EndNote Fieldcode Converter

Local-only macOS app for turning plain numeric or author-year citations in a .docx manuscript into EndNote-compatible Word field codes.

Download DMG: EndNote_Fieldcode_Converter_macOS_arm64.dmg

What It Does

Many Word manuscripts have plain text citations such as [1], [1,2], [1-3], (Smith, 2020), or Smith (2020) plus a References section. That format is readable, but it is not manageable as real EndNote fields inside Microsoft Word.

EndNote Fieldcode Converter converts those citations into Word field codes using EndNote-compatible ADDIN EN.CITE and ADDIN EN.REFLIST fields, while keeping the visible citation text readable.

The goal is narrow and practical: recover an EndNote-ready Word manuscript without uploading the document anywhere.

Design

• no server
• no LLM
• .docx only
• always offline
• no CrossRef lookup
• unmatched or ambiguous citations are not converted
• output saved next to the original file as *_EndNote.docx
• MIT licensed

Need More Flexible Conversion?

This app intentionally uses deterministic offline rules. That keeps it simple, private, and easy to run on a Mac, but it also means unusual citation styles, heavily edited reference lists, or malformed manuscripts may need manual review.

For broader, LLM-assisted conversion workflows, use wmyung/endnote-fieldcode-converter. That project is the better option when you want a more flexible parser that can reason over messy citation/reference formats instead of relying only on fixed local rules.

Features

• Drag-and-drop .docx manuscript selection.
• Converts in-text numeric citations before the References section.
• Converts common APA-style author-year citations such as (Smith, 2020) and Smith (2020).
• Automatically detects reference list styles such as [1], 1., 1), and author-year references.
• Replaces the plain reference list with an EndNote bibliography field by default.
• Optional setting to keep the original reference text.
• Shows a conversion log for parsed references, converted citations, and field marker checks.
• Provides Open Output and Show in Folder buttons after conversion.
• Displays the GitHub project URL and MIT License inside the app.

Privacy

The app runs locally on your Mac. It reads the selected .docx and writes a new output file next to it. It does not upload manuscripts, call an LLM, or query external citation services.

Expected Input

• Input must be .docx.
• The manuscript should contain numeric citations like [1], [1,2], [1-3], [1,3-5], or author-year citations like (Smith, 2020) and Smith (2020).
• The reference section heading should be References, Reference, or Bibliography.
• References may be numbered with [1], 1., 1), or listed in author-year style.

Limitations

• The reference parser is heuristic and works best with common biomedical numeric reference styles.
• EndNote should be installed in Microsoft Word to fully update, format, and manage the resulting fields.
• Complex content inside text boxes, comments, footnotes, headers, or tracked changes may need manual review.
• .doc, .docm, PDF, and online conversion are intentionally not supported.

Install

Download the DMG:

EndNote_Fieldcode_Converter_macOS_arm64.dmg

Open the DMG and launch EndNote Fieldcode Converter.app.

Unsigned development builds may show a macOS Gatekeeper warning. Public distribution should use Apple code signing and notarization.

Run From Source

python3 -m venv .venv
. .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install -e ".[dev]"
python -m endnote_gui

Build A macOS App And DMG

. .venv/bin/activate
pyinstaller packaging/endnote-fieldcode-gui.spec
hdiutil create -volname "EndNote Fieldcode Converter" -srcfolder "dist/EndNote Fieldcode Converter.app" -ov -format UDZO outputs/EndNote_Fieldcode_Converter_macOS_arm64.dmg

The unsigned .app will be written under dist/, and the unsigned .dmg under outputs/. Public distribution will require Apple code signing and notarization.

Validate

python -m compileall endnote_gui tests
python -m pytest
python -m ruff check .

Keywords

EndNote, Word, DOCX, citation converter, APA, author-year citations, numbered citations, field codes, ADDIN EN.CITE, ADDIN EN.REFLIST, bibliography, reference manager, manuscript editing, academic writing, biomedical manuscript, local-first, offline, macOS.

License

MIT License. See LICENSE.