The Reference Type Tag in Import Filters and Connection Files
A Reference Type tag identifies the kind of work or publication being referenced in a particular record in your data file. In the Filter window, a Reference Type tag is only defined by the characteristic of having literal text, and no fields, entered into the field column. This literal text is not imported into EndNote, but it is used only to identify a record’s reference type.
Although a Reference Type tag can be any tag at all, two common Reference Type tags are "DT" and "PT" (which stand for Document Type and Publication Type).
JN- Am J Occup Ther; 47 (11) p998-1008|
CP- UNITED STATES|
PY- Nov 1993|
SN- 0272-9490|
JC- 304|
CN- MCJ-009105|
LA- ENGLISH|
DT- Analytic; Serial| ←Reference Type Tag
JA- 9404|
To ensure that EndNote imports the data into the correct reference type, you must type the Reference Type tag in the Tag column, and the reference type name (or other identifying text) exactly as it appears in the data file in the Field(s) column. (The matching is case-sensitive.) The Reference Type tag can be placed anywhere in the appropriate Reference Type template.
When EndNote imports a record, it first scans the data file, looking for a Reference Type tag in your filter. Then it looks for a match in the record it’s importing. The first Reference Type tag match encountered determines which of the Reference Type templates EndNote will use to parse the record. This match also determines which reference type EndNote assigns the record in the EndNote library.
When entering the Reference Type tag in your filter, the text you enter in the Field cell must be interpreted by EndNote as literal text. A problem can arise when you have text that contains an EndNote field name. For example, the following Reference Type tag contains the field name "Journal":
| Tag | Field(s) |
| DT: | Journal Article |
Because the field name "Journal" appears in the template, EndNote will not interpret this DT: tag line as the Reference Type tag. Instead, the filter would import the word Journal (from the data file’s DT: line) into the Journal field.
To force EndNote to interpret the word Journal (or any other field name) as literal text, put an accent grave (`) character at the start and end of the word. (The accent grave character is usually found in the upper left corner of the keyboard, under the tilde (~) key.) The above Reference Type tag should appear in a filter as:
| Tag | Field(s) |
| DT: | `Journal` Article |
If the database you use does not specify a Reference Type tag, all reference types in your data file will import as the default reference type (see Reference Type in Import Filters and Connection Files).