A CiteKey (called Access keys in previous versions of Citation) is a link between your document and a specific record in your datafile. Cite Keys in a document are enclosed in curly braces, and contain one or more CiteKeys from a Citation record (called Access Phrases in previous versions of Citation) for the work(s) cited. Specific page references can be included in the Key, for footnotes and short form in text citations.

When Generate Citations is run, Citation replaces these Keys with footnotes, endnotes, reference numbers for a list of works cited, or short form citations.

For example: To cite page 920 in the article by Patterson, entered here as a Citation record: We would enter the following key in our document: {Patterson 1990: 920} When we run Generate Citations, this key will be replaced by the following footnote: L. Ray Patterson, Legal Ethics and the Lawyer's Duty of Loyalty, 29 Emory L.J. 909, 920 (1980).

Example of a document with cite keys:

Recently it has become clear that AIDS is a profoundly controversial legal issue, having the potential to challenge the basic tenets of our penal system. According to one study, AIDS is fourteen times more prevalent in our prison systems than in the general population. {Mayer 1995: 520} In various articles and essays published in recent years, it has been argued that these statistics compel us to rethink the implications of sentencing in general, {Jurgens 1994} and perhaps even the constitutionality of incarceration. {AIDS in Prison 1992; Boyne 1991; Vaid 1987}

Note that cite keys can be entered directly into footnotes with other explanatory text.

To insert a CiteKey in your document

1. Position the cursor in your word processing document at the point for the in text citation.
2. Use the Short List View to locate the Citation record for the work you want to cite.
3. Click Cite.
4. Edit the CiteKey to: include a specific page reference, if that is appropriate, or to suppress the Author's name (if you have mentioned the author in the previous sentence), or the Year.

Guidelines

Specific page references and pinpoint cites
Specific page references for footnotes, endnotes, and short form in text citations should be included, preceded by a colon, and a space:

{Wesley 1994: 224}

Multiple citations
When you are citing more than one work, separate the keys for each work with a semi-colon:

{Wesley 1994: 224; Woods and Jones 1993: 431}

Placement
Keys should be placed, preferably, at the end of sentences, following the period.

Several studies have furnished groups with information concerning serious infractions of the legal guidelines for waste disposal in this country {Wesley 1994; Woods 1993}.

Works consulted but not actually cited
You can include Keys in your document for works you want included in your reference list as sources you have consulted, but not actually cited, by prefacing the Access Key with an asterisk:

Several studies have furnished groups with information concerning serious infractions of the legal guidelines for waste disposal in this country {Wesley 1994; Woods 1993}.

{*Torres 1988; Byers 1991; Wesley 1992}

Author's name mentioned in preceding sentence
If you have mentioned the author’s name in the preceding sentence, it is often the case that the short form cite should not repeat the author's name. To suppress the author's name in the citation, add an exclamation point to the beginning of your key:

The significance of these . . . projects lies not only in their own accomplishments but in the new questions they lead us to ask. First, they all call attention to history, but not history as "one damned thing after another," as Leslie White used to say. "History," says Marice Godelier, "does not explain: it has to be explained" {!Godelier 1977:6}.

When Citation generates the intext citation for this key, the author's name will be omitted.

The significance of these . . . projects lies not only in their own accomplishments but in the new questions they lead us to ask. First, they all call attention to history, but not history as "one damned thing after another," as Leslie White used to say. "History," says Marice Godelier, "does not explain: it has to be explained" (1977:6).

Year of publication mentioned in preceding sentence
If you have mentioned the year of publication in the preceding sentence, it is often the case that the short form cite should not repeat this date. To suppress the publication year in the citation, add an "@" at the beginning of the Access Key:

The most recent of these studies, published at the end of 1996, attempts to describe the manner in which societies maintain social order in the absence of a state {@Taylor 1996}.

When Citation generates the intext citation for this key, the publication year will be omitted.

The most recent of these studies, published at the end of 1996, attempts to describe the manner in which societies maintain social order in the absence of a state (Taylor).