Move an IEEE Manuscript Between Editors Without Losing Citations

Save a working copy

Start in the editor where you last used Zotero on the manuscript. Put your cursor inside an IEEE citation and choose Add/Edit Citation. The original item should appear in the dialog. Repeat that check near the end of the manuscript. If the dialog is empty, recover an earlier copy before trying to transfer the document.

Save a separate copy for the move and keep the working original in its native format. Name the copies by stage, such as Before transfer, For Word, and Restored in Word. Tell collaborators when to stop editing the original so the two copies do not diverge.

Zotero’s documentation describes a temporary transfer format and a restore step. The routes below follow Zotero’s official instructions. The before and after examples give expected results for a practice run. We checked the documentation and did not run these transfers in the editors.

Transfer with the supported workflow

To move Zotero citations from Google Docs to Word, make a copy in Google Docs. On that copy, run Switch word processors from the Zotero menu. Download the converted copy as a Microsoft Word DOCX. Open it in desktop Word and use Refresh on the Zotero tab to restore the citations.

For Word to Google Docs, save a separate DOCX in Word. In Zotero’s Document Preferences choose Switch to a Different Word Processor. Save the converted copy. Upload it using the Open command in Google Docs and use Zotero’s Refresh in the opened document.

The Google Docs to LibreOffice route also starts with a copy and the Zotero switch command. Download the converted document as ODT and open it in LibreOffice. Refresh from the Zotero toolbar. For the return trip, save an ODT copy in LibreOffice, run the switch command in Document Preferences and save. Upload the copy from Google Docs, save it as a native Google Doc, then refresh there.

For a direct Word and LibreOffice move, follow the direction-specific sequence in Zotero’s guide. Word to LibreOffice starts with Word fields and an ODT copy before conversion. LibreOffice to Word starts with a DOCX copy before conversion. The source plugin prepares the copy in each case. The destination plugin restores it. Check the exact route in the Zotero transfer instructions.

Restore editable citations

Keep the transfer copy until the receiving editor has restored the citations. In Google Docs, the Zotero menu comes from the Connector and depends on the Zotero desktop application. Word and LibreOffice use their Zotero integrations. Before handing off the copy, ask the recipient to confirm that the Zotero menu or toolbar is available in the receiving editor.

After Refresh, reopen two existing citations with Add/Edit Citation and check the item titles. If one points to a quoted page, check the locator in the dialog. Inspect the bibliography too. If the citations are active and the bibliography is plain text, regenerate the list with Add/Edit Bibliography.

When a fresh citation starts at [1] despite several earlier numbers, check those earlier numbers in the citation dialog. An empty dialog points to a lost connection, even when the number still looks right on the page. If the existing citations have become plain text, recover the last editable copy or reinsert them using Zotero. A Refresh cannot rebuild the missing connections from the printed numbers. See Zotero’s guidance on unrecognized citations.

Keep Unlink Citations for a separate final copy when a recipient requires plain text. The reference list exported by this site’s generator is also static. Start the exercise below with citations inserted by Zotero itself.

Test a new source and a round trip

Pick three distinct library items with titles you can easily tell apart. Call them A, B and C in your notes. The letters in the examples identify the items and stay outside the manuscript. Create a short IEEE document using Zotero to insert each citation in the order shown, then add its bibliography. Save the before copy and use a duplicate for the transfer.

Baseline description [1].  A
Method detail [2].         B
Baseline comparison [1].   A
Expected bibliography order  A, B

New context [1].           C
Baseline description [2].  A
Method detail [3].         B
Baseline comparison [2].   A
Expected bibliography order  C, A, B

Insert C through the destination’s Zotero controls. It must be a new item for this document and its first citation must appear above A. If A changes to [2] in both places and B moves to [3], check the titles in the bibliography before calling the test a pass. C should appear once at the top of the list. Save the restored copy separately so you can compare it with your original.

If the manuscript needs to go back, transfer a copy of the restored document by following the reverse route. Refresh in the original editor and reopen the citation for B. Remove the C test sentence and refresh again. In the practice copy, the expected sequence is [1], [2], [1], with C gone from the generated bibliography. Save that returned copy separately.

Baseline description [1].  A
Method detail [2].         B
Baseline comparison [1].   A
Expected bibliography order  A, B

For the editor-specific controls, see our Zotero IEEE guide, Google Docs guide and Word guide.