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EndNote X9 for Windows: Import Term Lists - for abbreviating journal titles

Step-by-step Guidance on using EndNote on PC

About this page: Term Lists

Term Lists are beneficial for:

  • Maintaining consistency of author names, keywords and journal titles.
  • When your referencing style requires abbreviated journal names in your bibliography.
  • When you import references from a database where the titles have appeared in abbreviated form, and your referencing style requires the full journal title.

This page explains how to import term lists and how to set your EndNote preferences to show the format you require, i.e. abbreviated journal names or full journal titles. 

How to import and use term lists

To replace the existing journals list with one of the supplied journal abbreviation lists:

  1. Select Tools > Open Term Lists > Journals Term List.

Journals term list screenshot

 

  1. Delete all existing terms from the list (you can click and drag to highlight all terms, or click on one term then press Control-A to highlight all terms), and then select Delete Term. 

Delete term button screenshot

 

  1. Click on the Lists tab and highlight Journal, and click Import List...

Import List button screenshot

 

  1. In the File dialog box navigate to the Applications\EndNote X8\Terms folder, if that is not already showing. Select the list you want to use. Select Choose to import the journal names and abbreviations from the file into the Journals Term List.

     

  2. Select OK in the information box telling you how many terms were imported.

 

FYI - You can add additional term lists by clicking Import.  

Selecting Terms will show you the new list of Journal terms. Select Close when finished.

See instructions in the Edit style to choose journal title format box for editing your style to choose how to display journal names.

This "Journal Names" (2016) video is from the EndNote Training YouTube channel, created by EndNote Training.  The EndNote trainer shows how to establish a journals term lists to make journal names consistent in bibliographies. This is the latest video on this topic by EndNote Training.

To edit the journal title format of your desired style: 

  1. Go to Edit > Output Styles > choose which style to edit, e.g."Edit "Harvard"

Output style menu screenshot

 

  1. Select Journal Names and use the radio buttons under Journal Name Format to choose how you want the journal name to appear.

Abbreviation 1 shows the abbreviated journal title with periods.

Abbreviation 2 shows the abbreviated journal title without periods.

Use full journal names button screenshot

 

  1. Close and save the edited style.
  • Tip! To avoid overwriting the original style, save with a new name, e.g. "Harvard modified". Make sure to choose this new style in both Word & EndNote to see your changes.

FAQ

FAQQ. Should I import term lists before I start adding references?

A.  We strongly recommend you do. If you are in Health Sciences, import a terms list from Medical.text, and ensure that the update feature in Preferences is turned off.

Q. What types of term lists are available in EndNote?

A. EndNote comes with a range of term lists for journals in the following discipline areas: Anthropology, Astronomy & Astrophysics, BioScience, Chemistry, Economics, Humanities, Korean, Medical, Law, Medical, Philosophy, Religion and

They are located in your Applications\Endnote X8\Terms folder.