Citing References in an Excel Table You've Pasted into Word

You've copied an Excel table, pasted it into a Word document, and used the "Paste Options" menu to select "Match Destination Table Style and Link to Excel." Now you want to use Refworks to insert citations in your table. Is this possible?

It's possible to insert RefWorks code into your Excel table. This will allow you to use the "Update Link" option in Word to gather any new data entered in your Excel table and maintain the RefWorks code (since the RefWorks code is part of your Excel table) . Unfortunately, you can't insert RefWorks code into Excel using Write-n-Cite. You will have to use one of the other available code insertion techniques. The code produced will be Write-n-Cite 2 code. You can still use Write-n-Cite III to insert your non-Excel-table citations and format your document, you will just need to remember to use the Write-n-Cite III "tools" menu to "Convert to Write-n-Cite III document" after you paste in the table and after every table update (or before you format your paper).

There are two ways you can go about inserting citations into your Excel table.
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A. Method 1
1. Open your RefWorks account.
2. Locate a reference you wish to cite.
3. Use the “Switch to” menu to select “One line/cite view”
4. When the “one line/cite view” appears, click on the “Cite” link next to the reference you wish to cite.
5. A pop-up box will appear containing the code for that reference.
6. If you wish to cite additional references in the same citation group, locate the next reference you wish to cite and click on it’s “cite” link. The code for the second reference should be added to the code in the pop-up box. Both references should be inside the same set of double-curly-Q brackets. i.e.
{{2 Anonymous 2007;18 O'Neil,J. 2007;}}
7. Continue locating references and clicking “cite” links until you have all needed references for your first citation group.
8. Highlight and copy the code in the pop-up box and paste it into your Excel table at the desired location. Be sure to leave any needed empty spaces between the text in your Excel table and the RefWorks citation code.
9. Before beginning to gather your next set of references, find the RefWorks “Citation Viewer” pop-up box. Either close the box or hit the “Clear” button.
10. Remember, the code produced will be Write-n-Cite 2 code. You can still use Write-n-Cite III to insert your other citations and format your document, you will just need to remember to use the Write-n-Cite III "tools" menu to "convert to Write-n-Cite III document" after you paste in the table and after every table update (or before you format your paper).
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B. Method 2
To cite one reference:
1. Place your cursor in the Excel table at the point where you wish to enter the citation (remember to leave an empty spaces if an empty space between table text and the citation is desired).
2. Type two, begin-curly-Q brackets ( {{ ),
3. type the RefID number for the reference you wish to cite,
4. type two, end-curly-Q brackets ( }} ).
To cite RefID 2, type:
{{2}}

If you need to cite more than one reference in a single location.
1. Place your cursor in the Excel table at the point where you wish to enter the citation (remember to leave any empty spaces if desired).
2. Type two begin curly-Q bracket,
3. type the RefID number for one of the references you wish to cite,
4. type a semicolon,
5. type a space.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 listed above until you've finished entering the RefIDs for all the references you wish to cite at that point.
7. Type two end curly-Q brackets.
To cite Ref ID's 1, 2 and 3; type:
{{1; 2; 3;}}

The code produced will be Write-n-Cite 2 code. You can still use Write-n-Cite III to insert your other citations and format your document, you will just need to remember to use the Write-n-Cite III "tools" menu to "convert to Write-n-Cite III document" after you paste in the table and after every table update (or before you format your paper).

If you are going to use method 2, I would recommend using RefWorks or an exported list of your RefWorks references (and not Write-n-Cite) to find the RefID numbers, your work will proceed more quickly.

Also, if you are going to use this method, I'd recommend printing out or saving an exported list of your RefWorks references occasionally. Why? When you use method 2, the code you insert only contains the RefID number/s for the reference/s you wish to cite. If you make a mistake and delete a RefWorks record with one of the RefID’s you’ve cited, it might take you awhile to figure out which reference you had intended to cite. You might be able to find the reference in your deleted reference list, but I have no idea how long references are kept in that list. To create a list of your RefIDs, with author and article titles:
Use your RefWorks "References" menu to select "Export."
On the "Export" page, select "Citation List,"
then click "Export to Text File."
Either print the list that appears or save it.
You will want to save new lists occasionally when you've added references to your database..