Check Cite Format on Lexis for Microsoft Office

The Lexis^® for Microsoft^® Office Check Cite Format feature is available on Microsoft® Office 365, Word 2016, and Word 2013 products.
 

Overview   Correct All Parent Citations Edit Citation Features Refresh Report Format Options Emailing and Printing Reports Troubleshooting and Removing Citation Metadata

Scoreboard Use Current All Corrections and Parallel Citations Add Citation Set Cite Format Regionalisms Check Cite Format Tips Citations Recognized by Lexis for Microsoft Office

Overview 

Lexis^® for Microsoft^® Office checks the citations in your Word document to make sure they are in the proper format for your jurisdiction. When you click the Check Cite Format button, Lexis for Microsoft Office runs through all the citations in your document and automatically identifies improperly formatted cites. The program then offers suggestions for the correct format which you can review or edit.

Take the following steps to check your citation formats:

1. Open your brief or other document.
2. Click the LexisNexis^® tab.
3. Click Check Cite Format.
4. Select a citation in the LexisNexis pane.
   Note: If you are using Lexis for Microsoft Office on Office 365 or Word 2016, the Check Cite Format report opens in a separate window.
5. Click one of the following:
   Note: Some of the options may be grayed out depending on other citations listed in the report. Follow the on-screen guidance to activate all options.
   • Use Suggestion to accept the suggested citation format
   • Use Current to use your original citation format
   • Let me edit text of current citation to edit your original citation
   • Change cite boundaries to include additional text from your document as part of the cite
   • Not a Citation if the citation is not a proper citation.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each citation.
7. You can select a citation you have already completed to edit or Undo.

You can use the Search feature above the list of citations to find a specific citation. Enter your terms in the field then click Search.

You do not have to complete all the citations in the Check Cite Format feature at one time. If you close the Check Cite Format feature without completing all citations, you can pick up where you left off.

Note: The Check Cite Format feature is not available in Microsoft Outlook.
 

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Scoreboard 

Check Cite Format has a scoreboard that provides the number of citations available and whether the citations are correct, need review, invalid, etc..

The following is a list of the Scoreboard icons and their meanings:

• Green check - Number of cites recognized by the system as valid.
• Yellow exclamation point - Number of cites that are recognized but do not conform to selected style guide.
• Yellow square with a check - Number of nonconforming cites you've confirmed as acceptable.
• Red question mark - Number of cites that are not recognized as valid.
• Red circle with a check - Number of cites that are not valid but you've confirmed as acceptable.
• Red X - Number of cites you have marked as not a cite.

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Correct All 

The Auto-Correct All feature automatically corrects citations marked with a yellow exclamation point. These citations are recognized citations but do not conform to style manual guidelines. Once you click Auto-Correct All, the changes cannot be undone and your document is automatically updated with the suggested cite format provided by Lexis for Microsoft Office.

Citations marked with any other Scoreboard icons are not corrected with the Auto-Correct All features.

Take the following steps to automatically correct your citations:

1. Click Check Cite Format in the LexisNexis^® tab.
2. Click Correct All.
   Note: An Auto-Correct All Citations pop-up window appears with a list of the citations that will be corrected.
3. Click Auto-Correct.

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Use Current All 

Click Use Current All to confirm all unrecognized/unconfirmed citations in the document as reviewed and accepted with a single click. After you select Use Current All, all the citations marked in the Scoreboard with the yellow exclamation icon switch to the yellow check icon.


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Parent Citations 

Short form citations, like Id. and supra, relate back to a full citation called a parent citation. Lexis for Microsoft Office recognizes short form citations and checks them for validity by matching them to the correct parent citation.

However, there are times where it might not be clear which parent citation the short form citation belongs to. In these instances, you can assign the correct parent citation to the short form citation.

Note: If your document includes citations to the United States Code or federal rules, you will see citations identified as parent and child if the sections are in the same title. For example, if you cite to 18 U.S.C.S. §3231 and 18 U.S.C.S. §924, §3231 will be identified as the parent and §924 as the child because they are in the same title and The Bluebook rules permit the use of the Id. §X format for federal sections that have the same title.
 

Take the following steps to assign a parent citation to a short form citation:

1. Click Check Cite Format in the LexisNexis^® tab.
2. Select a citation.
3. Click Change Parent.
4. Select a parent citation from the drop-down list of all possible parent citations for the short form citation on the Change Parent window.
5. Click Check Parent. Lexis for Microsoft Office checks the selected parent citation to determine if it is correct. The system does not allow you to assign a statute for a case short form citation and vice-versa.
6. Click Submit.
   Note: When you click Submit, the Check Cite Format list and your document automatically updates with the new parent.

Citations do not appear in short form format in the Table of Authorities and the location is included with the full form citation in the Table of Authorities.


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Corrections and Parallel Citations 

Check Cite Format generally suggests and corrects party names, docket numbers, and dates when they are missing or incorrect in the citation. It does not yet have the metadata containing parallel citations, so it generally does not suggest them. However, it provides a blank suggestion for the missing cite if that missing parallel cite is required to meet Bluebook or other chosen cite format. If the required parallel cite is omitted, click Get suggested document in the Suggestions box to retrieve the citation information.


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Edit Citation Features 

The Check Cite Format feature offers additional features that assist with finding the correct citation format when the original citation in the document does not retrieve a proper format. These features allow you to edit the suggestion or your original or even just the cite boundaries.

Let me edit text of current citation allows you to manually edit your original citation.

Take the following steps to edit your original citation:

1. Click Check Cite Format in the LexisNexis^® tab.
2. Select a citation.
3. Select Let me edit text of current citation.
4. Place your cursor in the box that displays your original citation.
5. Edit the citation.
6. Click Check Current.
   Note: When you click Check Current, Lexis for Microsoft Office reviews your edited citation and provides a suggestion if applicable.
7. Click Use Current to use your edited citation or click Use Suggestion to use the suggested citation format.
8. Repeat steps 2-7 for any citations you want to manually edit.

Change cite boundaries allows you to view the boundaries that surround your citation and highlight the full citation to receive proper suggestions. This feature is helpful when the Check Cite Format feature finds a partial citation.

Take the following steps to change your cite boundaries:

1. Click Check Cite Format in the LexisNexis^® tab.
2. Select a citation.
3. Click Change cite boundaries.
4. A section of your document appears in Change Cite Boundaries pop-up window. Highlight the proper citation boundaries.
   Note: Click on Expand Text if more text is needed to properly highlight the citation boundaries. Expand Text expands the text by 50 characters on each side.
5. Click Submit.
   Note: The new citation is now listed as a separate entry in the Check Cite Format list.
6. Select the new citation.
7. Click Use Suggestion to accept the suggested citation format or click Use Current to use your original citation format.

Take the following steps to reverse a selection you previously made:

1. Click Check Cite Format in the LexisNexis^® tab.
2. Select a citation.
3. Click Undo.
4. Edit the citation as appropriate.

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Add Citation 

Because Check Cite Format is in the LexisNexis pane, you have the freedom to add citations to the body of the document. If you add citations to your document, you can update the Check Cite Format report without navigating away from the LexisNexis pane.

Take the following steps to add a citation to the Check Cite Format:

1. Highlight the citation in the body of your document.
   Note: You can highlight more than one citation if they are on the same line, for example, a string of citations.
2. Click Add Citation.
   Note: The citations appear at the bottom of the Check Cite Format report.
3. Select a citation.
4. Click Use Suggestion to accept the suggested citation format or click Use Current to use your original citation format.

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Refresh Report 

You do not have to navigate away from the Check Cite Format in the LexisNexis pane to continue working on your document. If you edit existing citations or add new citations in the body of your document, you can refresh the Check Cite Format report to add any citation changes to the report all at once.

Take the following steps to refresh your Check Cite Format report:

1. Edit or add citations to the body of your document.
2. Click Refresh Report.
3. Select a citation.
4. Click Use Suggestion to accept the suggested citation format or click Use Current to use your original citation format.

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Set Cite Format 

You can select the style guide you want to use with Check Cite Format by clicking on Set Cite Format. The available style guides are:

• The Bluebook^® (20th edition)
• California Style Manual (4th edition)
• New York Style Manual (2007 edition)
  Note: The New York Style Manual does not allow underlined case names. Case names are not underlined if you select Underlined in Format Options when using the New York Style Manual.
• Florida Style Manual
• Texas State Style Manual Rules
• Illinois Style Manual
• Washington
• New Jersey Style Manual Rules
• Pennsylvania
• Michigan
• Ohio
  Note: This format is not available in Lexis for Microsoft Office on Office 365 at this time.

Note: Citation formats from the ALWD Citation Manual, now called the Guide, are identical to The Bluebook format.

  

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Format Options 

You can set various format options for the Check Cite Format feature such as the default style guide, case names italicized or to never use Id as a short form citation.

Take the following steps to set your format options:

1. Click Set Cite Format.
2. Select Format Options.
3. Select a style guide for the Default format option.
4. Select Underlined, Italicized, or Bold for the Case name in citations should be option.
5. Select Never use "Id" format in short form citations, if desired.
6. Click OK.

Note: The New York Style Manual does not allow underlined case names. Case names are not underlined if you select Underlined in Format Options when using the New York Style Manual.


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Regionalisms 

Regionalisms are variances from the style guide and are common for legal practitioners in a particular area or region. Check Cite Format recognizes regionalisms from all 50 states but will format the citations to the style guide selected in Set Cite Format.


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Emailing and Printing Reports 

Click Check Cite Format in Lexis for Microsoft Office to verify that citations in your document match the format prescribed in the selected style guide or manual.

When you click Check Cite Format, Lexis for Microsoft Office opens the LexisNexis^® or Lexis^® for Microsoft^® Office pane in the right. Click the email or print icon in the top right to email or deliver a preview of the Check Cite Format report. If you select email, the report delivers as inline text.

Note: If you do not see the email or print icon at the top right hand corner of the pane, make the pane larger. Hover your cursor over the left edge of the pane until you see a double arrow cursor, then left-click and drag your mouse to expand the pane until you see the icons.
 

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Check Cite Format Tips 

The following are tips and reminders for using the Check Cite Format feature.

• Lexis for Microsoft Office is over-inclusive. If Check Cite Format recognizes a citation that is not a true citation, mark the cite as Not a Cite.
   
• Citations with et seq. are not recognized because the Harvard Bluebook Rule 3.3(b) discourages the use of et seq. Use the Change Cite Boundaries option to include citations with et seq..
   
• Lexis for Microsoft Office does not recognize citations by case name only. For example, In Re Google, supra. The citation needs a volume, reporter, or page information for Lexis for Microsoft Office to recognize the information as a citation.
   
• The P.S. citation is not recognized as Pa. Stat. because P.S. is not a proper Bluebook abbreviation. If P.S. is added as an equivalent, Lexis for Microsoft Office suggests the P.S. to change to Pa. Stat. because it is proper Bluebook format.

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Troubleshooting and Removing Citation Metadata 

If you make an error or select a wrong option while using the Check Cite Format feature, you can start over by removing the citation metadata. As Lexis for Microsoft Office reviews your citations, a temporary file is created which stores the citation data to check it against the style guides and to create the Table of Authorities. To start the Check Cite Format feature over, you must remove the citation metadata.

Take the following steps to remove the citation metadata:

1. Click Clean Doc.
2. Select Remove Citation Metadata.
3. Click I am sure.
   Note: When you remove the citation metadata, your current citation text will not change and the citations will no longer be managed by Lexis for Microsoft Office. This process cannot be undone.

Note: If you are using Lexis for Microsoft Office using the Office 365 or Mac versions, the Remove Citation Metadata feature is located under Check Cite Format > Set Cite Format. You will not see Clean Doc as any option in the Lexis for Microsoft Office panel.

For more information about the Clean Doc features, see Clean Doc in Lexis for Microsoft Office .
 
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