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When adding a book into my EndNote library, a metadata field called "Short Title" is available. What is the definition of this field and its intended usage?

fixer1234
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qazwsx
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  • A short title is an abridged listing in a catalog or bibliography, giving only such essential information as the author's name and the book's title, publisher, and date and place of publication.(Dictionary.com). It is an abbreviated title that you create that contains enough information to identify it and match it to a more complete reference elsewhere. It is used for readability so that an extremely long reference entry does not need to be repeated in full everywhere it is used. – fixer1234 Oct 11 '14 at 00:13
  • So abstract, can you give an example? – qazwsx Oct 11 '14 at 05:27
  • http://www.uic.edu/classes/psych/psych321jw/APAtitle.doc – fixer1234 Oct 11 '14 at 05:40
  • The .doc file does not give an example. – qazwsx Oct 11 '14 at 06:06
  • Last page, last section. – fixer1234 Oct 11 '14 at 06:30
  • Does it have to be in the form of "`, `"? If for that example I make short title as "Sperling-AKA" -- suppose the article/book's title's initialism is "AKA" -- is it good? – qazwsx Oct 11 '14 at 15:40
  • Endnote provides the capability to define a short title. Different publishing standards have their own definitions and you are otherwise free to use it as appropriate. The purpose is just to provide an abbreviated nickname (that follows some consistent convention), when a reference needs to be repeated. – fixer1234 Oct 11 '14 at 16:19
  • Endnote is just a tool, like your word processor. It doesn't have any standards for what goes into the various data fields, it just provides the boxes. The format of the document is generally defined by one of the common style standards. If you are using Endnote, you are probably doing something in academia and the school normally defines which style standard is to be used. Consult that for the required format of the short title. If it is not defined, just look at some large reference books or journals in your field and you will see examples of what is common in your discipline. – fixer1234 Oct 12 '14 at 06:25
  • This question was closed and the answer ended up in the comments. I'll follow site etiquette and move the information to an answer. – fixer1234 Oct 12 '14 at 14:54

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A short title is an abbreviated reference that is used when a lengthy reference citation must be repeated. It serves as a "nickname" in subsequent citations of the same document, providing better readability.

There are numerous specifications for what a short title is supposed to contain and how it should be formatted. Endnote, itself, does not define what goes in that field. Like the word processor, it just provides the capability to create a document following any style standard. Publishers and universities specify the particular standard they want followed. The peer-reviewed journals of the major professional societies, like AMA and APA, have their own style manuals. The Chicago Manual of Style (University of Chicago Press), is a popular one. Even Microsoft and the US Government Printing Office have their own style manuals.

If you are going through the work of preparing a document with formal references using Endnote, it is likely that the document will need to meet the specifications in some prescribed style manual. Base what you put in the short title field on the specifications in the required style manual.

fixer1234
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