How to remove fields in a Word document

When 'Magic Manuscripts' inserts citations or formats your manuscript in Microsoft Word, it uses "fields", which you can typically recognize as boxes that turn grey when the insertion point is placed inside one of them. In some cases, you might want to remove those fields, and replace them with just normal text. Typically, the publisher or the editor of your manuscript may ask for such a modification (they might even mistake those for the similar fields inserted by EndNote).

Here is how to remove the fields in a Microsoft Word document:

1. Make a copy of your document before removing the fields. Otherwise, you won't be able to use Magic Manuscripts again. It might be easiest to save your document with a new file name, or something like "Filename_submission.doc" so you can distinguish between the original and the edited version.

2. Select the text to process (or select all with Cmd-A).

3. Press Cmd-Shift-(Fn)-F9, or Cmd-Shift-F9 (depending on your Keyboard preferences).

4. Save

If the above does not work, it could be because of some issues with keyboard shortcut interference with other applications. In this case, you can also use the following AppleScript file:
MS_Word-_Remove_Field_Codes.scpt

After downloading, double-clcik the file. It should open in the application 'AppleScript Editor'. Make sure the document you want to process is the one showing in Word, then press the 'Run' button.

A nice way to use this script is to copy it to the Word folder for Applescript files, so that it can be executed directly from Word on the front document. For this, copy the file into this location on your disk:

/Users/your_name/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/Word Script Menu Items

(Note: starting with OS 10.7 Lion and later, to access your Library folder, you need to use the Go menu in the Finder and press the option key. This will add a 'Library' item to the list, and will give you access to the hidden folder.)