when you add citations to word using the full version of zotero with its word plugin, they do include hidden data. this data allows the software to update citations in the document as you edit them in the software. (note that citations created with zoterobib, the web-based tool discussed in our post, do not include this embedded data.)

here’s what we say about this in cmos 14.5: “note also that your publisher may require that such citations be presented as ordinary text, stripped of any of the underlying codes such as fields or hyperlinks used in creating or organizing them.” we added this caveat because we know that some publishers may have trouble handling the hidden data.

to remove the hidden data using the zotero plugin, click “unlink citations” in word’s ribbon under the zotero tab. or you can select all the text in the document and type ctrl+shift+f9 in windows or command-shift-f9 on a mac. (you may need to repeat this in the footnotes.) this will turn the citation “field codes” into ordinary text (but without removing italics or other formatting).

just be sure to save a copy of the document with the field codes intact in case you need to re-edit your citations.