Change the type of brackets in citations

Word 365
Usually, Word surrounds citations by the round brackets (see How to create a citation for more details). But you can insert a citation in the square brackets or use other symbols.

By default, Word inserts citations in round brackets:

Round brackets in the citation Word 2016

First, you must specify the style that you will use for citations:

   1.   On the References tab, in the Citations & Bibliography group, select Style:

Citations and Bibliography Word 2016

   2.   Word proposes several styles. This tip uses the APA Sixth Edition style.


To change the brackets type, do the following:

   1.   Open for edit the file APA*.xsl (for example, in Notepad). The location of the file may vary, but it can be located here:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\Bibliography\Style\ or

C:\Users\***\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Bibliography\Style\, where *** is your user name

   2.   Find the following lines in that file (you can search for the phrase "openbracket" and "closebracket"):

<xsl:template name="templ_prop_OpenBracket" >
  <xsl:param name="LCID" />
  <xsl:variable name="_LCID">
  <xsl:call-template name="localLCID">
   <xsl:with-param name="LCID" select="$LCID"/>
  </xsl:call-template>
  </xsl:variable>
  <xsl:value-of select="/*/b:Locals/b:Local[@LCID=$_LCID]/b:General/b:OpenBracket"/>
 </xsl:template>

 <xsl:template name="templ_prop_CloseBracket" >
  <xsl:param name="LCID" />
  <xsl:variable name="_LCID">
  <xsl:call-template name="localLCID">
   <xsl:with-param name="LCID" select="$LCID"/>
  </xsl:call-template>
  </xsl:variable>
  <xsl:value-of select="/*/b:Locals/b:Local[@LCID=$_LCID]/b:General/b:CloseBracket"/>
 </xsl:template>

   3.   Change the type of brackets:

 <xsl:template name="templ_prop_OpenBracket" >
  <xsl:param name="LCID" />
  <xsl:variable name="_LCID">
  <xsl:call-template name="localLCID">
   <xsl:with-param name="LCID" select="$LCID"/>
  </xsl:call-template>
  </xsl:variable>
  <xsl:value-of select="/*/b:Locals/b:Local[@LCID=INITIAL_CONTENTLCID]/b:General/b:OpenBracket"/>
   <xsl:text>[</xsl:text>
 </xsl:template>

 <xsl:template name="templ_prop_CloseBracket" >
  <xsl:param name="LCID" />
  <xsl:variable name="_LCID">
  <xsl:call-template name="localLCID">
   <xsl:with-param name="LCID" select="$LCID"/>
  </xsl:call-template>
  </xsl:variable>
  <xsl:value-of select="/*/b:Locals/b:Local[@LCID=INITIAL_CONTENTLCID]/b:General/b:CloseBracket"/>
   <xsl:text>]</xsl:text>
 </xsl:template>

After you save this file, you can see square brackets (only in the APA style):

Square brackets in the citation Word 2016

Notes:

  • We recommend you create a copy of this file before you begin to change it.
  • You can create a new style file:
    • copy APA.XSL file (on the same path)
    • change the type of brackets in it
    • choose your new style in the Style list (on the References tab, in the Citations & Bibliography group)

You can change other elements as you wish:

Custom brackets in the citation Word 2016

See also this tip in French: Comment changer le type de parenthèses dans les citations.

Please, disable AdBlock and reload the page to continue

Today, 30% of our visitors use Ad-Block to block ads.We understand your pain with ads, but without ads, we won't be able to provide you with free content soon. If you need our content for work or study, please support our efforts and disable AdBlock for our site. As you will see, we have a lot of helpful information to share.