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FAQ

How do I edit or create a filter?

  • The default settings in the filters pre-installed with EndNote often need some minor alteration before they will import correctly. To import perfectly a database needs to be very consistent, or the filter needs to include every variation in the way references from journals are cited.
  • Editing or creating filters is best illustrated with examples based on common problems. Once you understand the general process involved in correcting an error in a filter, it is easily applied to other problems.

The basic steps are:

  1. Analyse the downloaded file
  2. Compare the problem references in the file to the settings in the EndNote filter
  3. Test to see if the problem can be fixed with one of the smart controls in the filter
    • eg, alter the options in the Record Layout smart control panel if only one of your references is imported into EndNote
  4. If not, edit the filter Template for the relevant Reference Type, and test the result
    • eg, add a new Source definition to the Journal Article Template if the Volume and Issue information is not imported into the right part of the EndNote reference.

1. Analyse the downloaded file

If a file of references does not import properly first look at the file in Word to see how it is formatted and what fields each reference contains.

  • Open the your file in Word
  • Click the ¶ (Show/hide) icon on the standard Word toolbar to display the formatting marks (paragraph, tab, and space marks) in the file.
  formatting marks display  

Why is the formatting important?
EndNote partly uses the formatting in the database download to filter the data into the correct places. The formatting used in the database download must be matched by you exactly if you edit the filter Templates. Eg, the *View Full Record: text below, from an autoalert from Web of Knowledge

  ISI Alert tag for View Full Record field  

is used by the EndNote filter to import the Field data, which is the URL for the record in Web of Knowledge, into the EndNote Reference URL field.

  ISI Alert tag for View Full Record field  

Filter Smart controls also read/interact with/rely on/interpret the formatting of the database download.

To import properly, the records downloaded from a database must:

  • Include a Field Tag which identifies each Field. Each separate line of information in a reference is called a Field. The Field Tag identifies the type of information placed in that Field, and is used by EndNote to filter the data from the Field into the right parts of the EndNote Reference Window.
  image of a record showing field tags and fields  
  • Use consistent punctuation marks and spacing to indicate the start and end of Field Tags, Fields, and each record.
  • Consistently cite, eg, journals in the same way. If it is inconsistent, then edit the filter so that it includes each variation.
  • For best results each reference must contain a field which says its reference type. A download of Brief records from a database may not contain this Reference Type (RT), Document Type (DT), or Publication Type (PT) field. If a download does not contain this field, all references will be treated by the filter as the same default type, specified in the Reference Type section of the filter.

Note: If records are not formatted consistently you may be able to edit the file in Word using Find and Replace to change spacing or punctuation, so that a filter can handle it.

  • Find the reference(s) which have not imported properly and see how they differ to those that do import. eg, Is a Journal Name cited in a different way?
  • Important:
    Ensure the Word file is closed each time you do a test import, or an error message will display.
    Whenever you close the file in Word ensure you do not save it as a Word (.doc) file. EndNote can only import .txt files.

2. Compare the problem references in the download file to the EndNote filter

In EndNote

  • Open EndNote. Edit > Import Filters > locate the filter
  • The About this Filter panel opens. You can note for future reference any changes you make to the filter in the Comments and Limitations box.
  edit filter dialog box  

About filter templates and smart controls

  • Filters consist of different parts. Filter Templates determine how the details of each reference are imported. There are different templates for Journal Articles, Books, Edited Books, etc. You may need to create a missing template, add extra Field definitions to a template, or instruct the filter to eg, apply the Journal Article template to a different reference type such as Newspaper Article.
  • The Field tag in a database download becomes the Tag in a filter template. The formatting of a Field in a database download is described in the filter Field definition.
  edit filter dialog box  
Filter template for Journal Article reference type:
  • The other filter sections, known as smart controls, define the basic rules of how the filter should, eg, parse the Author names, or how it should recognise the start and end of each reference in an import file.
  • The Reference Type section determines which Reference Type should be the default import option.
  • Author and Editor Parsing tells the filter how to interpret names.
  • Continuation lines and Record layout tell the filter how to interpret new lines in a field, and how to recognise the beginning and end of each record.
  • Source Parsing instructs the filter which field tag indicates the Source information in the record.

3. Test to see if the problem can be fixed with one of the smart controls in the filter

  1. First check the non-Template sections of the filter to see if they are relevant to your import problem:
    • Try changing the default setting to an un-selected Smart.. option, whenever it is available.
    • Compare the punctuation and formatting of your data file with the options in the relevant smart control panels; try selecting different options.
  2. Close the filter to save your changes.
  3. Delete the records from EndNote, and import your file again to test the filter changes.
  4. If changes to these sections do not fix the problem, edit the Template for the relevant Reference Type.
To alter the options in the Record Layout smart control panel:

If only one reference from your saved references is imported into EndNote, this probably means that the filter cannot recognise the start and end of each record, or reference, in the list. Check to see if you can fix this with the Record Layout parsing control:

  • Edit > Import Filters > locate the filter
  • The Filter dialog opens.
  • Select Record Layout from the side menu
  • The Record Layout dialog box instructs EndNote how to determine the start and end of each record/reference.
  • Select Smart record identification
  • Close the Filter dialog box, and click Yes at the prompt to Save changes.
  • Close your Word file and do a test import of your references.
  • If neccessary, try the other options in the Record Layout dialog box. Study your file in Word with the formatting marks displayed to determine which option to choose.
  edit filter dialog box  

4. Editing a filter Template

If altering the smart controls cannot solve the import problem, you will need to edit the filter template for that Reference Type. Determine which parts of the record such as Source, or Publication Year, are not imported correctly then edit or add definitions for that field in the template.

Example: Adding a Source definition to a Template:

The Journal Name, or Volume and Issue information is not imported into the correct parts of the EndNote reference. To fix this add new definitions of the Source in the Template for the Journal Reference Type.

In Word:

  1. Open the import file in Word and Click the ¶ (Show/hide) icon on the standard Word toolbar to display the formatting marks (paragraph, tab, and space marks) in the file.
  2. Find the reference which does not import correctly, eg
  citation  

In EndNote:

  1. Open EndNote
  2. In EndNote, Edit > Import Filters > locate the filter
  3. The Filter dialog box opens.
  4. Click Templates
  5. Select Journal Article from the Reference Type picklist.
  6. Templates include each field Tag in a database record, and a definition of that Field.
  7. To add a new Source definition, click in the Field cell for last SO definition, then press Enter.
  8. A new line appears in the template.
  9. Alt-tab to switch to your Word file and Copy the field tag from your reference, including spaces and punctuation marks following. In this example it looks like: Source tag.
  10. Paste it into the new Tags cell of the EndNote template
  11. Switch back to your Word file and Copy the contents of the Field, Popular Culture Review, v6 n4 p12-17 including all spaces and punctuation marks.
  12. Paste it into the new Fields cell of the template.
  13. Distinguish between the literal text (here, the comma, v, n, pages) and the actual data you wish to import.
  14. You must retain the literal text, punctuation and spaces while replacing the actual import data with Field definitions from the Insert Field picklist. Use the following steps to ensure you retain the literal text exactly.
  insert fields  
  1. Click-drag the journal title (eg Popular Culture Review) to highlight it.
  2. Click Insert Field and select Journal to exactly replace the title with the Field definition.
  3. Highlight 6 and replace with Insert Field > Volume
  4. Highlight 4 and replace with Insert Field > Issue
  5. Because the literal text pages in this reference is the same as a template Field name/definition, force EndNote to read it as literal text by enclosing it in ` marks. (` marks are in the top left-hand corner of the keyboard).
  6. Highlight 12-17 and replace with Insert Field > Pages
  7. The Field definition matching your reference now reads Journal, vVolume nIssue `pages`Pages
  new filed definition  
  1. File > Save As to keep the original filter un-modified. Save the Filter with a different name,
  2. Or, to modify the existing filter, close the filter to Save changes.
  3. Close the Word file and do a test import.
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