Understanding duplicate-reference comments

What it means when SmartReferences flags two references as the same work, and how to resolve it.

When a reference list cites the same work twice, SmartReferences can tell you. Edifix compares every reference in the batch against the others and flags the ones that look like they cite the same source; SmartReferences passes that flag through to you. This article explains what the comment is saying, what the "(see also N)" numbers mean, and how to decide what to do—including when the flag is wrong.

What the comment is

Edifix reads the whole batch of references together and, when two or more appear to cite the same work, it comments on every occurrence after the first—the original reference itself carries no comment. SmartReferences echoes Edifix's comment through to the document word for word—the wording you see is Edifix's, not something SmartReferences composed. Edifix's text quotes the matched reference, so the comment already carries a piece of the reference it's pointing at.

One thing to keep in mind from the start: this is a judgement, not a certainty. Edifix is good at spotting genuine duplicates, but two references to genuinely different works can look nearly identical, and then the flag is a false alarm. Treat the comment as a prompt to double-check, not as a settled fact.

The "(see also N)" numbers

When your reference list is numbered, SmartReferences adds a little more to help you find the other entries. After Edifix's comment, it appends the document numbers of the other entries that share the same identifier—for example, if references 9, 12, and 36 all cite one work, reference 12's comment ends "(see also 9, 36)" and reference 36's ends "(see also 9, 12)". If only one other entry matches, you'll see a single number, "(see also 36)."

Those numbers are the positions of the references in your document, not the order Edifix processed them in. So "(see also 9, 36)" is pointing you at the entries you'd count as 9 and 36 in the list in front of you, listed in the order they appear in your document.

Lists without numbers

Author-date lists and other unnumbered reference lists don't get the appended numbers—there's no reference number to point to, so SmartReferences adds nothing. In that case, Edifix's quoted text is how you find the matching reference: search your list for the reference Edifix quotes in its comment, and that's the entry the flag is pointing at.

What to do

Start by confirming the entries really do cite the same work. Because the flag is a judgement and not always right, read the flagged references against each other before you change anything—near-identical references to genuinely distinct works do exist, and you don't want to merge two references that only look alike.

Once you've confirmed they're the same work, you have two reasonable choices:

• Keep one entry, remove the others, and update any citations that referred to the removed ones so they point to the entry you kept.
• Leave both entries in place and dismiss the comments—sometimes a list is meant to carry the same work twice, or the duplication is harmless in context.

And if you find the flag is wrong—the references are distinct works that merely resemble each other—leave them both alone and dismiss the comment. That's a normal outcome, not a mistake.

When you do decide to edit, make one change at a time and re-run SmartReferences so you can see the effect of each change on its own; What to do when a reference needs review covers that habit in more detail.