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    Testing the Style

    We have now finished writing the style. To close the style edit window, click on the X button in the top right-hand corner. You will be prompted to save your changes. Click on the Yes button.

    Now we need to test the style, to make sure that it works correctly. You can use references of your own for this purpose, or you can download a test library containing 14 sample references.

    In EndNote, make sure that the style which you have created is the active style. Now open Microsoft Word, and choose a document which you can use for testing the style. We suggest that you copy a small section out of an existing document and make that your test document.

    Insert some references into your test document. In some cases, select two or three references simultaneously from your EndNote library (hold down the Shift key to select adjacent references in the library window). If you have enabled the Cite While You Write function, EndNote will format the references as you insert them.

    Now look at your document to see if it matches the Instructions for Authors of the journal. First, look at the in-text citations and check that they are in the correct format. Look particularly at the citations to works by two authors and the citations to works by more than two authors. Where multiple citations occur simultaneously, check that they are correctly separated.

    If you have used inserted all the references from our test library, using the style for the journal Biochemical Systematics and Ecology, the list of references at the end of your document should look like this:

    list of references

    Note that the Peart reference has not been formatted. If you check that reference in the test library, you will see that it is a thesis. This would alert you to the fact that your style does not have a bibliography template for the Thesis reference type.

    Check the singular/plural formatting. Note that "(Ed.)" should appear when there is only one editor, and "(Eds.)" should appear when there is more than one editor. Similarly, in the references to book sections, "p." should appear when the section is only one page in length, and "pp." should appear when it spans more than one page.

    Until you are proficient in writing EndNote output styles, you will find that every style you write requires some editing to correct problems identified when you test it. To edit the style in EndNote, click on Edit on the menu bar, and then select Output Styles. You will probably then see an option to edit the style that you have been working on, but if not, select Open Style Manager. Find the style in the Style Manager, highlight it, and click on the Edit button.

    Make the necessary changes to the style, then close and save it. Return to your Word document, and reformat the paper according to the amended style.

    You can download a master copy of the Biochemical Systematics and Ecology output style, open it for editing and compare it with your own.

    That completes the tutorial! We hope you have found it useful. EndNote output styles are handy pieces of software that you can create yourself, but only practice will teach you how to write them well. And remember: "Read the manual!!"

    Contents of this Tutorial