Word – Reference number brackets wrapping to next line in Word 2007’s bibliography

I had the same problem - luckily the solution (found here) is very simple!

1. Insert the reference as you normally would
2. Right click the reference (the gray field)

3. Select "Toggle field codes"

   You should see something like this:

   { REF _Ref218925266 \h }
   

4. Simply change this to:

   { REF _Ref218925266 \# 0 \h }
   

Voila! Now Word persistently only shows the number.

(Right click to "Toggle field codes" once again, to get back to normal text display.)

PS Don't forget to "update field" otherwise you might think that it didn't work!

In Microsoft Word 2010, Bibliography Styles are managed via XML template files.

It is not easy to change these files and you can damage your Bibliography function if you make a mistake.

1. Save your document and exit Word completely (File -> Exit)

2. Look for a template file with a name close to the Bibliography style you are using in the directory C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\Bibliography\Style

3. Make a backup copy of that file and name it unsorted.xml

4. Open unsorted.xml in your favorite text editor

5. Remove the line that contains <sortkey> and </sortkey>

6. Search for the line that contains <stylename> and </stylename> and replace the style name between them with unsorted

7. Open your document in Word and return to each of your citations and change the style to unsorted

This article has information on how to update the template files but does not specifically address the sort-key. This article has information on sortkey in the comments.