Hi all,
I got an email question from someone who had created a new output style in RefWorks (by editing an existing style), and was having some problems making the bibliography come out right. When she previewed the style in the Output Style Editor, it looked like everything was formatted correctly. However, when she actually created the bibliography, it didn't reflect any of the changes she had made to the style. This is especially puzzling because it looked like the style should be coming out fine based on the preview.
I've had this problem in the past, and the solution just dawned on me. When you create a new style, the default is to change the output style for Reference Type "generic [defined]". Since most things imported to RefWorks from an article index end up being defined as Reference type "journal [defined]", it doesn't apply the new style to them because they're not defined as "generic."
Here's what you do. Through the bibliography button, choose the new style and click "edit" (if the patron has the problem described above, s/he already knows how to edit a style). Change the Reference Type from "Generic [defined]" to "Journal [defined]". Then, underneath the output field order section, choose "copy fields from... generic" (since that's what all the original changes were set under). Click "copy", and it will apply the generic settings to the journal article format.
You basically have to define the bibliographic format for each Reference Type you're going to use. People are often only using journal articles, so it's not usually a big deal. But remember that the changes need to be copied to (or created specially for) any type that's going to show up in the bibliography (book chapter, website, etc.)
A few common questions - if the patron wants an abbreviated journal title to appear in the bibliography, the abbreviated title has to appear in the RefWorks record. Sometimes it comes over from the article index, and sometimes it doesn't. If articles show up in the bibliography with the full title instead of the abbreviated title, figure out which articles are missing the abbreviated title, and find each record in the RefWorks account. Edit the record (link on the right side of the screen, by the FindIt link) and fill in the "Periodical, Abbrev" field with the abbreviated title. It will then insert it into the bibliography.
This goes for any information that is output strangely in the bibliography - double-check the source information in the RefWorks record. If it's incomplete or incorrect there, it's not going to magically come out right in the bibliography.
You can also define a reference type by editing the record - if you're still experiencing strange results with a new output style, double-check the defined Reference Type for the problematic citations.
Let me know if you have any questions!
Thanks,
Liz