you have a streamlined way of managing citations or does Word's Citation Manager work for you? Let us know in the comments.
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Using the citation tools in Microsoft Word
The citation tools in Word 2016 for PC are under the References* tab.
1. Begin by setting the citation style -- use the drop-down box labeled Style:
Creating a Source
2. Next, click Manage Sources and in the Source Manager box, click New..
4. In the Create Source box, first select the type of source. This will impact which fields are displayed below. Required fields will display with red asterisks to the left of the field. Note, however, that while some citation styles (such as APA 6th) require volume and issue number for journal articles, these do not appear in the default view of the Create Source box. Click on Show All Bibliography Fields to open these additional fields.
5. Next, fill out the fields as they should appear in your bibliography. Watch the bottom of the screen for formatting examples for each field.
6. When finished, click OK.You will be returned to the Source List box.
Manage Sources Microsoft Word Mac Download
Making references available for citation
7. The Source Manager box will now show both a Master List of sources and a Current List. The current list pertains to the current document, and is the list that will be accessed by Word when you go to add citations to your document. Meanwhile the master list holds all the sources you have created previously using this process. Word will only include citations in the Current List for citation use in this document. You can add a source from the Master List to the Current List simply by clicking on it in the master list and then clicking Copy -> from the options in the middle. When you are finished, click Close.
Creating an in-text citation Office home & student 2016 for mac.
8. To insert a citation from your Current List, place the cursor where you would like the citation to appear.
9. Next, click References then Insert Citation and click on the citation you would like to use from the drop-down list. (If your citation does not appear in the drop-down list, return to step 7, above.)
Making references available for citation
7. The Source Manager box will now show both a Master List of sources and a Current List. The current list pertains to the current document, and is the list that will be accessed by Word when you go to add citations to your document. Meanwhile the master list holds all the sources you have created previously using this process. Word will only include citations in the Current List for citation use in this document. You can add a source from the Master List to the Current List simply by clicking on it in the master list and then clicking Copy -> from the options in the middle. When you are finished, click Close.
Creating an in-text citation Office home & student 2016 for mac.
8. To insert a citation from your Current List, place the cursor where you would like the citation to appear.
9. Next, click References then Insert Citation and click on the citation you would like to use from the drop-down list. (If your citation does not appear in the drop-down list, return to step 7, above.)
10. Your in-text citation will be added.
Inserting the Bibliography
11. When you are finished writing your paper and ready to insert the bibliography, place the cursor at the end of the paper, where you would like the bibliography to begin.
Microsoft Word For Mac Tutorial
12. From the Bibliography drop-down in the References tab, select the bibliography with the heading you need (Works Cited is generally used for MLA style and References is generally used for APA.)
13. You can highlight 'References' and change the font color to black or highlight the text of the bibliography to manipulate the font type, size or spacing.
Microsoft Word For Mac
*Please note - these instructions, created using Microsoft Word 2016 for PC, may vary slightly among computer platforms and different versions of Microsoft Word.
