Verifying Bibliographic Information

Using online searches is an easy way to add resources to Citavi, but you should always verify the accuracy of any bibliographic information added in this way.

Correcting bibliographic information

• Book or edited book?
  Most library catalogs do not distinguish between these two reference types. If the reference has an editor and if you see in the table of contents that each chapter has a different author, double-check that the reference type is correct. To change an incorrect reference type, in the References tab, click the currently-assigned reference type. Then select the new reference style and click OK.
• Authors added correctly?
  For Citavi to be able to format author names correctly, they need to be entered in the order Last name COMMA First name. Multiple authors need to be separated by semicolons. Some databases do not export names in a structured way with the result that Citavi cannot interpret the names correctly. You may not see this right away in Citavi, but you can check by clicking the field name. A dialog will then appear that allows you to check and correct the name(s).
• Author or Journal in ALL CAPS?
  Click the name and select Edit. Correct the capitalization as necessary.
• Names written multiple ways?
  In the list of Persons, organizations you might see that the same author appears in two different formats, such as Miller, P.C. or Miller, Patricia C. or Miller, Patricia Catherine. This can lead to incorrect sorting in the bibliography or lead Citavi to format multiple citations incorrectly (for example: Miller 2010a, Miller 2010b). If you're sure it's the same person, select two entries and click Merge. Merge to the entry with the most complete information. Repeat until you've removed all but one variant.
• Author or organization?
  You might notice that Citavi inserts a first name into Word in full instead of abbreviating it, even though your citation style is supposed to use abbreviated first and middle names. This is a sign that first name of the author in question is not in the First name field and that Citavi is treating the person as an organization. Correct the entry to fix this problem.
• No author?
  If the Picker can't find author information in a PDF or webpage's metadata, it won't be added to Citavi. Try to find the information by viewing the original source. For webpages you can often find the editor in the website credits or legal information.
• Last update correct?
  Many websites are generated by a database at the time they are visited. If this is the case, the Last update field will contain the same date as the Access date field. Check the website's footer for the actual last update. For journal and newspaper articles you can usually find the date at the beginning or end of the article.
• No date?
  If you cannot determine the publication year, enter the abbreviation "n. d." (no date).
• No place of publication?
  Books found in Google Scholar, Google Books or Amazon often don't include the place of publication. If you cannot determine the place of publication later on, enter "n. p." (no place) in the Place of publication field.